James turns two!

"There are two great days in a person's life - the day we are born and the day we discover why."
-William Barclay

This was a busy week for the birthday boy and his big sister.  It began with his actual birthday.  We took the day off to celebrate and started it off with some birthday presents.  James had a lot of fun opening the presents and playing with the new toys, but he didn’t have long to play.  It was time to go to the zoo.

You can’t ever go wrong with kids at a zoo.  The animals and merry go round are a guaranteed hit.   This year James was old enough to understand what was going on, and was excitedly pointing out animals wherever we went.  He fed the birds, waved at the giraffes, and was in awe of a crocodile that was 10 times bigger than he was.  Ashlyn was more than willing to show James around, and all in all it was a great day with the kids.

That evening we received a surprise call from Grandma and Grandpa Wolfe who have settled in with their new motor home in Florida.  The called on the computer, and James was fascinated by the concept of talking to Grandma and Grandpa when they weren’t in the room.  We took the opportunity to light the candle on his birthday cake and James got a second round of birthday song.  Who can’t say no to that?

We needed to take a break this weekend from all the birthday activities, and what better way to relax than taking the kids to a splash pad?  It turns out there are a LOT of things more relaxing, but not many that are as much fun for the kids.  They ran, splashed, swung, climbed, jumped, and in the end had a great time.  It was interesting to see how much more active Ashlyn was with James along with her.  The last time we went Ashlyn was a bit too shy to really do much, but with James along for the ride we could hardly keep up.

We really did get a little quiet time in on Sunday.  Instead of taking eating lunch in the house we packed a quick picnic lunch and took it out to the pond.  I think all the fun was catching up to them, they both were close to falling asleep in the wagon by the time we got back to the house.

A quick nap later and the Kids were back at it.  Luckily Mom thought up a great educational and messy game (their favorite combination) involving soap and colors which showed them what happens when different colors mix together.  Bath time followed quickly after.

Two years later ago our little boy was born… and it’s amazing to see how quickly he went from a crying little infant to a running, jumping, talking, laughing… James.  We love you little guy.

Ladybugs, beds, and rain…

"How brave a ladybug must be!  Each drop of rain is big as she.
Can you imagine what you'd do, If raindrops fell as big as you?"
-Aileen Fisher

To help curb our garden’s aphid infestation and provide some educational fun for the kids, we decided to combat our pests with ladybugs instead of chemicals.  A few days after ordering, 1500 ladybugs showed up on our doorstep.  They were released into the garden to great fanfare from the kiddos, and we now have a swarm of ladybugs flying everywhere.

As the new arrival’s delivery date nears, it was time to dig into the attic this weekend to get all the baby stuff down.  It was mostly successful, but when we heard some strange noises coming from the boxes we found this:

While Ashlyn regressed 4 years, James made yet one more step towards being a big kid by giving up his crib and sleeping on a mattress bed.  We weren’t sure if he was going to take to it so Mom bought some Elmo sheets (his favorite) and made up a bed on the floor.  Luckily, he did.  Well, sort of.  He still feels that sleep is highly over-rated, so he fussed for a bit as usual.  But when he was done fussing, he crawled in bed, played for a few minutes, and went to sleep.  Now we can get him a real bed and move the crib into the baby’s room.

Kids are great on summer rainy days.  They don’t have the aversion to getting wet like adults, so all you have to do is open the door and the kids are off running through the grass and rain. 

Next week James turns 2!

James’ second party and a Father’s Day realization…

“Men should always change diapers. It’s a very rewarding experience. It’s mentally cleansing. It’s like washing dishes, but imagine if the dishes were your kids, so you really love the dishes.”
—Chris Martin

We held James’ second birthday party a few weeks early this year, and preparations came to a fever pitch in the days leading up to the festivities.  Luckily we had some good help and I’m pleased to report that most of the food and desserts survived and were ready by party time.

The party day arrived and the family came over to celebrate our little guy turning 2 with a Star Wars themed fiesta.  Everyone had a great time, especially James who’s highlights were balloons and a kitten (not a gift thankfully).  Thanks everyone for making it a special birthday.

Kids have the amazing ability to never need recovery time, so they were both up bright and early the next day.  The weather was fantastic, and we had the kids outside a good portion of the afternoon playing with bubbles and a new water toy that Nina and Papa gave James for his birthday.

This post wouldn’t be complete without saying something about Father’s Day.  After the recent events in California (not good) I was reading about it and saw an interesting quote from a father who, after learning as much as he could about the story, said “I started reading because I had a daughter, I kept reading because I had two sons.”  Given the proximity to Father’s Day, it made me think about the importance a father plays in the how their children will see the world when they grow up, especially in their relationships.  Dad’s are their daughter’s first love, and it’s from this that the foundation of trust is born.  And it’s from their fathers that sons learn how to respect and love their partners.  It’s a humbling thing to realize, and I can only hope that I can teach them well.  No pressure, right?