Well my littlest man turned 2 last week, and wowee did we celebrate! How could we not? This little guy brightens each and every one of my days with his goofy grin, silly sayings, and constant laughter. I am addicted to snuggling him and can't get enough of his big blue eyes, and plump little cheeks that shake and jiggle when he runs. I love love love him to bits, and am so grateful to have him in my life.
We started his birthday festivites on April 7th, with an old tradition that we had in my family growing up - decorating his bedroom door in streamers to surprise him when he woke up. Of course he was THRILLED when he saw this, and burst through the streamers with all the energy of a new 2 year old, beaming from ear to ear, racing into the living room to discover his new toys and gifts. And as you can see from the photos, ice cream was the theme of the day! Big brother Hayden got to stay home from preschool so we could all go to the Rain Forest Cafe for lunch, where he was serenaded with "Happy Birthday", and treated to a large ice cream sundae with a candle to blow out. He couldn't get enough of all of the rainforest animals, and we just had the nicest family lunch. Later that evening we cooked his favorite dinner, and Grammy and Hayden made him a homemade ice cream cake with oreo cookie crust - YUM!
However, the real celebration came on Sunday, when we had most of his very best friends over for pony rides and a petting zoo! As always, my parents were extremely generous to offer up their house and yard for the party, and Nathan and I poured our hearts into all homemade decorations, food, and birthday cake. Pierce has always loved animals, particularly cows and sheep, so we decided to stick to a barnyard theme. My friend Lindsey, who is incredibly creative, helped me put together the cutest barnyard themed Happy Birthday banner, and Nathan and I constructed a pretty cool little cake out of cookies, rice krispie treats, and a vintage collection of Fisher Price farm animals.
The petting zoo was probably my personal favorite part of the party. Whenever I go to the zoo or aquarium, I always think there is a fine line between enjoying and exploiting the animals. This was another such case, however the family that provided the petting zoo for us was so obviously loving to these animals, and the animals seemed surprisingly calm and at ease with the whole event. And the smiles from Pierce, Hayden, and their friends were worth a million bucks! They had baby sheep (that the kids were able to bottle feed), as well as goats, little pot belly pigs, bunnies, chicks and ducks.
Mercedes and Dayton were also welcome additions to the party. Cute little ponies! They were so gentle and sweet with the kids, who all took turns riding them around the yard. This year none of the kiddos seemed afraid, although Pierce was mildly concerned the whole time and never really cracked a smile! Even Ruthie was able to take a little ride :) The owner of the operation, Coalson's Corral if you are in the DFW area, was so complimentary and said that usually the animals and the employees are frazzled after an hour with a bunch of children this small, but that our kids were gentle and good listeners, and it had been a pleasure.
After the animals packed up to head back to the farm, we ate a delicious BBQ dinner, and then sang Happy Birthday and blew out the candles on the Barnyard Cake. Nate was pretty innovative with his construction of the barn and silo, and I researched ways to make a little pond (turns out melting blue Jolly Ranchers worked best). There was a lot of love in that cake!
The evening ended up with a rousing impromptu game of Blastball, as the sun went down on Pierce's 2nd birthday. It's a day I know I will never forget, and I sure hope the Pierce will hold fond memories as well. As the evening wound down and all his friends left, Piercey opened the backyard, looked around, then said forlornly to my mom, "Jimmy, where all my friends go?" I think that was a pretty good indication that our little man did not want the night to end any more than we did! I'll never forget him waving into the dark saying, "bye bye friends!", with his ice cream covered face, and farmer overalls. Sweet sweet boy.
We are so blessed to have the family and friends that we do, who are eager to celebrate these milestones with us, and who are so generous with birthday gifts, and time, and love. WE LOVE YOU!
And finally, before this post ends, I want to cover a few things that define Pierce at this fabulous and fierce age of 2!
His favorite foods are macaroni and cheese, pizza, bagels and cream cheese, popsicles, cereal and milk, ice cream and mandarin oranges.
He can count to 10 easily, and can actually count objects, not just recite the numbers.
He knows his alphabet and loves to sing his ABCs.
He struggles constantly with his colors and I think he likes to tease us by telling us things are always PINK!
Every night before bed I have to sing the "Tiger" song to him (from a baby Einstein CD), and Do a Deer from the Sound of Music.
He is totally and utterly obsessed with his pacifier (plapi) and giraffe minky blanky. He is allowed to have them only in his crib, but he is constantly sneaking into his room to grab them, and then will pop his head into the living room with his contraband in hand, then run back into his room giggling like a mad man when we scold him.
The pantry is his favorite room in the house, and he will frequently grab whatever snack suits his fancy (usually shredded wheat), bring it out to his new rocking chair, and proceed to feed himself and the dogs straight from the bag.
The swing is his favorite toy at the park and he will literally sit in it and demand to be pushed for hours on end.
He loves his "Bradoo" and tries to do EVERYTHING his brother does. They are attached at the hip!
His favorite shows are "Bubble Guppies" and "Go Diego Go", and he loves all the characters from "Cars" and "Thomas the Train".
He's a total ladies man - his best friends are Hannah, Brooke, Annelie, Scarlett and Tatum.
He has to do EVERYTHING himself, including getting into the car, climbing up into his carseat, and closing the mini-van door using a little button (then he yells BACK BACK BACK as he runs at top speed up the driveway - since I always tell him to get back so the door doesn't shut on him haha). Whenever I try to help him with something he'll push my hand away and yell, "Wubby do it!" or "My turn!". Mr. Independent.
Love him! Happy Birthday Pierce!
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