The Second Birthday!

We did it! We made it to 2!

We taught Ky a few months ago to say "I be 2 in June" when you asked him how old he was. Then we taught him "I be 2 in a couple of weeks" then "I be 2 next week" then "I be 2 on Saturday." Well by the time Saturday came around--it was difficult for him to transition to a simple "I'm 2", but he is getting it down now.

Wow 2 years. It has all passed so fast. And this little boy knows so much for his age. It really makes you wonder what the future holds for him. He is very special and I know God has a special plan for him as he has already touched so many lives. He still greets everyone at the grocery store, and then makes sure they get a "good-bye, see you later" as they leave. He smiles and asks them "How are you doing?" It is neat to see the magic this little boy works in others--myself included. Okay so on to the b'day stuff...

So Grandma Maureen aka "grandma Mo" (Yeah we are guilty of teaching him that.) came Thursday afternoon for a visit. Ky was very excited (and of course I was too). He loves it when people come to visit. He likes to show them all his toys, have them read books to him, and of course sucker them into playing basketball/soccer/baseball.

On Friday, I subbed for my last school day this year and Grandma got to spend the day with Ky. They had a blast. When I came home, Ky didn't even want to give me a hug--he ran straight to Grandma and said "uppy Ma'ama." (Somehow "up please" turned into "uppy" over time.) They spent the afternoon playing baseball and basketball. Grandma worked with Ky on his stance--and she did an excellent job. Ky hits like a real ball player now. Amazing for a 2 year old. His coordination blows my mind. Have I mentioned how he kicks the ball? When he plays soccer often he will toss the ball up and kick it in the air. He loves kicking it like this because the ball takes flight. He hits the ceiling, lights, pics on the wall--with his foot! And I have determined that he can aim the ball with his foot--as the other day he was continually hitting a picture on the wall--finding it very funny--yeah we had to put a stop to that.

So that night we worked on Ky's cake. There is a pic of Ky and Dad making the frosting above in matching aprons given to us by Grandma. Ky picked out his cake. We told him we were making one and he wanted to help look through the cook books. I gave him several options and he settled on a peanut butter chocolate marbled cake. --and yes he said "I want peanut butter chocolate cake." So the theme this year---of course "basketball". It has been his obsession since March Madness and he asks to play every day. The boy is obsessed. He shoots better than me at this point. So I made a small rounded cake to go on top of the sheet cake and decorated it like a basketball.

Birthday pictures are at the top. Of course the first pic is of him getting up. We couldn't miss that. Of course we were there with the camera---Grandma actually woke him up--I think she was too excited to let him wake up on his own. We had a quick birthday breakfast and finished decorating the cake and then went to the farmer's market for some spicy cheese bread AND to see the cows! It was Cows on the Concourse on Ky's b'day. What a perfect day! So Ky got to pet the cows and even got a cow t'shirt that is WAY too big. (BTW--you have to notice that in the first cow pic the cow is sticking out its tongue...well I found that pic amusing...) Ky also got a balloon which was just too much fun! He loved it--and the other kids that came over later loved it too. Balloon = hours of fun! Remember that!

We went home, cleaned some house and waited for the guests to arrive. The guests began arriving---and Ky was still napping--so we had Nana go wake him up. (Of course long naps never happen at a convenient time.) He was excited to get up though.

Well Ky's party turned out to be very interesting with tornadoes touching down in the area. We were okay--got hit by some really hard rain and listened to the sirens going off. We kept the news on just to keep an eye on things. The kids had fun though (as well as the adults). As I said the balloon was a BIG hit. Next year I am getting Ky a balloon for his birthday (or as Ky says "baboon"). Robby grilled hamburgers in the garage and we ate inside. Then had cake and ice cream.

I never talked to Ky about blowing out candles on a cake--nor has he really seen candles on a cake lit that often, but the kid had it figured out. We lit the candle to sing to him and he blew it out before we could start. He then did it again. So we had to move the cake away from him so we could sing "Happy B'day" to him.

After the cake was presents time and he (of course) enjoyed opening them. I would like to let Aunt Liz and Uncle Adam know that Ky put that bow on top of his own head before he opened your present (there was no prompting) so that was pretty amusing. Now I realize this pic is not up here. Hmmm...I will load it in the next couple of days....

I am glad that everyone could come to Ky's party. We really had a blessed time and enjoyed having the family together--which never seems to happen often enough. I was so glad to have my mom come up and spend time with Kylan. I know there is some distance between us, but it is very important to me (and Kylan) that he has a special bond with all his grandparents. Thanks mom! I loved having you spend the time with me and for being there to talk to about Ky and the new one. Please feel free to visit whenever. You--as everyone else is always welcome in our house. I was also glad that it was a time my mom and Rob's mom could chat. As these are two very special ladies in our lives and it means so much to me that they know each other and what a valuable presence they are in our lives (yeah--I'm crying--darn hormones!)

Okay--back to the good stuff. So that was Ky's birthday. My boy is 2! I can't believe it. He is definitely a toddler now, and I am trying to break him (rather I should say me) of calling him "baby Kylan" because he really isn't anymore (though he will ALWAYS be my baby). I am also trying to avoid confusion in a few months when the new baby comes.

The last pics are from Sunday prior to my mom leaving. Ky didn't want her to go. He kept asking for her. The very last pic they are trying to show that Ky is "two".

So a couple extras--It rained and poured over the weekend and into the week. Many of you have probably heard that much of Southern WI is under water. The interstate is closed in several places because rivers have risen over it---AND--the water has yet to crest. Lake Delton--actually emptied into a river and is gone. A lot of our parks on water are a mess. And we have a lot of friends with basements under water. We were blessed to have not been affected--no water in the basement. My garden is a jungle (the tomatoes have loved the rain.) Please keep the many families affected by this in your prayers---including Iowa and Indiana which have also been hit bad. There have also been a great deal of tornadoes in our area, but once again God stepped in and kept us safe as the destruction here has been very minimal. At this time we are thinking of the farmers and hoping crops are not lost.

So other Ky updates--

Ky pretends! I have been meaning to blog this for a while, but keep forgetting. But the boy plays pretend! He will take his stuff animals and change voices for each of them. It is really neat to watch. He has been doing this for a couple of months now. And he will even tell you that he is "pretending."

His understanding is just blowing my mind. I will ask him to do things like set the table--and he will. Or I will have him carry his snack out to his table and sit and eat--and he will! He will also tell you if his hands are sticky. And the other day he actually told us that he "pooped" and needed to be changed---YEAH--maybe we are back to moving towards potty training. He also is beginning letter recognition and can write the letter "O". Have I mentioned before that I think my child is a genius?

I gave Ky his first haircut after his b'day (no pics yet). I did it in the tub. It looks much better, however he refused to let me cut it after 4 or 5 snips, so in my opinion it is still incomplete. I have really been at odds in getting his hair cut. I want that "first lock". However, I don't want to cut his hair short. He finally has hair for goodness sake. I also didn't want to spend money for someone else to do it, when I figure I could do just as good of a job. So I got some cuts in and his hair is more evened out and a little shorter. Hopefully, I can finish the job in the next bath or two. (Honestly, you probably won't really tell a difference.)

Let's see, so two has appeared to make a difference in Ky's life. This week at story time, Ky actually stood up and sang all the songs (loudly) with the other kids. He usually is really quiet and just watches. But this past week he was a totally different kid! It is funny, because I know that he knows all the songs (he sings them at home) he just usually observes instead of participates. But this week, I was so proud of my boy!

Okay--last Ky update (this is a LONG blog). I don't remember if I blogged Ky's vision appointment back in January--but anyways, Ky saw the optometrist in January and they discovered he was nearsighted and had an astigmatism. However, the 2 were balancing out his vision so he was seeing fine. Well, earlier this week we went to Ky's 2 year appointment. By the way he is 36.5" tall and 31.5 lbs (which is weird since 4 weeks ago he was 28.5 lbs--something is off with one of the scales) which puts him in the 93% for height and 84% for weight (my boy is tall!) Anyways, I spoke to the doc about him complaining about his eyes, she said to get him back to the optometrist, so I did. They found that he was more nearsighted than he was in January and may need glasses in 6 - 12 months. I guess at this point I am in denial. He is so observant and he points out things to me that are pretty far away and will tell me what they are. So I ask that you please join me in prayer that his vision gets better so he doesn't need glasses. Glasses aren't a bad thing--however they are an inconvenience, especially to a toddler.

Alright, that is it for Ky. Baby #2 is doing great. Very active kid! We are getting excited and nervous as the time nears. My last appointment I gained an add'l 5 lbs (which is good/normal) and am measuring on target (meaning the child should be average in length.) Baby should be 13" or so now and at least 1.5 lbs.

Okay this is a VERY long blog--but much needed. Time to go get dressed! Until later!