Beep Beep! Ben Is Turning 2!

So we all know I am a planner so it should come as no surprise I started planning Ben's 2nd birthday party back in June. I like to try to have a theme with a bit of meaning-like last years giraffe theme and the Johnathan Adler giraffe lamp we bought 5 years ago for our one day future nursery.  I knew that Ben's love of cars neeeded to be my starting point in my brainstorming process. And it didn't take long until I remembered a game that my Grandma McCormack invented for us called "Red Car Red Car". The game was simple we would sit on my grandparents screened in porch and watch the cars go by and when you saw a red car you yelled RED CAR! That's it-nothing fancy. So simple yet so entertaining-I can't even begin to tell you how many hours were spent playing that game. So I knew it would make for a great party theme that Ben would love! My brother Patrick helped me design the invite and from there it just took off! As usual Vince thought I was going a bit overboard and said on more than once occasion "boy I'm glad Ben only has a birthday once a year". But I don't care-I enjoy it and one day Ben will look back and hopefully appriciate it.

Saturday was party day and we got super lucky with the weather-November 10th and 75 degrees outside! We had a great turnout and Ben got to play with all his friends at "his park". Aunt Joie was kind enought to keep with tradition and make Ben cookies for his party! I think they were the hit of the food table before I knew it they were gone! I decided that this year I wanted to bake his birthday party cake. There is just something special about having your mom make your birthday cake. Last year I made him a cake for his actual birthday but not for his party. This year I decided to make the cake for his party and let him pick out a special cupcake from a local bakery for his actual birthday. Thankgoodness I did a "practice cake" a few weeks back and while the party cake wasn't as perfect as I had wanted Ben didn't seem to care all he cared about was the cars on his "car cake"!

I think the one unforgetable moment of the party happened about 30 minutes in when this couple in their late 50's or so walk right in the front door with a present in hand. I said hello as they walked into the living room and I turned to my dad and said I have no idea who those people are. Yep...we had 2 party crashers on our hands! They walked right in grabbed a handful of popcorn and started chatting. I was in tears laughing. Vince and I just looked at each other like what the heck do we do. As they walked around (looking for a familiar face I'm sure) my aunt kindly asked if they were at the right party??? Then I saw the card on their present said Graham not Ben. Graham is a littel guy up the street who's 2nd birthday is a few days after Bens. I said oh you must be looking for Grahams party this is Bens party. Guess they just saw party balloons and thought it must be the right house. So funny that both little boys 2nd birthday parties we on the same day at the same time! So our party crashers left and headed up the street and we all got a really good laugh!

Ben had such a great time at his party! We are so lucky to have such a wonderful set of friends and family who took the time to help Ben celebrate! Thanks again to everyone who came-it really means a lot to the 3 of us!

24 Months

So it all started as a challenge to myself documenting the first 52 weeks of Ben's life-then I just couldn't give it up so I documented his next year but by months. And now we are at the end...24 months. I am in no way ready for this 2 year long photo challenge to be done but we officially are in toddlerville with Ben. Our sweet baby is now a freckled face little boy.

24 Months-Where or where has the time gone? We had Ben's 2 year check up today and I am proud to report we have a very healthy, smart, chatty little boy! He is now 27lbs 2 oz and 33 1/4". His weight puts him in the 40th percentile and his length in the 25th percentile. So we still have quite a little guy on our hands! I must admit I was a little scared of the doctors answers to two of my questions. I had dreaded asking them because they are the only two things that make him still kind of a baby...the crib and his B (binky). But the doctor said as long as Ben is happy and not climbing out of his crib (which he is not) that he can stay in it the next year if he wants. He said they made a mistake moving one of their kids before he was ready and it wasn't worth all the added drama. So I don't have to worry about his bed boy room just yet! And as far as the B goes he only has it in his bed or in the car and the doctor said he was fine having it for the next year under those circumstances. Over the past few month Ben has used it less and less so I'm not really worried about it. I think giving up the crib is going to be a much harder day for me than getting rid of the B! Ben's eating habits haven't improved much. Its still hit or miss as to when and what he eats but he is eating enough so I guess this is just par for the course with a toddler. He is talking so much more-I didn't even think it was possible but he is. He repeats literally every word you say. And he talks in 3-4 word sentences. My favorite word of his right now is coffee...when he says it it sounds like "fat free". It took us a few times until we figured out what he was saying...Da fat free-Da fat free. Ahhhh I get it...Daddy's coffee! Its so damn funny! He is still pretty fearless but I am proud to say we made it 2 years without a trip to Children's Mercy for stitches or worse so I am pleased (yes I am knocking on wood as I type)! He is learning his colors now and is getting better everyday! Tonight I told him to go pick out a coat and he said "green coat" and picked up his green fleece! He still says his name is "baby" but  if you ask him to spell his name he says B-E-N. He is still loving going to school! The director called me the other day and wants to move him up to the 2 year old room-I am not sure how I feel about that move just yet. He loves his teachers so much but I guess leaving teachers behind each year is a part of life he needs to get use too. He definitely has the Rupp dance gene. That kid loves to sing and bust a move! Cars 2 is still quite the obsession with him. He loves Mater and McQueen and they tend to go to bed with him every night. And he asks me 10 times a day to watch "car show". But he has hidden the dvd from us but luckily we recorded it off one of the movie channels so he can still watch it!

Happy 2nd Birthday Benny Boo!

I just can not believe as of today we have a 2 year old. Where the heck did the last 12 months go? I wanted to make his birthday extra special since this is the first birthday where he actually understands (well kinda understands) whats going on. Last night after Ben was sound asleep we filled his room full of balloons! I was so excited for him to wake up this morning! About 7:20am (which is about a hour earlier than usual) I heard "BALLOON-BALLLLOOOONN"! I shot up and looked at the baby monitor and he was standing up looking around with a huge smile on his face! Vince and I went into his room and he kept saying up-out-out-up! So we got him out of his crib and he started running around in the balloons! He had a blast!

Since it was so early I decided we should make a trip to the donut shop! He ran in there so fast and couldn't get over all the donuts in the bakery case. So we got our donuts and came home to eat them!

After breakfast I knew we need to go to one of his favorite places...the car wash! Everyday he asks me to go so I knew we had to go on his birthday! I don't know why he loves it so much but he cries every time we pull out of it.

The rest of the day wasn't that exciting...we had to run to Costco for birthday party supplies, went to GiGi's cupcakes to pick out a birthday cupcake,  Da came home for lunch and then it was nap time. When Vince came home from work Ben opened a few presents! His big present this year was a kitchen! We set it up Saturday night and let him have it Sunday morning so Vince could see his reaction. He was so excited and and literally hasn't stopped cooking since Sunday! He hadn't opened a gift since last Christmas so I wasn't sure he would know what to do but he most certainly did! He ripped right in!

We wanted to go somewhere fun for his birthday dinner after a little thinking I came up with Fritz's! I knew he would love the trains and that the train brings you your food! We had quite the party...GG, BaPa, Grandma Marq (Grandpa Larry had to work), Grandma Carol, Grandpa Jimmy, Uncle Potty and Aunt Leah (Uncle Matt had to work too)! We walked in and his face lit up! He started saying Choo Train Choo...Oh My Oh My Oh My! It was so cute. We all had a blast! I think one of the best parts was when we all sang him happy birthday-he got the biggest smile on his face! It was priceless! And then I told him to blow out his candle and sure enough he took a big breath and blew it out! I think all in all Ben had a great 2nd birthday!