Birthday Boy!

Beowulf is now two! Just for the sake of posterity, I thought I'd make a little list of what he likes and does.

Favorite movie: My Neighbor Totoro

Favorite book: Green Eggs and Ham

Favorite food: CAKE!

Favorite toy: Cars

Knows: The colors green, blue, and yellow. Numbers one, two, and three. Letters O, P, and B. 

Favorite phrases: Oh, no! Oh DEAR! Stuck!

Favorite cell phone game: Pocket God

Does not like: Clothes, Indian food, people laughing at him.

Beowulf's birthday was on Christmas Eve, but we waited until today to celebrate. Kelson and I began the night before, making Beo's Totoro birthday cake. We were up late and there was a last-minute trip to Target fifteen minutes before closing time, but it came out great.

In the morning, Beo got up to find the table covered with a party monster plastic tablecloth and a pile of presents. Having become a pro at Christmas, he immediately picked up one of the packages and wanted to open it, but we told him he had to wait! 

Instead he got to eat waffles while watching... Totoro. What else?

Unfortunately Grandma B came down with a bad cold - thanks to our Christmas visit - so my folks couldn't come. But Grandma and Grandpa C showed up! We played with balloons and silly string for a while.

Then - presents! At Christmas Beo would open one present and immediately want to play with it, but now that he had gotten the idea he wanted to open all the presents at once. 

He got lots of awesome stuff, like books, more play-doh, new trains for his train tracks, a movie, and TRUCKS!

Next it was time for the cake! Beo was pretty impressed that Totoro came in cake form as well. I was a little worried he wouldn't want us to cut it up, but he knew exactly what it was and wanted some immediately. I gave him one of Totoro's ears, which was almost solid frosting. He gobbled that down and demanded more. The second piece went down a little more slowly. 

Since we were all full of cake, we decided to walk to the park. It was a nice sunny day and Beo had a great time trying out his trucks and chasing his new nerf football downhill. (A brilliant present!) There was a girl a little younger than him at the park, too. Beo walked up to her and drew back both hands. You could see the little wheels working in his head, thinking, "I know I am not supposed to hit. But I want her attention! What should I do? I KNOW!" And with that, he threw his arms around her and gave her a big bear hug. After that she followed him everywhere.

When we came home, we had some lunch, and played with trains until naptime. Beo said goodbye to Grandma and Grandpa C and passed out much quicker than expected, given all the excitement. When he got up again, I was zonked out myself, so Kelson played with him until I got up. Then we watched his new movie, Ponyo, and ate dinner.

At bedtime, Beo didn't want to go to bed! He finally had a little meltdown - the first real upset of the holiday season, but pretty minor. Everything was all better when we got the flashlight Great-Grandma gave him for Christmas and turned out the lights to enjoy the present from my aunt, uncle, and cousin - a glow in the dark Dr. Seuss book! We had to read that a couple of times. 

All in all, a very successful birthday! We were sad that my folks couldn't be here, but I am sure we will enjoy having fun with them another time.

This whole week that Kelson has been off has been so fun. It is such a blessing as a parent to be able to do things with our kid and really enjoy our time. We've tried to do things at his pace and in a manner that he could handle, and it's been great. Yes, we have to discipline him here and there, but there have been no major tantrums and for a two-year-old he's really very good at minding. Overall he's just a happy, energetic kid and we love him to bits!