My buddy, my buddy

Our buddies Mac and Janie visited us last week and we had a fun afternoon at Wheeler Farm. The boys loved the tractors, the animals, the water, and the open space. Their favorite activity was running along the paths while the mommies followed behind. It was so funny to watch them pumping their little legs, each of them running in their own unique style.

Potty break! They just had to see the inside of the outhouse.

Going in the chicken coop. (The chickens in here were actually pretty scarey looking)

Peering down at the water. I love how they both decided to crouch down and watch the stream flow by.
Throwing leaves, grass, and dirt in the ditch. This was also at the top of the list of favorite activities.

Don't these two make a handsome pair? We sure love our boys!

Two Year Doctor's Appointment

Tate had his two year check up today with a brand new doctor. It went great. He is 34 inches tall and weighs 25 pounds. Both of those fall around the 30-40th percentile. So he's not the biggest kid on the block, but he's happy and healthy.

Tate is still not a fan of doctors, but mommy loves this new guy! He took the time to really sit down and discuss things. He was wonderful. And Tate actually did pretty well with him. Of course, just as he was getting comfortable, the nurse came in and gave him some shots. But now, except for an annual flu shot, we're all done with those until kindergarten!!! (I've been looking forward to saying that since Tate was born)

And Tate amazed me with his ability to forgive. We were in the parking lot walking to the car, not 5 minutes after he'd just gotten his shots, and Tate pointed to his leg and said, "Tate's owie all better. Thank you, lady. Lady so nice." Can you believe that? What a sweetheart.

Happy Birthday to Tate!

Tate turned two years old on Saturday, so we had a little shing dig with family to celebrate. The party had a sports theme since Tate is obsessed with basketballs, footballs, soccer balls and baseballs. He loved it. Here he is "blowing out his candles". Aka, posing in front of the cake, having an anxiety attack about the blazing inferno, while mommy blew out the candles.

Here is a little better view of the cake. It has his favorite sports balls all over it.

Uncle Shane was a big helper when it came to opening presents. I think he got more excited about it than Tate.

This big present was, in Tate's words, "Too heavy." But he managed to haul it over to Shane for some help with the unwrapping.

Here he is with arguably his favorite gift: the soccer ball. Thanks, Shane & Darcee! He has hardly played with anything else.

Birthdays are exhausting! Tate laid down for quick rest on the soft and cuddley sports blanket Andrea and Allen gave him. Thanks guys!

And here he is with all the loot. Yeah, that's him on the couch zonked out. He had such an awesome day with some of his favorite people, it wore him right out.

Thanks to everyone who made this such a special day. He had so much fun he's going through birthday withdrawal today. He's been going around saying "Happy Birthday to Tate" even though I reminded him that his birthday is over. And when I told him that the package on the table was a present we were going to send to Uncle Tyson in Brazil, he replied "I wanta present." I think this has all gone to his head.

This kid makes me laugh!

I've been a total slacker when it comes to picture taking lately, so you'll have to settle for these two pics that are a few months old. I wasn't home when Tate crawled in the cupboard for the first time, so Phil documented it for me. The second picture is of Tate sleeping with a tiny baby boy doll that he's had since he was a few months old. I emphasize that the doll is a boy because it's kind of a sore spot with daddy and I'm thinking that pointing out the doll's masculenity will help. Anyway. I thought it was funny how he fell asleep cuddling the little baby.

Tate makes me laugh every day. He does/says some of the funniest things. Last week he was having some tummy issues and he threw up quite a bit. The first episode was at 2:30 in the morning, and Phil and I heard it happening and ran into his room to find his bed and his jammies covered in the contents of his stomach. After it was all cleaned up, Tate sat calmly on my lap while I rocked him and announced proudly "Tate puke in bed." He now makes that announcement every time I put him to bed.

The other day I busted out in song while I was putting Tate's shoes on (sometimes, just for fun, I sing really loud in an opera voice . . . of course, this is just when I'm at home with the windows closed and I'm in one of those moods) and he just looked at me and said "Mommy wierd." Aren't kids great?