Happy 2nd Birthday John!

John turned two today.  We had a pizza pony party with the neighbors.  Saturday we went to the bakery for breakfast and picked up the cake. 

All morning we spent outdoors cleaning and decorating for the party. 

There were lots of breaks for these two.  

John showing off his soggy diaper that we forgot to change all morning while outside.  Oops.  No wonder he loves to use his potty these days. 

We were finally done and all we had to do was cross our fingers that it did not rain. 

Waiting for the party goers to get here -- all are amazing neighbors. 

And then it was utter chaos with ponies, feeding ponies, pizza eating, scooter chasing, music going, jelly bean giving to take post nap blues, etc, etc.... so this is the only picture of the party.  But it was amazing, thanks to all our wonderful neighbors and their children.  Abigail had a blast.  John watched from our arms and enjoyed cake, pizza and feeding the ponies carrots.   Good times!

John at 24 months is very self sufficient.  He is a problem solver.  Sometimes he might not have the words for the push up in the freezer, so he goes to the freezer and pulls it open with all his might and grabs his push up.  He is hungry and Mama is cooking; he grabs his plate, fork and napkin and brings them to the table and climbs into his chair (That is when I had better start running with food to put on his plate).  But most of the time, he has the words.  Plenty of them, in long sentences, which he loves for you to repeat back, to observe his presence and feelings.  He is very openly expressive with his thoughts and feelings.  He is a do it himself man.  His toys are all tools!  His adventurous side shows he enjoys cheering for the bad guy.  His favorite first TV show was Little Einsteins Bad Knight, Good Knight.  He loved the Bad Knight.  Then we moved to Go West with big bad Blue Jet stealing the party bag -- he ooed and awed and said "Oh No! Blue Jet took that party bag!"  These days it is Instrument Dinosaurs and when the rumble of Bass Tranasauraus starts he jumps from his chair throws his hands in the air and screams and runs saying Dinosaur!   He looks back to see if he made you laugh..... It really is hilarious. Favorite foods are variety -- enjoys peas, avocado, and corn, fruits, turkey and cheese, jelly beans, coke and frothy milk on my tea, even a few sips of tea... okay just a "tiny bit" more -- John relishes in the "tiny"  He is the tiny guy in our family.  He loves to point out what is tiny.  He wants a few more minutes or a second helping, he says as he holds his thumb and index finger close, "Tiny bit, Please"  with the sweetest smile that you cannot resist.  He wants things just his size, tiny, and they are much more valued to him than things Mama, Daddy and Abigail use.  Also, as a toddler, he is into a hoarder stage,  he enjoys putting all his toys around him on the sofa to play or cuddle.  He still likes to help clean and a new favorite is to sing the TCU Music class Goodbye song while vacuuming with his new toy vacuum. He also grabs his claw and plays it like a guitar to sing the Goodbye song.