My baby is officially a two year-old! I'm always so busy around Lennon's birthday that I never really stop to think about the significance of his birthday (mainly cause I know I'll be sad that another year has zoomed by). However, I did have a harder time with Lennon turning 2 and than on his first birthday. When he turned 1, he was still a baby in so many ways, but he is definitely not a baby anymore and has become an awesome, independent little boy. Soon after Lennon was born, I understood the phrase, "you blink and they're graduating from high school." More and more I feel that time needs to slow down or even stop every once in awhile. I know this next year is going to be a blast and he is going to change so much, but I want to be able to savor each moment without catching my breath and playing catch-up all the time.
Family!
My parents came for a two-week visit so that they could be here for Lennon's birthday and party. We always love having them and, since their visit was a bit longer than normal, we had plenty of time to finish projects, hang out, and to celebrate Lennon to the fullest.
Lennon and his grandpa:
Lennon and his grandma:
My parents and I took Lennon to the rec center to go swimming on his birthday. Unfortunately Adam had to work, so he missed out on the fun. We got to the center about 15 minutes before the pool opened, so we went into the gym and played some basketball.
The pool is great for kids because of the warm water (and the pirate ship, of course). The water is in the lower 90s, but no matter how warm it is, Lennon's lips turn blue and he shivers--but that never seems to deter him from playing.
Lennon having a great time...
...as well as my parents!
Lennon enjoying his balloons from my parents as he waits for dinner.
Since Lennon's party was the next weekend, I decided to make it easy on myself and just make cupcakes for our small party of five.
1 candle down, 1 to go...
Lennon got his sweet tooth from his mom (much to Adam's dismay):
Lennon was a little cranky before and during dinner, but once that cupcake was in his belly, he was in a great mood! (Lennon is showing his "silly" face to the camera):
If any of you saw the video of Lennon opening his presents with the Schafers when I posted it on the blog in December, you will remember that Lennon is very particular about opening his presents. He is not the normal 2-year-old where he rips the paper to get to the present. No, he tears off a small piece at a time, making sure he cleans up after himself after each tear. At Christmas, he put the paper in a bucket; this time is was in his dump truck. We tried to speed it up, but he wanted to make sure all the paper was off before he even acknowledged the gift. The big present is a sand table from my parents, and you could clearly see what it was before Lennon chose to look at it (it's his birthday, he can do it his way!)
Finally getting excited about his sand table:
Adam and I got Lennon a vacuum cleaner that is supposed to really pick up things (although the suction isn't very powerful, so it's not like my floors will stay much cleaner). Lennon has a love/hate relationship with the vacuum cleaner--he'll ask us to vacuum all the time (he thinks we're slobs!) but then when we get the vacuum cleaner out, he has a fearful fascination with it. I knew he would love having his own vacuum, but I also knew it was a toss up as to whether he would be excited or scared when he first opened it...he was scared and ran away. However, the first thing he did the next morning was go to his vacuum:
In the midst of all the birthday festivities, I had a good friend getting married on the 26th. I was helping a lot with the wedding and my mom did her alterations and her veil. The beginning of March, I had the great idea of making myself a dress for the wedding. I have no idea why I thought I had the time to make myself a dress (working 4 jobs and being a mom is clearly not enough on my plate!), but I spent an afternoon one weekend sewing it and it turned out really pretty well. The wedding was beautiful and Adam and I went the entire reception with snow-covered mountains in the background, and didn't have a picture taken of us until we got home and were exhausted:
More Family!
Leah and Emery flew into Denver Wednesday night, the 30th. We haven't seen them since last summer, so we were all excited. In the past, Lennon has not been thrilled with seeing his cousin (no clue as to why), but this trip they did really well together. Lennon had a couple overly dramatic moments, but overall, they played really well.
On Thursday, we went to the aquarium, which was a blast. I think it was a little busier than normal because it was the week of spring break, but we all managed the crowds well.
Grandpa and Lennon on the bridge, watching the tigers (yes, I said tigers--one doesn't expect to see tigers at an aquarium, but there they were!)
The boys holding hands as we left the aquarium:
The boys hugging...well, really just Emery giving Lennon a hug, but allowing a hug from Emery is huge!
Lennon's Birthday Party!
We couldn't have asked for a better day for his party. The highs were in the upper 70s and the crazy winds we had been experiencing had died down a bit. We don't have a huge place, so having 20+ people can sometimes feel crowded, so it was nice to be able to set a table up outside and have the kids out there running around.
Adam helping out by shredding a ton of cheese for the party (I made mac & cheese). We buy big blocks of cheese because it's cheaper and then use our Kitchen Aid attachment to shred it. But I hate shredding the cheese, so it's always Adam's job! Leah was impressed at the shredding and decided to take a picture of it:
Lennon had an animal party--here are his elephant cake and animal cupcakes: 
Some of the kids helping to blow out the candles the second time through:
Emery enjoying his cake:
Our little man:
Lennon enjoying his presents:
If it weren't for all his friends, Lennon would have taken the entire afternoon to open all his presents. He would open one present and was so satisfied with the gift that he wanted to play with it. He didn't seem to care that there are more gifts waiting for him. However, his friends knew how it was done and helped him speed up the process.
Lennon playing with his new tunnel:
After the party, we busted out the new tee-ball set. There was some contention about how the sport was played. Emery loves sports and knows that you swing the bat to hit the ball. However, when Emery would place the ball on the tee, Lennon would immediately tap it off. They were both exhausted and we eventually had to put it aside for later.
Lennon was so exhausted after everyone left that he was slap-happy. He spent 30 minutes straight just running around and giggling. He would run around like he was drunk, fall down, and the get back to run some more.
Leah and I are morphing into the same face. During their visit, we were doing some shopping and a cashier asked if we were twins, which is definitely not the first time we've been asked.
You could always tell that we were sisters, but I don't think we every looked that alike. I used to think that we each took after a different parent, but I don't think that's true anymore.
As you can see, like mother, like daughter!
The boys playing with Lennon's fire engine:
What's great about Grandpa is that he will play the same game over and over again, long after any other adult will continue the game with the boys. The three of them played with the fire engine for a good hour, pushing each other, running after it, Grandpa giving driving lessons, etc!
Lennon was almost asleep eating his dinner the night of his party--he hasn't done that in 6 months. He would have fallen completely asleep if the rest of us wouldn't have been so loud!
Easter!
We spent the next day hanging out at the house (plus the weather turned cold and rainy so we didn't really have a choice). Since the boys were together we celebrated Easter early."What did you get?"Emery engrossed in his new digger book:
Lennon giving his new giraffe a hug and kiss: 
Lennon is trying to show on his fingers that he is two:
Emery and Lennon playing a reverse game of "Boo!" with Grandma. My mom was sitting on the floor in the living room and Emery would run into the room and stop while my mom yelled, "Boo!" Then Emery would run out of the room and repeat the process. Lennon decided to join in for a couple rounds of the game.
Emery on the horse. We tried to have them ride it together, but there wasn't enough room and Emery fell off the back of it.
Emery helping me make pizza for dinner:
We were amazed at how well Lennon actually watched the game--I guess it helps that we watch all the games at home. There were times when he would start clapping before we would get a chance to--but it was always at the right times!
We left after only 4 innings--they were a great four innings, I think we scored like 8 runs. It was quickly approaching Lennon's bedtime and he was crashing hard:
