Kazoo in the Kitchen

The kid shows promise, right? : )

I want to try...

wearing my helmet when I'm NOT riding my bike,

eating pizza like this,

bringing Bear to the park,

feeding Baby Doll in my "car".

(Two+ is so much fun to watch!)

Cold Turkey

When Oscar and I were looking at the sweetest pictures ever of his new cousin and our niece, Sage Charlotte-Rose, it seemed the right time to continue our growing conversation about giving up his "pacy"(FYI, a great book for kids on this subject is "Pacifiers Are Not Forever" by Elizabeth Verdick). We talked about how pacifiers are for babies (like baby Sage), and how maybe we could send Oscar's pacifiers to baby Sage since he is getting so big and doesn't really need them anymore.  He liked this idea, so...

I didn't hesitate to find a box.  O.K. put his pacifiers inside and watched intently as I wrote his name and Sage's name, and drew on a stamp, of course.  Then we put it out for the mail carrier to pick up. 

And now the pacifiers are GONE.  Naps and bedtime were rough yesterday, but I am happy to share that today he went down with much less complaining.  It took him a while still to fall asleep, but instead of crying, he was busy chatting with Big Bear, Little Bear, and Cat.  He is getting to be such a big kid.

Fairly Handy Man

I've been meaning to brag about the Hole, or actually about the exodus of the Hole and the man behind its disappearance, ever since it was fixed.  O.K. used to point at the Hole during meals, naming it simply "hole", as he does so many other things these days.  Then John got some great information from the Family Handyman, and only Oscar expressed a brief sadness over the hole's eventual absence.

I am quite happy to have a hole-free dining room again.  Good work, Johnny!

Old Space, New Space

To make space for O.K.'s party, we decided to move around some furniture.  The extra space was actually pretty great, so we made some minor adjustments, and--ta-da!--same crap, but in a whole new room.  Way back when we moved in, we arranged the furniture in a way that was perfect for two.  At first, O.K. didn't take up much space, but now he is a busy kiddo with plenty of two-year old Stuff--our perfect space for two was becoming much less "perfect".  The change has been refreshing, to say the least, and we can't help sharing it with those of you too far away to stop by.

 

Old space...couch/shelf in the middle of the room, TV off to the right (for the record, the vacuum cleaner didn't officially live there).  Remember?

New space...

Kid-friendly space!  Toys under the table on the left, book-nook on the right.

And from the other side...

(view from entryway)

"Grown-up" toy-free space...aahhh.

The Birthday Party -- Finally!

After having to postpone due to a collision of illnesses, we were happy to finally get to celebrate Oscar's birthday with some of his friends and their amazing parents.

There were party decorations...

And brunchy snacks and cake...

 Sweet Rose and her mama, Jemma

There were activities

 like coloring train cars,

 playing with toys and puzzles

and balls and trikes,

and reading stories.

There were party favors --

 wooden train whistles, engineer hats, and a CD of O.K.'s favorite train/go songs.

 O.K. wore his hat for the 30 seconds it took me to snap this picture.

 Julian, looking sharp as always, wore his with style.

 Jack and Cole, blowing their train whistles.

And there was cake, complete with candles and singing.

 One last time -- Happy Birthday, Oscar!

"Two!"

You know it's your birthday when you wake up to balloons,

and there's cinnamon rolls for breakfast,

 and cake with candles to blow out (more than once, if you're two) after dinner,

 and the best-presents-ever ("Thomas!") to open and play with,

and your parents sing birthday songs to you all day.  

Happy 2nd birthday, O.K.!