The cake that (sort of) matches mine from my 2nd Birthday.
He boldly waits to slide into the pit.
Paxton and Mommy bond in the foam pit.
A blur of bounce!
Sunday, December 13, 2009
Trying on his garb from his new tool kit from Bree, Judd and Texas.
Such a handsome little fellow. We're really hoping he learns to do home repairs soon.
Not to be left out, Lula jumped into the shot.
Oh, nice! An activity pad that you write on with a light-up pen! Sharon, Gus and Presley found a cool one!
We practically had to tear him away from the magnet phonics toy from McKenna, Stewart and Ceilidh. He loved it!
Unsure what the legos Harper and Carmen gave his are for, he tries one on as a hat.
Checking out his "cool" now Cars Pit Stop book from Nathan and LaStella.
Opening up his cute stuffed dog from Megan and Otis.
And the winner of the cutest packaging is..."TAYUM"! :)
His reaction to opening the Mr. Potato Head set from Zach, Amy and Tatum was priceless. I had to capture it on video. He has no idea what it is, but he was overcome with excitement about it.Terrific Twos!
We had Paxton's second birthday party yesterday. It was at J&R Gymnastics in San Marcos. On Friday mornings, they have "free gym" for children under five. Paxton and I have been frequent attendees this year. As he has grown, his courage has, as well. While at first, he stuck strictly to the push toys on the mats, he now prefers the daring required to traverse the balance beams. He can jump a foot in the air on the trampolines, or careen down the slide into the foam pit. He has a fantastic time every time he's there, so it seemed like the ideal spot to host his second birthday party.
As we were surrounded yesterday by twenty children and their parents, I began to see why people think I have a tendency to "overdo it". The boy is barely two (not even, since his birthday isn't for another week). He didn't even fully grasp that everyone was gathered to celebrate him. He seemed a bit shellshocked when the group so cleverly inserted his name into the "Happy Birthday" song. While he knew all of the children there at least by sight, he only knew the names of his inner circle--dear "Tayum, "Harper" and "Henny". A birthday party with just those three and their sweet parents would have brought him endless bliss, but we were allowed to invite 20 children, and I couldn't think of a nicer way to spend a few hours on a Saturday than filling a gym with a bunch of happy toddlers to bounce and frolic and tumble, whether Paxton knew it was for him or not.
Okay, so renting the gym for the party is something I can readily defend. But the money I spent to buy a helium tank and a stash of giant Sesame Street character balloons--well, that was just for my fun. Replicating the Cookie Monster birthday cake I had when I turned two--that might just have been sentimental. At least I found all of the plates, cups and napkins at Dollar Tree (even if I did buy far more than we actually needed).
We skipped opening presents at the actual party for a couple of reasons. Our time was limited, so I wasn't sure if we could get through the process of a two-year-old learning to unwrap presents in less than 30 minutes. On top of that, I've read how torturous it is for other little ones to watch one child be bombarded with toy after glorious toy while they, themselves, leave with nothing but a piddly favor bag. We loaded all of the gifts into Chris' car and he had them spread around the Christmas tree by the time Paxton and I arrived home just slightly after him. Ah, a prequel to Christmas! Paxton had no idea what they were, so he ignored them, instead grabbing his giant box of Hot Wheels and dumping them onto the living room floor with a shout of glee. My mom arrived moments later to watch the gift-opening goodness, so I led Paxton to a gift bag and showed him how an old pro would approach it. When he caught a glimpse of the toys inside, he needed no more persuasion. He was hooked.
What surprised me most was that even at his tender age, he wanted no time to be wasted on cards. While I would try to read to him the sweet sentiments, he would grab for the card and toss it across the room. He would shred the paper from the toy, say something hilarious like, "Oooh, nice!" and then demand "Daddy!! OPEN IT!!!". No gift escaped his immediate inspection. Legos, play tool belts, Mr. Potato Head, trucks, you name it. Even a coloring book got Christened, and he took a moment to flip through a Curious George book, looking at the pictures before announcing "the end" and turning back to his Phonics Magnet set. He was in hog heaven.
What concerns me now is that in one week, his actual birthday arrives, during which he will be lavished with more gifts--this time from his grandparents and his mom and daddio. And one week after that day comes Christmas morning. After three weeks of being spoiled to no end by anyone and everyone, I fear the child we'll wake up to when the New Year approaches. Hopefully we will not have ruined our sweet little boy by singlehandedly ushering in the Terrible Twos. I know that under the demanding little demeanor, there lies a heart of gold. When he shouts at me, "MOMMY! MORE COOKIE!", I inquire how a "nice boy" would ask and he demurely answers "please". Although he enjoys being the boss of his stuffed animals, he also loves to hug and kiss them and share his meals with them. He is a sweet baby boy and I know it's only normal for them to feel, at this stage, that the world revolves around them. And I don't mind aiding in that belief for a little bit longer. That's what a mother's love is for.
As we were surrounded yesterday by twenty children and their parents, I began to see why people think I have a tendency to "overdo it". The boy is barely two (not even, since his birthday isn't for another week). He didn't even fully grasp that everyone was gathered to celebrate him. He seemed a bit shellshocked when the group so cleverly inserted his name into the "Happy Birthday" song. While he knew all of the children there at least by sight, he only knew the names of his inner circle--dear "Tayum, "Harper" and "Henny". A birthday party with just those three and their sweet parents would have brought him endless bliss, but we were allowed to invite 20 children, and I couldn't think of a nicer way to spend a few hours on a Saturday than filling a gym with a bunch of happy toddlers to bounce and frolic and tumble, whether Paxton knew it was for him or not.
Okay, so renting the gym for the party is something I can readily defend. But the money I spent to buy a helium tank and a stash of giant Sesame Street character balloons--well, that was just for my fun. Replicating the Cookie Monster birthday cake I had when I turned two--that might just have been sentimental. At least I found all of the plates, cups and napkins at Dollar Tree (even if I did buy far more than we actually needed).
We skipped opening presents at the actual party for a couple of reasons. Our time was limited, so I wasn't sure if we could get through the process of a two-year-old learning to unwrap presents in less than 30 minutes. On top of that, I've read how torturous it is for other little ones to watch one child be bombarded with toy after glorious toy while they, themselves, leave with nothing but a piddly favor bag. We loaded all of the gifts into Chris' car and he had them spread around the Christmas tree by the time Paxton and I arrived home just slightly after him. Ah, a prequel to Christmas! Paxton had no idea what they were, so he ignored them, instead grabbing his giant box of Hot Wheels and dumping them onto the living room floor with a shout of glee. My mom arrived moments later to watch the gift-opening goodness, so I led Paxton to a gift bag and showed him how an old pro would approach it. When he caught a glimpse of the toys inside, he needed no more persuasion. He was hooked.
What surprised me most was that even at his tender age, he wanted no time to be wasted on cards. While I would try to read to him the sweet sentiments, he would grab for the card and toss it across the room. He would shred the paper from the toy, say something hilarious like, "Oooh, nice!" and then demand "Daddy!! OPEN IT!!!". No gift escaped his immediate inspection. Legos, play tool belts, Mr. Potato Head, trucks, you name it. Even a coloring book got Christened, and he took a moment to flip through a Curious George book, looking at the pictures before announcing "the end" and turning back to his Phonics Magnet set. He was in hog heaven.
What concerns me now is that in one week, his actual birthday arrives, during which he will be lavished with more gifts--this time from his grandparents and his mom and daddio. And one week after that day comes Christmas morning. After three weeks of being spoiled to no end by anyone and everyone, I fear the child we'll wake up to when the New Year approaches. Hopefully we will not have ruined our sweet little boy by singlehandedly ushering in the Terrible Twos. I know that under the demanding little demeanor, there lies a heart of gold. When he shouts at me, "MOMMY! MORE COOKIE!", I inquire how a "nice boy" would ask and he demurely answers "please". Although he enjoys being the boss of his stuffed animals, he also loves to hug and kiss them and share his meals with them. He is a sweet baby boy and I know it's only normal for them to feel, at this stage, that the world revolves around them. And I don't mind aiding in that belief for a little bit longer. That's what a mother's love is for.
Saturday, December 5, 2009
Texas' 2nd Birthday
Having a child has made me more of a socialite than Paris Hilton. It started early when I would take him to storytime at the San Marcos library when he was little more than an infant. I thought it was something that he would enjoy, even though he was a little young for it. His alternative was being confined to the four walls of our lovely home, and accompanying me to pet sitting jobs and on errands. I wanted to do something that was just for him.It turned out that I got as much out of our mother/son outings as he did. I made friends with other moms, and most of our early playdates were more about keeping the children from eating rocks while we visited and relished in our adult time. Paxton was the first in our little group to reach the age of wanting to actually play on the playgrounds we were visiting. He was the first to flee through the open gate and try to run into the parking lot. Our playdates got more about trying to reign him in than having a relaxing bit of fun with my friends.
Now, he is at an age where we both really enjoy all of our social outings. We have attended Music Together classes for a year now. We regularly hit the Wimberley Library Toddler Time. We go to J&R Gymnastics a couple of times a month, where he gets more daring in his explorating each time. And we hit a few birthday parties a year, which Paxton quickly came to associate with "cake", and thus loves! These are a few pictures from his friend, Texas', 2nd birthday party on November 1st.
I think it's cute that they're both at an age where if you tell them to give someone a kiss, they do it without question. Something tells me that isn't going to last for long! :)
Wednesday, November 25, 2009
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