Tyson's 2nd Birthday Party!

I wanted to keep Tyson's birthday party festive and fun, but also keep it simple for me since at the time, I was nearly 38 weeks pregnant. I decided to go with a balloon theme because he loves balloons right now. I also knew it would be something I could easily find and stick with a color scheme -- red, orange, yellow, green and blue.

First up, the decorations!  I made this balloon wreath after seeing it on this blog.  I bought a #2 at Hobby Lobby, spray painted it red, covered it with glitter and hung it from the center of the wreath using fishing line.

I sewed this fabric party garland using the tutorial from The Purl Bee. We also bought one of those party helium tanks and Ryan blew up lots of balloons.

My mama helped me make the birthday banner using her Cricut and cardstock.

My friend Christie designed the cupcake and fruit skewer toppers.

Uncle Reggie helping to celebrate!

Ryan was mixing up some mint juleps--it was Derby Day. 

I ordered a 1/4 sheet cake and 2 dozen cupcakes from Kroger.  Best decision ever.  I was planning to make the cupacakes myself, but I decided to make it easy and just order them.  They were delicious! 

The birthday boy!

Time to open presents:

Birthday Boy!

Ryan and I went in his room together when he woke up on the morning of his birthday. Love his sweet bedhead!

Blurry, but cute smile :)

Then, we went downstairs to show him his big birthday present...a new roadster tricycle! 

He was a bit unsure of it at first.

But he warmed up and got a closer look.  Checking out the tires...

Playing with the bell.

And attempting to take it for a spin around the living room.  He's still a bit short for it, but I'm guessing that won't be for long! 

After he played with his tricycle for a while, Daddy made him a special birthday breakfast of pancakes.  He refused to eat them.  Silly boy! 

Tyson is TWO!

Somehow in the blink of an eye, our little man turned TWO!  We can hardly believe it's been that long since this 8lb 6oz bundle arrived and changed our lives in an instant. 

Day one:

Day 730:

I'm stealing this format from my mama friends for his monthly updates.  Thanks ladies!

Age:  2 years

Weight: 32.4 lbs (90th percentile!).  It was his first time being weighed on the big boy scale.  No more infant scale for us.

Height: 35.5 inches (also 90th percentile)

Size: 2T clothes, size 6 or 7 shoe, size 5 diaper

Hair: Had his third haircut about a month ago.

Teeth:  At least 16, maybe 20.  It's virtually impossible for me to see inside his little mouth to see if his 2 year molars have popped through yet. 

Sleeping: He's still a rockstar when it comes to sleep.  We can count on him to take a 2 hour nap, usually starting somewhere between 12 and 1pm and sleeps on average 11-12 hours each night (8pm - 7-8am).  I'm keeping my fingers crossed that it will continue once baby sister comes home!

Eating:  Eh.  You wouldn't know it by his weight, but he goes back and forth on how much he eats and what he will eat.  We can almost always get him to eat fruit (of any kind), yogurt, applesauce, cheese, cereal or crackers/pretzels.  We cannot get him to eat a single veggie, despite all efforts.  He drinks 3 cups of 2% milk each day and as much water as he wants.

Movement: He loves to run, jump, kick a ball, and play. 

Milestones:  Walking up the stairs without holding on to anything!  Can walk down the stairs upright as long as he has something to hold on to, no more shuffling down on his belly or his bum.  Continuing to put words together, counting (knows 1, 2, 3, skips 4, knows 5, 6, skips 7, knows 8, 9, 10), knows many of the letters of the alphabet by sight, starts to sing "Moon River".  We also switched his carseat to forward facing the day after his second birthday.

Favorite toys/activities:  Thomas the Train, toy cars/trucks, the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse characters.  He loves to be outside more than anything!  Loving his new swingset, likes to walk to a nearby pond and see the ducks, excited to see any kind of truck, especially the trash trucks on Wednesday mornings.  Still loves the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, but not too interested in much else on television.       
Dislikes: Coming inside or not being able to go outside, getting settled down for a nap, washing his hands before eating (he used to like it).   
Words:  Too many to count!  Putting more and more words together, repeating everything we say, talking constantly. 

Tyson's 2 Year and Family/Maternity Professional Pics

We had pictures taken a few weeks ago for Tyson's second birthday and a few family and maternity pics. They were taken by my friend, Jacquie Carman, http://www.jacquiecphotography.com/.

I thought she did a great job capturing him just as we see him on a regular basis--laughing, running, jumping and playing. She certainly had a challenge with photographing him, but I love them all. Thanks Jacquie!

Daddy's Little Helper

Grandma and Grandpa W are giving Tyson a playset for his birthday.  Grandpa delivered it to our house on Sunday and Ryan got right to work putting it together.  Tyson decided he would help Daddy :)

Tyson has no idea what he's helping with, but we're sure he's going to love it when it is all set up.  Thanks Grandma and Grandpa W!

22 and 23 Months Long Overdue

I have been a total slacker when it comes to blog updates, but I promise I have an excuse. There has been a lot of preparation going on in this house for our baby girl's arrival in a little over 3 weeks. More on that to come.

Dear Tyson-

You amaze us every single day. You are such a loving, funny and sometimes challenging little boy. I'm guessing you weigh a little over 32 pounds and I'm not sure how tall you are, but I swear you grow taller by the minute. We'll find out exactly how big you are in just a few weeks at your 2 year appointment. You can still wear some of your 18-24m clothes, but we're quickly transitioning into 2T because your clothes are getting too short. I'm just anxious for real spring and summer weather so you can wear clothing that fits! You're still wearing a size 5 diaper and I can't imagine that will change any time soon.

We've been talking a lot about your baby sister that's on the way. You point to her crib and say "baby sister". You also try to lift my shirt and look for her. As much as I'm excited for you to meet her, I'm also sad that you won't be my baby any longer. I'm trying to take every minute I can to snuggle you (or as you say "nuggle") and tell you how much I love you. It often brings tears to my eyes as I put you to bed at night. Just tonight, without prompting, you said "night night baby". It made my heart melt. Speaking of sleep, you're a great sleeper and Daddy and I often comment about how lucky we are. You're in bed most nights by 8pm and sleep often until 7am or later. You're on to one nap per day, usually around lunchtime, for about 2 hours.

Eating is a daily struggle. You love your milk, but you're still incredibly picky about what you will and will not eat. From what I hear from other moms of toddlers, it's totally normal, but frustrating for Mama and Daddy. We can almost guarantee that you will eat bananas, cheese or homemade banana bread.

You recently started combining words and repeating everything we say. You like to say "hab it" (have it) and love to point out what's going on with the weather. Being outside is your absolute favorite and all of the recent rain has put a big damper on that. You also love to take walks to the pond near our house to see the ducks.

You're much too busy to read many books right now, but you love to play with your toys and you play very well by yourself and with Lauryn. You and Lauryn also love to watch the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, but I really think you are learning a lot from it. You know many of your letters by sight and know some shapes and colors.

You're so close to being 2 and it's obvious in many ways. We are amazed at how much you've changed in your second year and we're excited to celebrate your birthday with you.

We love you sweet boy,
Mama and Daddy