Two-Two!

Philip turned two last week!

We had a great day.  Andy stayed home a little late so we could have birthday breakfast together and show Philip his big birthday surprise.  It was in our basement and I knew I couldn't keep Philip out of the basement all day, so we wanted to show him in the morning.

Opening a few cards after breakfast

My parents were very generous in buying Philip a train set and a train table.  The night before, Philip unknowingly helped Andy put together the trundle drawers for the table. He loved being Daddy's helper. 

Philip was super excited to open the package and check out all the tracks, trains, and accessories.  I had thought about taking him out to do something fun in the morning, but decided to play it by ear.  Sure enough, the trains consumed his attention for hours, so we stayed home.

The two of us went out for macaroni and cheese at Panera for lunch and then we went to the store to get a balloon and cake.  After a nap, it was time for dinner and then we headed right back downstairs for more playtime.  He didn't even want to eat his cake yet even though he had begged for it earlier in the day. 

I'm pretty sure the cake wasn't this lopsided when we bought it.

Perhaps it is because I unknowingly carried it into the house sideways,

or because it sat out on or counter all afternoon!

He also opened up his other birthday presents. 

Horsey's are a new favorite

Anything he can hit with a hammer is good fun

Hurry up and open the package, Dad!

Nothing runs like a Deere!

After playing with everything and letting it get much too late, I mentioned the cake again and Philip went tearing up the stairs!  We decided to try a Smith Island Cake, which is the official cake of the state of Maryland.  It was absolutely delicious and the perfect size for our little family. 

We weren't planning on having a birthday party for him this year, but we ended up throwing one last weekend. We had a graduation party for Andy a couple weeks ago, but the night before, a derecho hit our area and several people weren't able to make it.  That left us with lots of grill food in our freezer!  So we had a few of the families who couldn't make it to Andy's graduation over to celebrate Philip's birthday. Unfortunately, I forgot to clear off the memory card on my camera, so I don't have any pics from the party.  But no worries, I didn't do any super-mom decorating or food-making.  We kept it simple and everyone had fun anyway. 

Philip's 2 Year Stats
Hair:  Brownish blond
Eye Color: Brown
Weight: 26 lbs (25th percentile)
Height: 34.5 inches (60th percentile)
Number of Teeth: All but his 2-year molars - how many is that?
Favorite Song:  Old McDonald
Favorite Book: Changes frequently
Favorite Toys: Balls, Cars, Trains
Favorite Foods: Any kind of squeezie, corn on the cob
Favorite Instrument: Guitar
Favorite Animal: Puppies, horseys, and of course, Herbie the cat!

At 2 years old, Philip is:

Curious

An Outdoorsman

Timid

Silly

Pious (at times)

Testing

Good at Sports

In love with anything that has wheels

Super Fun!

 He brings life to our home and so much joy to our lives each day.  We are so blessed to have him as our son.

 

See what he was like at one year old!

Happy Birthday to my Terrific Two Year Old!

24 Month Update

This may be my last monthly status update for a while.  Things are about to get crazy around here!

Lining up cars for a race!

In his last month of being one, Philip really advanced in language development.  Some new words include I love you, I ready, side (in or outside, depending on where we are not), please, and thank you.  He also commands us to sit very often.  "Sit, sit," he says, while patting on the floor next to him. It can be a good reminder to stop all my running around and enjoy some time playing with him.  Anytime he hears a phone ring - even if we are out at a store, he says, Hello.  He still isn't saying yes, but has started nodding his head and saying mmm hmm, mmm hmm for yes.  Saying mmmm no, also means yes, but a direct no still means no.  Got it?

All done!

A new favorite phrase is, What is that? When he first started saying this, I felt bad thinking that I had not been animating our days and surroundings very well.  He was curious about so many things!  I have since gotten over that - sometimes he just gets into a What is that? mood and he asks it about anything he sees, even if it is something he already knows. 

Exhibit A:  I have four minutes taped of the What is That game (short clip here),

and it didn't stop after the four minutes.

He loves to sing and we have been able to pick up some of the songs he knows by heart.  He doesn't say the words, but he sings the tune to Twinkle Twinkle (knows a couple words for this one), ABC, Old McDonald, Braham's Lullabye, Frere Jacques, Immaculate Mary, and the Happy Little Monkey's Song.

 We went to a petting zoo this month - he had a blast!

It is funny how quickly habits form.  One day when we were out shopping, I picked up a cute hat and put it on his head to see how it looked.  Philip decided he loved the hat and wore it through the whole store, and of course I bought it for him.  Now every time we go to leave the house, he says, hat, hat until I grab it and put it on his head.

Here is the hat

Another day, we were playing in the basement and Andy and I were both tired, so we laid down on the floor.  Philip thought that was really fun and came and laid beside us.  Now before we put him in bed every night, he wants us to all lay down together for a few minutes (he would prefer longer than a few minutes, but we have to get out of the room sometime!).  At bedtime he also wants me to put one of his stuffed bunnies on his back like a blanket, all because I did it one time.

Unabashed plug for the Magnificat

He is starting to want to bring all sorts of things into bed with him now.  We limit him to only soft, stuffed items, but sometimes the crib is so full of stuffed animals, it is hard to find him!  His love for stuffed animals just began recently - we have had a basket of them sitting in his room since he was born and he never paid much attention.  Now he loves to cuddle, kiss, and play with them. 

He is also starting to get more interested in coloring and playing with stickers.  He never knew what to do with stickers before and would always just hand them to me if someone gave him one.  Coloring now lasts a few minutes at a time instead of about 30 seconds!  However, he prefers to make trains out of his crayons. 

Choo choo!

This a big video month.  I wanted to capture him saying some of his new words - it is so fun to hear how he pronounces things.

Here are some of his most recent words:

Here he is saying his holy words:

And here he is watching the first video of himself. He thinks it is hilarious that he sneezed - priceless!

{this moment} New Guitar

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Georgia on Our Minds

In June we took a trip to Georgia for the week. Andy had a meeting in Atlanta, so Philip and I decided to go with him and stayed with my in-laws.  On our way down, we stopped in North Carolina for our nephew's high school graduation.  It was fun to go to a high school graduation - probably my first since my own.  We had a great time visiting with other family members and playing at my brother- and sister-in-laws new house.

While we were in Geogia, we spent hours playing piano:

We took Philip to the park:

Riding the painted cow

Philip was in shock that I walked away from him to take a picture

A few of my Georgia friends came over one day for playtime. My mother-in-law was so kind to make lunch for all of us.

I've been friends with the girl on my left since I moved to Georgia in 6th grade! 

The girls on my right are friends from college.

Philip thought it was really fun to watch his grandparents play Yahtzee every day.

Andy had Friday off of work and I had been dreaming of taking Philip up to his grandparent's mountain property.  We spent about a half a day in the mountains and as expected, Philip loved it!

Hiking time

Happy dog

Happy boy

Checking out turkey tracks

That evening we went to a coffee shop to listen to one of our nephews play with his band.  We always miss these types of events, so it was fun that the timing worked out.

We headed back to the park with Andy the next day.

I had talked my in-laws into throwing a graduation party for Andy while we were in town, since most of our family wasn't able to travel up for his actual graduation.  I was super surprised when I found out that they had decided to make it a joint baby shower/graduation party.  One of my first surprise parties ever!

My sister-in-law made a special cake for us.

If you look closely, you can guess the baby's first name!

Andy's with his brother Pete and Philip

Sunday was Father's Day.  My parents had come up for the weekend, so we were able to spend the day with both of our fathers, which was a great treat!

If you can't guess, Andy's dad is on the left and mine is on the right

Three generations of wonderful guys