Birthday Weekend - Part 2

So where was I? Here are the rest of Coleman's birthday weekend pictures. The last week or so has been pretty busy and every time I sat down to finish with this, I would get interrupted. Hard to believe I know.

The party guests fixing their lunch. This is the best shot of the table there is. Nana and Pop-O were great sports to wear their hats.

Here's Coleman before we ate. You can see he's starting to get a little self-conscious and shy. I thought this picture would show my baby bump a little better, so for those of you requesting pics of it, I'll try to get some better ones made soon.

getting started on the gifts

playing with the new loot

Our big gift to Cole was a Black and Decker tool bench. Here's a shot of his face as Brent is carrying it up from the basement.

checking out his drill

I think he liked it! He smiled like this the rest of the afternoon.

Andrew has enjoyed it too. He always wears his hard hat and safety goggles when working with his tools.

Gigi and Papack came the next week and brought his birthday gift.

They gave him a backpack like Andrew's school backpack. He loves to wear it around the house. Thinks he's quite the big boy with his bitsy (pacifier) and his backpack.

Grandma sent him a pizza to go toy. Our friends Carly and Joiner had this toy, and the boys loved it. They are really enjoying playing with their own set.

I think Coleman's second birthday was a big hit. With both Coleman and his big brother!

Birthday Weekend - Part 1

We celebrated Coleman's second birthday all weekend. His actual birthday was Sunday, so I'll start with those pictures.

He got to eat his cheese danish off of the red plate for breakfast before church. He had to have his oatmeal and raisins in a regular bowl. We just didn't think that would go well on the red plate.

We headed off to church and after lunch and nap we resumed celebrating. He got to open his other gifts from Andrew and Mommy and Daddy. You can see he had a very good helper. Andrew picked out a portable fire station for Cole. They have both loved playing with it today! We had spaghetti and meatballs for supper, and then sang and had cake again.

Saturday was party day. Cole loves bulldozers, so we had a construction theme party. The sign on the front door said, "Danger! 2 year old ahead. Hard Hats Required!" Andrew and Coleman passed out hard hats to our guests as they arrived. We did a family party this year, since we're still so new in town. However, it was even smaller than expected since Gigi came down with the shingles on Friday and so she and Papack stayed home. We'll celebrate with them when she's back to 100%.

We always take a picture of the food table, but somehow we forgot this time. I was very disappointed. There are a few shots where you can see a little of it, but no really good ones. I decided to stick to our normal birthday party fare for lunch. Chick-fil-A nuggets, carrot raisin salad, fruit and cheezits were on the menu. Everyone ate well, except Cole, which was a huge shocker! He got a little overwhelmed at the idea that everyone was focusing on him, and couldn't eat any lunch. He just sat very quietly in my lap and drank his capri-sun. He finally ate a few cheezits, and by cake time he was back to himself. It was really strange to see him act that way.

Here are the pictures of the cake. I found the idea online, and it was super easy to assemble. When Cole saw it that morning, he got really excited and said, "I like it!" The black stuff is crushed oreos to resemble dirt.

digging in

More to come tomorrow!

Happy Birthday Coleman!

Today Coleman turns 2!! We had his party yesterday, and celebrated some more today. I'll post about that tomorrow. For now, here's a quick look back. . .

Birth Day, 2007

1 year old, 2008

2 years old, 2009

I.N.K. - Part 2

INK is set up in many different play areas. They have lots of opportunities for role playing and dress up, which we are really into these days.

Here's the doctor's office/hospital,

the diner,

the dentist's office,

(Daddy seems to be confused about what kind of doctor he is.)



and the grocery store.

There is also a large room with play equipment for 4 years and under.

We haven't really explored the bank, salon, library, radiologist's office, vet's office, or the dress up stage yet. But Andrew did find the engineer's outfit in the big train.

Impossible

How is it possible that this little fellow who lived with us just yesterday. . .

has finished his first day of preschool?

Andrew's first day was yesterday, and it went great! He took a blueberrry muffin to his teacher with a note that said, "I'm berry glad you're my teacher!" She gave him a big hug when we arrived. Andrew decided that his loaded backpack was too heavy to carry, so I hung it up for him and while I did that he walked right in the room and started playing with the play-doh that was on the tables. I went in to get a kiss, and he said, "I'm ready to get started!"

When I got back to the car, Brent and Cole were waiting. Coleman furrowed his brow and said, "Where Andrew?!" And looked at me like I had lost my mind for leaving his brother. He seemed to understand that Andrew was going to school and that was okay, but while we were eating lunch he asked again. "Where Andrew?"

I picked up Andrew in the carpool line. We have a name tag to hang on our rearview mirror and they call him over the intercom when it's his turn. Here's a picture of him walking out to the stop sign and meeting the lady who walked him to the car.

On the way home he told me a good bit about his day. He played with a bulldozer on the playground. They ate lunch and he had cookies in his lunch! They went to music class and danced but he didn't know the songs and couldn't sing. Then he asked me to stop talking. I think he was worn out! At supper we discovered they also painted a picture, he opened his lunch by himself, and they learned about circles. He's already excited about tomorrow!

Meet the Teacher

Today was Open House at Andrew's preschool. He has been very excited - HUGE understatement - all week. He will go on two days a week this year from 9 to 1. He'll get to eat lunch there and take gymnastics each day. Our first extracurricular activity! Before we left, we made a few pictures. Here is the big boy posing in the new guitar shirt he picked out yesterday.

He also got to pick out his backpack for school. I thought surely he'd choose one with trains or firetrucks, but he wanted the doggie instead. Which works well since we have the matching lunch bag already. He was so excited about taking it with us today! You can see that Coleman wanted in on the pictures too.

Had to have one made by himself also.



Here we are!

The hallway we walked in to get to class was decorated like an ocean. Really great place!

finding his hanger outside the room

The wall outside with his name on a sunshine. Made me tear up a little seeing his name on things just like I used to do for my students. And yes, I was the only one making pictures.

First timer.

Andrew with his teacher, Ms. Sharon. We've heard great things about her from a friend.

playing with some of the things in his classroom

Wordless Wednesday