2 and 29

I will eventually blog about Christmas, but I decided to go in reverse order and start with the birthdays--Andy turned 29 on December 29th, and Simon turned 2 on December 30th. Most of the fanfare was directed at Simon...

Out to eat in Appleton, WI with Jess' extended family on the 29th, everyone surprised Simon and Andy with a rousing rendition of "Happy Birthday" and...

...ice cream sundaes! Simon, in particular, thought this was an awesome way to end dinner.

In Red Wing on January 2nd, the boys were treated to a birthday breakfast and present opening. Here Simon is opening a wooden train set! We still need to figure out a good way to set it up (i.e. a low, flat, stable surface that isn't the middle of the dining room floor), so in the meantime we set up a mini-version (a one-loop track and train, no bridges, mountains, or other cool accessories that came with it) on the carpet in the basement. Simon has been busy experimenting and learning that if the magnetic train cars don't "stick" one way, he can just turn the car around and try the magnet on the other end.

Simon received many wonderful gifts for his birthday--here he's playing with a wooden birthday cake, made by Melissa & Doug. We love Melissa & Doug toys (he also got their Stamp & Sort Mailbox and unit blocks)! They are sturdy, non-battery-operated, and clever--this cake can be "sliced" thanks to velcro holding the pieces together, and different toppings and candles can be put on top via velcro spots. (Simon's godmother Sarah came to visit and was here for all the birthday festivities!)

Here I am, melting chocolate for the (non-wooden) birthday cake--actually, this was the first cake I've EVER baked, so I was a little concerned it might not turn out...but all the party-goers seemed to approve :). (Also, check out that belly! We are in full maternity-wear mode over here.)

Simon's party was the afternoon of the 2nd--it was very loosely based on Blue's Clues, in that I had made a treasure hunt with pawprints labeling the clues (the last clue led to a little treat bag). Here he is excited to find his first clue, hanging on top of his stocking. Due to our unfortunate last-minute no-shows (we hope you are all healthy now!), Simon actually did multiple treasure hunts, since I had them already made and he got such a kick out of it.

Of course Andy was a birthday boy to, so he had a treasure hunt as well...his clues were slightly more difficult than Simon's. Here he is giving me a quizzical look because he can't figure out his next clue!

Not your average two-year-old's birthday meal--while we had planned on just ordering a pizza, Josh (Sarah's boyfriend who was also visiting) offered to make homemade fettuccine alfredo--how could we say no?! It was delicious.

Due to timing right after the holidays and last minute illness, none of the invited kids were actually able to make it to the party--luckily, at age 2, Simon didn't mind having a small party and full attention from all the adults. Here he and Miss Lisa (his daycare provider) are looking at our birthday gift to him--a farmer doll that Jess knit.

The finished cake!

Blowing out candles...or attempting, at least. His aim is generally quite off when it comes to blowing out candles--this was actually taken right after they were magically extinguished by a nearby adult!

Happy birthday Simon!

And of course, playtime with all the new toys...being so close to Christmas, we actually had to clear all the Christmas presents out and relocate them to the basement and upstairs to make room for new birthday toys we knew were on their way! After the excitement and newness wears off in a week or so, we'll sneak some away and go back to our usual rotating-toy system, where we swap out toys every month or so from our closet rather than overwhelming Simon (and our house!) with all of them out at once.