Turning Two

I can hardly believe two years ago we were headed to the hospital to have our first baby boy. So much has changed in the past two years-- I can barely capture how much our hearts have expanded, our lives have been enriched and the endless joy that has entered our lives.
Arriving at two years has been a wild ride- Collin has grown so much in the last year. Everyday he makes us smile and laugh, manages to steal another heart (he's quite the ladies' man), offers us bits of wisdom and brightens our lives.

We can't believe how much Collin's conversation skills have grown. Between 18 months and 24 months his vocabulary has taken off like a rocket, and now he uses 6 to 8 word sentences to tell us just what he's interested in: "Mama, I need eat little bit donut!", or "Mama, I need more milk pwease!", or "Mama, I need big hug, pick up!"

Collin's also incredibly clever these days, opening doors, scaling furniture, stopping my heart as I find him on the table/crawling up the side of a bookshelf/soliciting the dog into helping him get a snack... He's able to problem solve his way out of nearly anything and this has caused us a tremendous amount of headache as we continually try to get one step ahead of him.

Over the course of his second year Collin has become increasingly social, becoming the ladies man in school, and affectionately stealing the heart of all his teachers. He loves playing with friends, spending as long as he can on the playground at the park and dabbling in finger paint, paste and otherwise messy concoctions at art class. We love seeing him become engaged in so many interests and watching the characteristics that follow so closely in his father's footsteps blossom- Collin is already anxious to spend the majority of his time outside, and follows Drew around in the back yard with a shovel in one hand, while pushing his little lawnmower in the other, its adorable and endearing to see so much of Drew in his little personality.

And so, for Collin's second birthday, we celebrated with a farmyard of family. Collin's been spending so much of his time singing "Old MacDonald" and "BINGO" that we thought a BBQ and farm party would be quite fitting. We gathered our cows and pigs, family and friends and set out for a great birthday weekend.

The weather didn't cooperate with our weekend plans though- we were hoping for a nice spring outside party and found ourselves plagued with rain and cold wind, forcing our party inside, to a nice sardine-like smush in our small house. Having a little less than 20 folks parading around our tiny 1950s house made me so very anxious to begin renovations and add on to our home. But, nevertheless, even though we were a bit more than cozy, the party was fantastic. Collin loved the attention and the many many gifts, as well as getting to see all of his favorite people in one place.


For his second birthday, Collin had a barn cake, surrounded with cows and pigs, but he really didn't quite dig in the way most kids do with cake, as he doesn't eat a whole lot of sugar- so he was more interested in the "hay bales" of shredded wheat than the cake itself. He happily blew out the candle and admired the cake, frosting and accessories, poked and prodded the cake a bit and was satisfied. Once everyone enjoyed the delicious cake, Collin moved on to gifts.


It was nearly like Christmas there were so many gifts, and many many many books, which Collin loved. He anxiously took nearly every book to anyone's lap he could find, Aunt Susie's, grandma's- whomever was most available. So amidst the gifts we continually stopped to take a look at his new books.


After all the books were open, perused and loads of wrapping paper was stowed across the living room, Collin had two outdoor presents left, so we braved the cold and rain and went outside. For his second birthday we gave him a water table which he was so excited about and anxious to use, and Nana and Papa Wackerle gave him a John Deere tractor that is like a Power Wheels, with lots of traveling power. Because the weather was so awful Collin was hesitant to get on, so Cha Cha tried it out for him. It wasn't 12 hours later though, that he was riding along on the tractor nearly by himself, happily zooming around the backyard.


The party was a great success, and as our little boy continues to grow we can't help but look on in wonder, Collin changes everyday and has grown so quickly. He's a fantastic big brother, a blossoming artist, a clever sleuth and has a tremendously large heart.

We adore you Collin, and can't believe how you've grown. You're an amazing part of our lives and we can't wait to see what next year brings.