Pictures, Etc.

We have not been super good at taking pictures for the last...well, year, but April was better, I think. Austin has learned to smile for the camera, which is fun.

"I love my Gran and Pops! And balls. Can I throw this at you?"

Breakfast on the go

Sitting on the couch working on his "laptop"

Austin had lots of fun finding Easter eggs in our backyard

Checking out the contents. We gave him one chocolate egg to try--he took a tiny bite, then quickly popped the whole thing in his mouth with a big grin. Wish we had that on video!

Zach's been doing a lot of work in our little garden patch this month. Austin likes playing in the dirt with him.

So what is Austin like these days?

• He still loves to sing, although the song of the month is now "Ode to Joy." Kind of unusual for a toddler, huh? We are pretty sure he picked it up after watching Beaker's (from the Muppets) YouTube video.
• His vocabulary is growing. Words we hear a lot are up, down, bus, mok (milk...or more...use your context clues), bunny, duck (which could be just about any bird), apple (which is applied to many fruits and veggies), and uh-oh. He still seems below average in this area, though. We have considered having him tested for speech delays and still might...we go back and forth.
• He loves loves loves all the trucks he got for his birthday. He plays with them more than just about anything else.
• Real trucks are pretty great, too. Like so many other moms of toddler boys I know, we now get pretty excited about driving through construction zones--so much to see!
• He loves to be read to. This warms my heart more than just about anything else. He will bring book after book to read, and when we reach the end he often wants to go back to the beginning and hear it again.
• Whenever we hear a siren, truck, plane, motorcycle, etc. he points to his ear and draws my attention to the noise he is hearing. Background noise is not so much in the background to him.
• Zach and I gave him a Little People Noah's Ark set for his birthday. To him, Noah is "no whiney." :)

Hint, hint

You know, if anyone is looking for the perfect Mother's Day gift, he could just click here.

99 and Counting...

I just had to mention that we've hit double digits in the baby countdown! I can't believe how fast a second pregnancy goes compared to the first. We're so excited to meet you, baby girl!

Birthday Fun

Austin's Gran and Pops came up from Texas this weekend to help us celebrate Austin's birthday. We had a small party on Saturday with a few friends, plenty of cake, and lots of fun.

I was going for alphabet blocks. I am not a professional. Enough said.

I may not have mad decorating skillz, but my cake does taste good.

Cake consumption is a much more civilized act at age two compared to age one...

...now we use a fork to put huge pieces of cake in the mouth!

Austin got lots of fun presents. He has spent hours already driving around his new trucks...

...and I think we have a grill master in the making.

What a fun day celebrating our special little guy!

0...1...2!

My baby boy turned 2 on Saturday! Can you believe it? We didn't do much to celebrate on Saturday because Daddy was out of town for most of the day, but Austin got to open a few gifts in the morning and we had brownies with Daddy when he got home. We'll party next weekend!

I think Hallmark only makes one card specifically for two year olds. :)

Austin sometimes just reaches out to hold our hands while he's eating. Sweet boy.