Happy Birthday, Grady!

Yesterday our little boy turned 2 years old!  It was a much anticipated event, with requests made weeks before for a "big orange basketball" and a carrot cake.  We were excited to celebrate his birthday, which also happened to land on Easter this year.  So with the double whammy of events, there are lots and lots of pictures coming up in this post.  Be warned!

Backtracking a bit, this week went much, much smoother than the week before.  I think it was a combination of Grady getting back on a more regular schedule, not having to go to the hospital for the morning and maybe - fingers crossed - Grady getting a bit more used to having his sister around.

Grady continues to like to show Clara the ropes.  Here he is gently suggesting she look at his drawing.  

Grady has been really into drawing lately.  He almost exclusively draws "snakes," although worms, spiders, rainbows, donuts, and miscellaneous other odds and ends are occasionally featured.  The other day he drew a spider, and then "picked it up" to eat it.  He offered me one, and I said "Ew, no thank you!"  He then sweetly said "Do it for me?"  I have no recollection of ever saying that phrase to him - it was pretty hysterical.  Another funny thing he said yesterday - he came downstairs and announced "I came downstairs!"  Then after thinking a moment said, "I'm not upstairs ... anymore." 

Grady is a bit of a vigilante about ensuring that Clara gets her few minutes of tummy time a day.  He likes to show her how to do it - usually by crowding her out of her mat.  The other day while doing tummy time, Clara actually rolled over!  I'm sure it was a fluke (and it hasn't been repeated) but holy cow I am not ready for another mobile child yet!  Here is Grady rewarding Clara for some good tummy time with a kiss.

Another highlight of the week preceding Grady's birthday: a few glimpses of Clara's lovely smile. 

Practicing her look of embarrassed disgust at her mama

Still haven't gotten a picture of her big smile yet, but these give you some idea.  I'd say we're at 80% gas smiles, 15% milk contentment smiles, and 5% genuine smiles.  Most of the smiles have been aimed at Grady so far.  So I don't know, maybe he's onto something with that whole touching her eye thing.

Okay, onto the birthday weekend.

On Saturday we headed out to Mt. Scott Community Center & Park for their annual Easter Egg "Hunt."  It wasn't so much a hunt as a mad scramble for  the eggs that were put out in plain sight on the playground, but it was still fun.  I explained the general concept of hunting for eggs beforehand but forgot to tell Grady what to do once he got one.  He wasted a valuable 30 seconds or so trying to put his first egg in someone else's basket, but he still made out with half a dozen or so. 

You can see the eggs "hidden" in the background

Coiled and ready for the starting bell

First egg! 

Hm, now what?

Shake shake shake!

Now he's got it!

Last one

Clara's level of participation

The funniest part was watching Grady eat the starburst inside one of the eggs.  Tough work, but he persevered!

Even more exciting than the candy, though, was getting up close and personal with a fire truck!

 He might not look super excited, but it was the definite highlight.

The next day was the big 0-2!  Grady woke up to find...

a big orange basketball!  We went out to the school playground to test out the ball, which for Grady meant holding onto the ball for dear life and saying "I'm using it!" shrilly whenever Daddy or I suggested he shoot it, pass it, dribble it, or otherwise let it leave his hands.

Grady also got some other balls and a garbage truck.  The garbage truck was the definite favorite.

Earlier he also got a pretty sweet zoo set from Grandpa and Nana, which has been a big source of amusement so far, for mommy too.... What can I say, there's something fun about making the animals go down the big slide....

After a pancake breakfast, 

 some of which got in his mouth, it was time to dye Easter eggs.  This was a lot more fun for me and Matt than it was for Grady, but he humored us for a while.

Here's the final product!

Clara was unimpressed.

She did perk up a bit when Grady showed her his garbage truck.

"Cwara, yook!  Garbage truck"

We finished off Grady's birthday with pasta (his favorite) and carrot cake.  It was a hit - the pasta especially. 

Before

After

We brought out his birthday cupcakes with two candles, and I told him to make a wish before he blew them out.  He wished for "cake."  So, there it is.  His first wish came true. 

Clara behaved very well through dinner, a near first for her.   And she looked pretty cute to boot.

Now if I could wax sentimental for a moment.  It's amazing how much Grady has grown this past year.  The obvious things like walking and talking of course happened, but also the continuing development of his personality.  He is a sweet, sensitive boy.  He can be shy when first meeting new people, but once he warms up, he loves to show off - usually by dancing or showing his toys.  He really wants to love dogs, but is afraid to pet them.  He loves to be helpful.  He has strong ideas, and feels things strongly when they don't go as he anticipated.  He is becoming a very caring big brother.  He is a comedian.  He cracks us up multiple times a day with the words he chooses and the jokes he plays.  In my unbiased opinion, he is an amazing little boy.  We are so lucky to have him.