Birthday Party in LA.

Playing "catch ball" as JJ calls it.

The ONLY naps that were had all weekend! JJ was pretending to snore like "ampa" : )

We went up to LA this past weekend for Michael and Krista's little ones birthday party and had a great time. The boys alway have fun playing/yelling/laughing/crying/fighting. On Sunday, the day of the party, the 2-year-old boys refused to take naps because they could hear each other, so they kept talking and would not go to sleep! After they got up from their fake naps, they both had lots of meltdowns. Once the party started though, they all had a great time. They played, ate cupcakes, ate pigs-in-a-blanket, and seemed to genuinely have a good time. Krista did an amazing job with all the awesome homemade decorations and food, so I was glad that we had JJ's party the weekend before with my semi-homemade food and Party City bought decorations! It's always fun to be in LA, but for some reason every day this week JJ has asked for "I want Tristan, I want (the little one), I want Krista, I want Michael" at which point I have to say that they're in LA and won't see them for a few weeks and JJ starts crying : ( It will be a long few weeks until we see them again.

New Stats.

That was actually pretending to sleep before he really fell asleep

JJ had his 2-year check-up this morning and it went well. When the doctor first came into the room he didn't believe that we were there for his 2-year appointment, he thought it must be his 2-and-a-half year check-up! JJ was of course talking up a storm during the whole appointment and the doctor quickly checked off "language development" as NOT a problem area! The doctor said that the fact that we've read to him since he was born has definitely influenced his language and said he has the language skills of a 3-year-old.

He had to get a couple of shots today to get him "up-to-date" and he didn't like that. Brian and JJ both cried : ( The nurse was really rough with giving the shots and it hurt me just watching it. The rest of the day JJ kept holding his leg and saying "leg hurts." The shots also made him tired tonight and he fell asleep on the couch watching his new movie, The Fox and the Hound (one of my favorites!). Hopefully he'll feel better tomorrow because we're headed up to LA for the weekend for Michael and Krista's little one's birthday party which should be lots of fun!

So, here are his new stats -

Weight - 30 pounds, 6.4 oz, 77th percentile

Height - 3'1", 96th percentile

Head Circumference - 20.24", 97th percentile

Yep, still a tall skinny bobble head! The doctor said if he stays at this percentage rate then he will be 6'4"! We're going to get him started in beach volleyball sooner than later : )

Thursday Night.

After dinner tonight, JJ thought it would be fun if he and Brian put on their backpacks and I wore my purse and we walked around the house. Not sure why this was so much fun for him, but he thought it was very exciting : ) Then after he lost interest in that we played "ashes, ashes, we all fall down" for a very long time. Brian and I ending up sweating by the time it was time for JJ to go to bed! Sometimes a toddler really is a good workout. Tomorrow is JJ's 2-year check-up at the doctor, so we'll get to see just how tall he really is. I'll let you know is new "stats" tomorrow.

2nd Birthday Party.

The cake that Brian and I were able to decorate thanks to my dad watching JJ!

We had JJ's "whee-oo" party this last weekend and it was lots of fun. We only invited a few families, but the energy and noise level sure does multiply when there are lots of kids running around! JJ seemed to love being the center of attention and also took the whole "it's my party and I can cry/play/run/bite/laugh if I want to" very seriously!

He loved opening presents, bit Michael and Krista's little one so hard that it left a complete teeth impression in his leg, and ran around holding his hat in the air and screaming "whee-ooh party" thanks to Michael teaching him that (well, he looked at Michael like he was crazy when Michael did it, but then he wouldn't stop doing it.). He also ate a whole hot dog, a lot of fruit, lots of chips, a few juices, some cake, and lots of ice cream. It was a great day.

This morning when I dropped him off before work, one of the little girls that was at his party came out wearing a fireman hat that we gave out and JJ screamed "PARTY HAT!!!" Luckily I had one in the car so he could go in wearing a party hat too.

He loves all his new presents. He's already colored in all his new coloring books, read the new books, tried to do his new puzzle, played with the train set, screamed at the other kids (mainly Tristan) when they wanted to play with his new airplane, and wanted to bring his new Mr. Potato Head to bed with him. Tonight I had to compromise with him about the Mr. Potato Head and trade him for his shark to "cuddle with" in bed! I thought it would be really embarrassing if he choked on Mr. Potato Head's arm!

Thanks so much to everyone that came and made the day extra special for us. We love you all.

2 Years Old!

JJ turned two today and he was very happy about it. He started off the morning with a fit and ended it with another! This morning's fit happened because he wanted to carry his cupcakes down the stairs that I made for his birthday, which was fine until he dropped them down the stairs which made him lay down and start screaming and crying. Then tonight he had a fit because he really wanted to play with Brian's deodorant, not sure why, and when I took it away he laid down on the ground and started screaming and crying. I think that bookending the day with fits is doable as long as the middle time is enjoyable.

Breakdown of JJ at two-years-old -

Has "all" his teeth (before the older molars)

Wears size 8 shoes

Is growing out of his 2t clothing

Talks ALL the time

Loves to run and make other people run

Favorite word is "mine"

Favorite saying is "I want. . ."

Puts multiple word sentences together

Has started whining a lot

Loves giving hugs and kisses

Loves playing with cars and trains

Gets mad when the "wheeoo" trucks pass by us on the street and he can no longer see them

Gets mad when the "choo choo" does the same as the "wheeoo" trucks

I'm sure there's lots of stuff that I'm forgetting right now, but basically JJ is very active and talkative and we love him lots and can't believe he's already 2!!!

The Wave.

Here are a few more pictures from the beach. I couldn't decide which one to put up, so I put up the whole sequence; anticipating the upcoming wave . . .

A Dolphin Weekend.

If you look really closely, you can see the dolphin fin . . .

Brian's parents were in town for the weekend and we all had a great time. On Saturday we took JJ on his first visit to Sea World. The whole way there he kept saying "I want to see world." I don't think he understands different meanings for the same words yet, i.e. "sea" vs "see"! We walked around the park and got to see the penguins, sharks, sea turtles, sea lions, lots of fish, got to touch some star fish in the tide pool, polar bears, whales, and we went to the dolphin show. JJ actually sat quietly and watched intently for the whole 25 minute dolphin show! It was truly amazing to see (JJ sitting quietly that is!)!

He loved seeing all the animals and only ran off a few times. He would only run off when we were out in the open though; when we would go into an exhibit that was a little dark he would whine and want to be picked up. He loved seeing the animals but did not want to walk through the exhibits on his own. Brian and I were reminded a little as to why we love the zoo so much though since at the zoo the crowds aren't as concentrated. It was a little more difficult to keep an eye on super fast JJ with the big crowds.

Brian's parents bought JJ a shark that is now officially his favorite toy and he has to sleep with it! Yesterday when we put him to bed for his nap, he was sleeping on his blanket as a pillow, had a pacifier in one hand, and the shark in the other. Apparently we're now to the age of sleeping with toys in the bed.

Yesterday we headed to the beach and JJ liked it more this time than he ever has in the past. He buried Opa's feet in the ground and actually went out in the ocean with Brian holding him. He still was a little scared of the waves, but didn't cry like before. While we were at the beach, we saw lots of dolphins swimming and "surfing" in the waves. It was really neat to see them out in the wild doing their own show!

We had a great weekend followed by complete meltdown this evening. After dropping off Brian's parents at the airport, JJ cried almost the whole way home saying through his tears "I want Oma, I want Opa." Then on the drive home JJ saw a different Navy ship out in the water and JJ started asking for "Daddy boat." At which point I had to tell him that Daddy and his boat are out in the ocean for the next 10 days which just made him cry even more : ( I felt so bad for him that I let him con me into a dinner of crackers, fruit crisps, and fruit snacks! We'll hopefully both be able to pull it together for the next week and a half and eat some more well balanced meals : )