We celebrated James' 2nd birthday on July 2nd. This year we chose to do a racecar theme since that was James' obsession for the year. I want to try to make that a tradition-whatever his "fad" was for the year will be the birthday theme. Our family and close friends came to my parents house to help us celebrate. My friend, Melissa, made the most amazing racecar birthday cake with racecar cookies. James couldn't take his eyes off of it. He was in his glory, knowing the day was all about him. I kept a close eye on him as he mingled with friends, and even sometimes went off to play by himself. He wore a constant smile on his face. All of his "people" were there, and on top of it all-to celebrate him!
When it came time to sing "Happy Birthday," I think I got through the first couple words before getting a lump in my throat. How was my baby turning 2? I watched his face light up with excitement when we lit the candles and started singing. Andy had downloaded the theme song to the Cars movie which thrilled the birthday boy. He blew out his candles all by himself (with no drool, thank goodness) and I handed him the rice krispie treat racecar from the top of the cake. Andy put him down on the grass, and he immediately broke into his happy dance. He loved every second.
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| James' amazing birthday cake made by Sweet Melissa's Cakes in Carver! |
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| His happy little face eating his edible racecar! |
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| The infamous happy dance-he does this dance everytime he hears the Cars theme! |
After all the food was eaten, cake was devoured, and presents opened, I saw my tired birthday boy walking around somewhat taking it all in. I asked, "James are you tired from all the fun today?" He looked at me with a big smile on his face and replied, "I no sleepy Mommy, I happy." I'll never forget that moment. He is such a joy.
So the journey of the "terrible two's" has begun. I have a feeling with James, they might not be so terrible...or at least I hope so. His language has developed so much, that when he's being fresh, its actually funny. I really find it hard to keep a straight face as I try to discipline him. His most recent "freshy talk" is the use of the word "nothing." I don't know where this came from, but when he gets really upset he'll say "nothing bed," "nothing supper," "nothing etc." It's as if the word "nothing" is his swear word. No one has a clue where it came from, but it cracks me up. He'll fall of his bike and shout, "nothing bicycle" and then get back on. The word will never be the same! Tonight on the ride home, I said "is baby Thomas going to come out of mommy's belly next week." He sat and thought about it for a moment, and replied "Nothing Thomas!" O boy! If this is the extent of his temper, I think I can handle it!
As for his "sweeter words," I have been singing "I love James" to him since he was a baby. A couple months ago, he started replying with, "James loves Mommy" to the same tune. This melted my heart. Just recently, he started initiating the song out of no where. As I was driving home tonight, my mind crazy with "to do" lists, I heard "James loves Mommy!" come from the back seat. I replied with "Mommy loves James." He started giggling and kept singing it. It's so wonderful having a little lovebug who can now voice things like "I'm mommy's boy" or "I love Mommy." It makes it all worth it-even on the toughest of days.
His gift to us on his second birthday was swimming. My parents have a pool and we are very nervous about James being around it. We are constantly watching him when he's near it, or even when we're in the house. My mother has tied bells to all of her doors so that we can catch him trying to escape. The weather was beautiful on his birthday, so I got him in his bathing suit and my nephew Patrick took him in the pool. I peeked out the window to check-in on them and saw James swimming. Somehow my 14 year old nephew taught him to swim. I threw my bathing suit on and went down to the pool to test how far he could go. Granted he has his life vest with swimmies, but he was able to swim from the steps of the shallow end, to the edge of the deep end (where I stopped him) to give me a high five. He'd then turn around and make his way back to the steps. We've taken him swimming everyday since, and he keeps getting better and better. I'm hoping this will bring us "some" relief with him being around water. If we can teach him basics, or how to find the stairs, I'll feel so much more secure. In the meantime, I love watching his little froggy legs kicking and him doing the doggie paddle with a proud expression on his face. He calls himself "Nemo."
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| My little fishy and me! |
So this month is officially the month of the 2's. My little guy is officially 2, Thomas will be joining us on the 22nd, I will be the mother of 2, and will have 2 boys to love and enjoy. Its a very bittersweet month. I'm excited to watch what two years old brings, I'm excited to see what being a mom of two feels like, I'm curious to see how my two boys will react to eachother, but I'm saying good-bye to a two year chapter of my life-James and me, as well as a 9month chapter of pregnancy. I love being pregnant-its a miracle and will never cease to amaze me, but I can't wait to get down on the floor and play with both of my boys. Here's to the new chapter. I have no doubt it will be the best one yet!
