James: Ten Months!

James is just such a blessing. He has such a sweet, gentle, easy-going temperament. Even though he can be feisty at times, especially towards his brother, and his will is coming out, he is just such a sweetheart. He is in a pretty big mommy phase right now and is constantly wanting me. I have to sneak out of the house so he does not see me leave, if other people are holding him or playing with him and he sees me, he will make it known that he wants me. This attention is definitely welcome since his big brother is in a major daddy phase and doesn't want much of me.

During his tenth month, James went on his second road trip of his life to Indiana, 10.5 hour drive each way! While he was there, he stayed in his first hotel, went to his first wedding, went on a train, went to Chicago and went to the beach at Lake Michigan. He also attended his first Reformation Day Party and went dressed as baby Moses in the basket.

He got two new teeth is month, making his tooth count 6, and seems to be growing and developing more and more each day. It seems like everyday I am amazed at some little thing that he has learned how to do.

Eat
James continues to eat real food and we are expanding his palate and what he eats. For breakfast he likes to eat waffles, pancakes, toast, some type of fruit, dried cereal and yogurt. Lunch he usually eats cheese quesadilla with beans and/or spinach, fruit, veggies, toast with avocado or hummus. Dinner he eats whatever we are having. He has started eating chicken and beef and loves chicken. For snacks, he likes to eat puffs, arrowroot cookies, honey wheat pretzels, yogurt. Carbs are still definitely his favorite food of choice.

James does still nurse 4 times a day, although his nursing sessions are a lot shorter and sometimes feel like a wrestling match. He does wake up once a night to eat. 

Sleep
James is still napping two times a day. His first nap is usually around 9:30 and it has been taking longer for him to fall asleep. He likes to play and read in his crib before falling asleep. His second nap is at 2:00. Both of his naps are usually between 1-2 hours.

James goes to bed between 7:00-7:30 and usually wakes up around 7:00/ 7:30 in the morning. He still does not sleep through the night :( This little man had another rough month with teething (2 new teeth!), traveling, and getting a cold. 

Play
James is becoming such an adventurous little boy and loves to play. He does not really enjoy being held and will arch his back and wiggle around trying to get down. It makes it kind of difficult since he cannot stand by himself yet for long periods of time. He now gets down at the park and will climb the stairs at the playground, crawl or cruise along the play structure and go down slides. He really enjoys swinging, especially if it is next to his brother. He climbs the stairs and makes a mad dash for them countless number of times a day. When he wakes up in the morning or after naps, he likes to stand in his crib and start 'jumping.' He stands up on just about anything and has even let go and stood by himself for a couple of seconds. He likes to go over to the bookshelf and pull all of dad's books out, open cabinets and pull out pots and pans, and completely destroy his brother's train table.

James continues to be a pretty good independent player. It is so much fun to see him make his way around the living room and finding different things to play. He is usually interested in what his older brother is playing with, and depending on the mood, that is either welcomed or given a strong, "No James!" (which we are working on). He has really taken an interest in books and likes being read to or just sitting by himself, and flipping through the pages on his own.

Likes: Moving around (crawling, cruising along the furniture), climbing stairs, eating, carbs, playing with his brother, train table, motorcycle pulling books off of bookshelf or nightstand and reading, being outside, beard tickles from daddy, mommy
Dislikes: Being in the car, sitting while taking a bath, getting his diaper changed/ getting dressed, getting faced wiped off after eating

Size:
Weight: 20 lbs. 8.5 oz. (33rd percentile)
Height: 29.5 inches (69th percentile)
Diapers: Size 3
Clothing: Tops- 12 months, Bottoms- 6-12 months/ 12 months, Pajamas- 12 months.
Nicknames: Jamesy, Jamesy Boy, Little One
Number of Teeth: 6

Milestones:
Tooth #5- Upper Left Lateral Incisor [10.12.15]
Tooth #6- Upper Right Lateral Incisor [10.21. 15]
Wave hi
Pulling to stand/ cruising along furniture
Stand for a few seconds by self
Words: Dada, Hi/Hey

A Note from Mom:
Little one, you are definitely starting to enter the toddler stage. You prefer to be down more, than you like to be held. You are becoming more daring, adventurous and exploring more with every passing day. It is so fun to see you be able to do things that I consider a 'big kid' thing, like roll a car along the carpet. With you becoming more playful and wanting to be involved, I feel like we are starting to get a glimpse as to what it will be like to see you and Zach play with each other. I still can't believe that you are almost one year old. As we enter the holidays, it is so hard to think back to last year when I was super pregnant with you and wondering what you were going to be like. You are such a gift, James. I love how you are your own unique person. You add so much to our family and we love you so very much.

Ten Month Pictures

James: Nine Months!

Well, I am really late with this blog post, considering how James turns 10 months in a little over a week! Better late than never!

This little boy is on. the. go. I have officially hit a stage with having two very mobile kids. And what is one activity that this little mover loves to do? Climb the stairs. And he always does it at the most inconvenient times, like when I'm washing the dishes, or cooking and have raw chicken or cupcake batter all over my hands. It also doesn't help when his big brother sits at the top of the stairs, and beckons him up ;) He also wants to be down and clearly communicates when he no longer wants to be held. He officially is up on his hands and knees and crawling like a big boy.

We hit another big milestone this past month, which was a huge deal for all of us. We joined a community bible study (CBS) and Zach and James were in classes and the nursery for the first time ever with people I did not know. We have only ever had family members babysit the boys and since I help out with Sunday school at church, they are either with me or with people we know and trust really well. After putting James in the nursery two times, I came back to him crying :( It is a hard time of the day for him, during his first nap and at a time he usually eats. Since he has awesome aunties who would love having one-on-one James time during that time, I pulled him out of CBS and he now loves that one-on-one time. (Zach is LOVING his classs!)

James also took a turn with solids and is loving food! He eats table food and has become quite the little foodie.

Eat
After attempting all sorts of approaches to food with James, we finally found a method that has taken to and actually eats. He rejected purees so we are doing Baby Led Weaning with him. And he LOVES food. James loves carbs. They are by far what he always goes for. I give him fruits and veggies and he gives me this look of, "What is this?" but he will eat them. He likes eating waffles, pancakes, toast, bananas, cantaloupe, honey dew, pears, sweet potatoes, quesadillas, black beans, and other variations of what we are eating. Eating has become one of his favorite activities. He can spend so much time sitting in his high chair, munching on food and kicking his legs. James also learned how to drink out of a sippy cup. He gets water or b-milk in his cup at meals.

As always, I'm concerned whether or not he is getting enough food/calories. He is still nursing four times a day, but has definitely decreased the amount of time he is nursing. He also wakes up at nurses 1-2 times at night. Again, I want to make sure he getting enough calories.

Sleep
Oh sleep. I miss you. This month has been rough in the sleep department. James got off track with teething, then he was sick. I honestly have lost track how many times he wakes up in the middle of the night. I have discovered that I am a softie in the sleep department. I always question why he is up. Is he teething? If he's sick, he needs to eat and get his fluids in. Did he not get enough to eat during the day and is hungry? For now, I will just keep getting up with him, knowing that one day he will sleep through the night. 

He is still napping two times a day. Sometimes his morning nap is cut short so we can go out and do things. With that, his afternoon is usually longer (2 hours) which is a nice break for mom!

Play
James likes to get up and stand on everything. One of his favorite things is the train table and he loves ripping the track apart and taking everything off the table. I have given up on trying to have the track nicely laid out. He likes to climb up and stand next to chairs, the coffee table, book shelf  (and pull the books out). He likes puzzles and taking the pieces out, and really any toy that his big brother is playing with. He has taken an interest in books and take them off the bookshelf and look at them. One of his favorite games is peek-a-boo and playing with him will bring an instant smile to his face.

Likes: Food, carbs, train table, crawling, standing in crib, books,
Dislikes: Getting diaper changed, faced wiped off, being constrained when wanting to be down.

Size:
Weight: TBD- will be going to the doctor's for his 9 month appointment soon.
Height: TBD- will be going to the doctor's for his 9 month appointment soon.
Diapers: Size 3
Clothing: Pajamas- 12 months, Bottoms- 6-12 months, Tops- 12 months.
Nicknames: Jamesy, Jamesy Boy, Little Buddy
Number of teeth: 4

Milestones:
Drink out of sippy cup: [9.4.15]
Cruising along items (furniture, train table, etc.): [9.4.15]
First time in a 'nursery': [9.9.15]
Crawling on hands and knees 

A Note from Mom:
Little Jamesy, you are growing and becoming such a big boy with every passing day. I am still in denial that you are getting to be so close to a year old. With you learning how to crawl, you have really taken off and are so fast. You love to be down and explore everything. Your brother is in a big daddy stage right now, so I enjoy having you be in your mommy attachment stage. I know there will come a day, very soon, where you will also switch over and be attached to daddy, which is ok, but I like having you looking for me and wanting me :) You fill our hearts with so much joy everyday. We love you, little one!

Nine Month Pictures:

James: Eight Months!

It was another big month for James. I think I will be saying this all the way until he is actually walking. Developmentally, James learned how to get himself into a sitting position from lying on the floor, get up on his knees, which then led to him pulling up and standing on some objects all by himself. He did some MAJOR (which translates to lots and lots of sleepless nights) teething this past month. He finally cut through his top two central teeth, at the SAME TIME! Poor guy, no wonder why he was having such a hard time sleeping.

This month also brought out is will. He is no longer the compliant little baby who just goes with the flow and does everything you say. He is still very easy. He is just a lot more vocal now. If you take something away that he wants or was enjoying, he starts to give a little squeal to express his disapproval. He no longer likes to have a hat on his head and will pull it off the second you put it on. He also seems to be scared of certain things now. He does not like loud noises and he can tell when his brother is being too rough, he lets out a little cry and starts to crawl away. If he really wants me, he will crawl through the whole house to find me and come climbing up my leg. This month James discovered the fireplace, which he tries to touch quite often, which led to him learning the word 'no.' He also loves the stairs. He hasn't figured out how to crawl up them yet, but enjoys hanging out on the bottom step on his knees or standing.

James is still the sweet little boy he has always been. His smile lights up the whole room. The way he belly laughs when he is chasing after his brother or his daddy is tickling him with his facial hair is infectious. He really is a mellow baby is just goes with the flow. He enjoys going to the park, being outside, playing in the water, going grocery shopping, and playing with his big brother. It's so hard to believe that he is already 8 months old. I might need to start birthday planning soon! ;)

Eat
Eating has been my biggest struggle with James so far. I knew that he was teething, so I am really hoping that all of our struggles stem from that and that now his teeth have cut through, that he will start to enjoy real food. He was not the biggest fan of purees or being spoon fed. Any time I held a spoon up, he closed his mouth really tight and I felt like I was force feeding him, which was not pleasant. We then moved onto the mesh feeder. He loved it the first night. I put peaches in it and he was smacking his little lips together with pleasure. But, after a few bites, he started having a reaction to the peaches and I had to stop giving them to him. So now he has had some type of reaction to apples and peaches. I have tried other foods in the mesh feeder but he still didn't seem to interested. One night my sister (the pediatric nurse!) gave him a piece of pizza crust to gnaw on and he loved it. He was so angry when we took it away. We thought that he probably just wants to the real deal, so now we are on to Baby Led Weaning (BLW). He has been doing ok with BLW. He actually picks up the food (which is a big step for him). Now that his teeth have cut through, he is definitely putting the food more in his mouth and experimenting. This little boy loves his carbs. His favorite things have been Baby Mum Mum crackers and toasted wheat bread. I gave him watermelon a couple days ago and he was somewhat interested in it. I also bought him a sippy cup and have introduced it to him so that he can explore, play and get used to it. He has not really figured out how to drink out of it yet. 

James' main food source and all his calories are still through nursing. He nurses 4 times a day and he has also increased his nighttime feedings to 2 (thumbs down.) Since he was teething, I nursed him more for comfort during the night.

New foods: yellow squash, zucchini, oatmeal, mango, plums, broccoli, wheat spiral noodles, toasted wheat bread, watermelon, mum mums. 

Sleep
Sleep this month has been great in terms of naps, bad in terms of nighttime. James still is napping two times a day. He goes down for his first nap around 9:00 and his second nap around 1:30/2:00. His naps are usually anywhere from 30 minutes to 2+ hours. His first nap used to be the longest nap and I was really struggling with an only 30 minute afternoon nap. His afternoon naps have gotten longer! Hallelujah! I love it because they are at the same time as his big brother's nap which equals a little break for mom! Sometimes the afternoon naps are 30 minutes, but most of the time they are 1-2 hours. It is so wonderful. I really cannot stress how nice it is to have a break. His morning nap is usually around 1-2 hours.

Nighttime has been a whole new struggle. With teething, this poor little guy has had some rough nights. He has been waking up at least 2, sometimes 3 times per night. James goes to sleep between 6:30-7:00. He was waking up around midnight every night. And then every 3-4 hours after that. It really started to wear me down, only getting 2-3 hour increments of sleep every night. What was this- the newborn stage all over again? Justin and I had worked out that if James wakes up in the night, I tend to him, and if Zach wakes up or gets up early, Justin tends to him. After a week or two of getting up so many times during the night, I broke down and needed reinforcements, so Justin helped out. James however did not love that because he just wanted to be nursed, so after 30 minutes or so, Justin would end up bringing him to me. Justin actually said that trying to put James back to sleep was like wrestling an angry badger. I am praying that he starts getting back to sleeping better now that his teeth cut through. If he keeps this up, sorry little man, but you may be sleep trained really soon.

Play
It is so fun to see James explore the world around him. And since he is very mobile, it is fun to see what he voluntarily goes to and wants to play with. He really enjoys playing with a lot of his big brother's toys. I'm not sure if it is because it is what his brother is playing with and he wants to join in on the fun or if it is because those toys are actually more appealing than his little rattles. James likes taking the puzzle pieces off of the puzzle, playing peek-a-boo, stacking rings, the train table, cars, crawling over to the dishwasher and taking off the magnets (specifically the snow globe magnet), wrestling and playing 'catch me' with his brother. James likes music and likes hitting the drum or taking the tambourine or other musical instruments out of the drum and playing with them, the xylophone. He likes having some one hold him and dance to music. His little arms and legs kick like crazy! Non-toy items, he is really interested in wires, the lights on the internet box, the stairs and the fireplace.

He really likes to be outside, feeling the grass, watching the leaves blow in the wind. He has started swinging at the park and likes to swing alongside his brother. It will only been a short while before he is actually crawling and going on the playground with his big brother! He also loves water and loves taking baths or going in the little kiddie pool in the backyard.

James is still army crawling all over the place. He gets up on his hand and knees quite often, but just hasn't figured out how to stay up there and move his hands. He will pull himself up to his knees or in a standing position and grab toys out of the toy box. He likes to crawl over to the stairs and hang out. I think he is secretly trying to figure them out and is studying them :) I have started putting small books and toys in his crib. Before he falls asleep and when he wakes up, he plays with them.

Likes: Baby mum mums, being outside, water, swinging, pulling up on the train table and taking apart the tracks, hitting toys on hard surfaces, the stairs, wires, ribbons, wrestling/ chasing after his big brother, magnets.
Dislikes: getting nose wiped, being tired, being left out, teething, getting diaper changed/ changed, getting face wiped off after eating.

Size:
Weight: 20.6 lbs [estimate according to bathroom scale]
Height: 28.5 inches.
Diapers: Size 3
Clothing: Tops- 9/ 12 month, Bottoms- 6-12/ 9 month, Pajamas- 12 month or 9 month onesies.
Nicknames: Little love bug, Jamesy, Jamesy boy, Pumpkin Spiced Latte (daddy), angry badger (from daddy when he's hungry at night and not sleeping), Sweet Pie (nana)
Number of teeth: 4

Milestones:
Sat in shopping cart [8.4.15]
Get to sitting position by himself [8.12.15]
Get up on knees [8.10.15]
Object Permanence
Standing holding onto things [8.27.15]
Third tooth- Top left central incisor [8.29.15]
Fourth tooth- Top right central incisor [8.29.15]

Note from Mom:
My sweet little boy, I just looked through a bunch of pictures of you from when you were born to your first few months with us. It is so amazing how much you have grown in just a few months. You are infinitely made our lives so much greater and full of joy. Even though we have had some rough nights this past month, I keep reminding myself that you will not always be this little, and to cherish the nighttime snuggles. Pretty soon you won't want to snuggle with me, and so I will take what I can get! I love seeing you explore the world and trying to keep up with your brother. He is an active one! I can already get glimpses of what your relationship is going to look like with Zach in the future. You two may not always get along, and may be a little rough with each other, but you sure do like to spend time with each other and can really get each other laughing. James, you are so loved. I thank the Lord everyday for the gift that you are. 

Eight Month Pictures:

James: Seven Months!

Seven months. This is exactly why I have a problem when babies turn six months old. Every single month after that sounds SO old. It was hard for me to just type the word seven. Pretty soon you will be turning one and I will be in such denial about having another toddler on my hands rather than a baby. Why must little ones grow up so fast?

This has been another big milestone month for James. For starters, he officially learned how to sit unassisted. This is always a big step for me, because he goes from being a little babe who can only lay on the floor, to looking like such a big boy sitting up. He has even gotten into the sitting position by himself when laying on the floor. It has only happened once, but he still can prop himself up on his side and I think he will do it more consistently soon. James has also officially mastered the army crawl this month. Although for him it is more like an army pull. He manages to pull his whole body with both of his arms. This boy is getting quite good at the army crawl. He is fast! In the morning I put him in the living room so he can play while I get his big brother breakfast in the kitchen. It is only a matter of minutes until I see a little head pop around the corner and come crawling into the kitchen. It is so cute. I also place him in his brother's room, where there are lots of toys for him to play with whenever we are busy upstairs (changing brother, brushing teeth, etc.) Well, little James doesn't like to just stay in the room anymore, he quickly crawls into the hallway or the bathroom. He can get up on all fours, and pretty soon he is going to be full out crawling... and then I am going to be in big trouble with two mobile boys!

Eat
James nurses 4 times a day, plus one- two 'meals' and nurses once at night. He is still getting use to solid food. It seems like he is not the biggest fan, and most of the time the food end up on him, rather than in him. He moved on from trying vegetables to having fruit and some grains. With the brown rice, I mixed in some milk (not cow's milk, don't worry!) and he seemed to eat that a lot better than anything else. I'm not sure if the familiar taste made it more appetizing to him. I am still making all of his food at home right now. My pediatrician recommended this website, wholesomebabyfood.com, and it has been fan.tas.tic! It does seem that James has had some type of reaction to apples, so we are staying away from those right now until we get it officially checked out by the doctor. A cute little story of him eating: One day I was giving him applesauce and after each bite he would get this really sour look on his face. I said to him, "Are these apples more sour than the banana yesterday?" And right away his response was, "Yeah!" I know that he actually does not know that word and that it was pure coincidence that he made that noise at that exact moment, but it just took me back and I started laughing.

New foods this month: avocado, sweet potato, butternut squash, bananas, apples, pears, peaches, brown rice, puffs (not. a fan.)

Sleep
James' sleep has been a little mixed up and unpredictable this past month. At the beginning of the month, he cut his second tooth, so he was waking up more. Then the poor little babe got a cold for about 2 weeks in the middle of the month and was waking up more then too. It also seems like he might be teething with his two top teeth, although they have not cut through yet. Ever since he was sick, he's sleep has been a little out of whack. He has been waking up more at night, been a little bit more difficult going back to sleep when waking up at night, and waking up early. I hope it's the teething or we might need an intervention soon. I miss the days of him sleeping until 7:00/ 7:30. His big brother wakes up at 6:30 on the dot pretty much every day, so I'm not sure if he gets awoken by all the doors closing. Then it seems like when one decides to 'sleep in' until 7:30, the other is up at 6:00. Is it kind of sad that I view 7:30 as sleeping in now?

He is still taking two naps a day. When he was sick he was boycotting his naps, so that was a lot of fun, but now he is back to two. Although since his boycott, his morning nap has shortened to 1 - 1 1/2 hours and not the 2 hours that he was doing. I'm still trying to find the best time to put him down for his afternoon nap. It is usually between 1:00- 2:00, and as much as I try to have the boys' naps align, they really don't. I put them down at the same time, but Zach has been taking longer to fall asleep, so by the time he falls asleep, James is awake, thus making 0 break/ alone time for me during the day :( One day it will happen.

Play
Since James is in full-out army crawling mode, it is so fun to see what things he actually wants, since he can crawl and get them. His current favorite things are cords- cable modem cords in the living room, fan cords, computer cords. I am constantly picking him up, moving him away, only for him to be back at them in a couple minutes. He really enjoys his big brother's toys, matchbox cars, little tool set, firetruck, play food. He still enjoys his bouncer. He loves water and playing in the baby pool or the bath tub.

He is really such a happy and content kiddo and will play with whatever he can find. It is fun now that he can sit up, to see him playing side by side to his brother or seeing him crawl to what he wants! He definitely tries to keep up with his big bro and I will see him chasing after Zach or going to whatever toy he is playing with. 

Likes: Being outside, water (pool, bath), playing with big brother's toys, wires, snake stuffed animal that rattles, crawling everywhere, daddy, Zach
Dislikes: Being tired, being hungry, and he doesn't seem to be the biggest fan of food...

Size:
Weight: 20 lbs. 5 oz. [estimate- according to bathroom scale]
Height: 28.5 inches [estimate]
Diapers: Size 3
Clothing: Tops: 6-12 month/ 9 month, bottoms: 6-12 month/ 9 month, pajamas: 9 month (although he poked holes in the feet) so moving up to 12 month?!?
Nicknames: Jamesy, Jamesy-Boy, Little Love Bug

Milestones:
Second tooth: Bottom right incisor [7.11.15]
Sitting unassisted [7.15.15]
Get into sitting position from belly by self [7.30.15]- although you've only done it that once!
Army crawling
Getting up on all fours

Note from Mom:
James, you continue to just grow and grow and each day is a new adventure for you! One of my favorite things about you this past month is your army crawling. I think it is so cute to see  your little head pop around the corner of the kitchen or out of a bedroom. You make this little grunting noise when you start off and kick your little legs and flail your arms. When I love most though is how you come find me. Sometimes when you are crawling, I walk past you just thinking you're roaming around, put you start crawling after me. Or if I am sitting in a chair or standing, you crawl up to me, and start batting at my ankles, telling me you want to be held. I love it!

I love your smile and your belly laugh. I love walking into your room after you wake up and seeing you flail your arms and legs in excitement to see me. I love seeing you completely light up when your dad comes home and how you give him the biggest belly laugh. You are so special to us. We love you, little boy!

Seven Month Pictures:

Chugga Chugga Two Two!

Zach turned two back in April and we threw a little train themed birthday party for him. I have several pictures that I wanted to share of the day. Before our kids can actually choose what they want to do to celebrate their own birthdays, I have had some fun coming up with party ideas for them ;) Now before you think that I just do whatever I want, I do put some thought into what they like and what they would enjoy for their party. I like to look at the past year and think, "What has he been most into this year?" This year, it was trains! He got a train table for Christmas and has loved playing with it. He likes going to different stores and playing at their train tables, going to the 'train park' downtown and watching trains. 

So we threw a CHUGGA CHUGGA TWO TWO train themed party!

I didn't exactly go all out like I did last year. The party was only dessert and had more interactive things for the guests to do. I also thought of things that I could make myself for the decorations. The backdrop was the bunting that said, Chugga Chugga Two Two.

I made a train track out of black and brown paper to serve as the table runner. The main focal point of the table was the train cake and the cute picture of Zach on the train tracks.

 

 

 

 

 

 The cake was a lot of fun to make. I was debating on several train cakes. Should it be a cake shaped like the number 2? Should it be an actual 3D train cake with little cars full of goodies. Ultimately I decided on this fun one. I had made a huge sandcastle cake for Sunday school the week before and I wanted a little simpler cake. I think it turned out really cute! I used two boxed cake mixes to make two 13x9 cakes. I then died the buttercream green and frosted the whole cake. I used the train that is on the cake to write the actual number two on the cake. The served as my outline to pipe the number 2 with black frosting. I then used kit kat bars to make the tracks into the number 2. I finished the cake with a red and blue border to match the colors of the party, some chocolate rocks and the candles. I would have added maybe a little blue lake or a tree but I didn't have any room left on the cake.

 

 

 

  

We had a fun day celebrating with family! James attended his first birthday party and had fun hanging out in his new big brother's chair while he was napping before the party :)

 

 zach & daddy 

 

 pa & james

 

 cousins ready to party!

During the party one of the 'stations' (can you tell that I used to be an elementary school teacher?) was frosting sugar cookies in the shape of a train. Those were cutely displayed on the table. The blue bags with divine twine served as the goodie bags for the guests to take their frosted cookies home in.

 

 

 cookie decorators 

 

 

 

 a little too many ;)

 

 enjoying his creation. 

 

 Another station was a coloring station with train coloring pages.

 

 

There was also sidewalk chalk on the back patio.

 

When it was time to sing Happy Birthday, the birthday boy was actually the one to start the song himself! On his actual birthday, his cousin Emma sent him a video message of her singing happy birthday to him. He would watch that video over and over again. He actually learned the Happy Birthday song from that video! There are also several other birthdays in our family around his, so he learned that when there is a cake nearby, people usually sing happy birthday. So when he saw his cake, he knew to start the song!

 

The birthday boy really enjoyed his cake and Joe-Joe ice cream (his one request!) 

 

 

 

 

Opening presents!

 

 

 

 

 

 zoo membership!

 

 

paw patrol!

We are so thankful for the family that came to celebrate our little boy's second birthday! His life is so full and rich because of all the people that love him! 

Happy Birthday Zach! We love you!

P.S.- Can you please be into construction equipment and building this upcoming year because I really want to throw a construction/ dirt themed birthday party ;)