And he's TWO.

I just can't even believe it.  I have very few words, except: we are so lucky to have such a wonderful little boy as our son.  I will take some credit for it, and I'll give a little bit to Carmen.  But I credit luck a whole lot too.  He is sweet, funny, charming, moody, serious, smart, too big, so small, and it goes on and on.

I now finally understand the people that said they want their kids to remain this size forever:

Seriously? I could do this all day every day right now.  I don't have to get out of bed and I get to hang out with my kid all day?!???  I'll take it.  Except those days when he drives me crazy.  Then I want to be at work.  Or at the spa.  Yeah, let's pick the spa.

And today he looked like this:

No mama, I will not smile for you.  "Play tracks."  (he got an airport/car track thingy for Mama and Daddy for his birthday and we've spent pretty much every waking moment that we're home playing with it.)

The most serious birthday boy ever.

I baked cupcakes last night to take to daycare.  Juju said she was giving the cupcakes out around 3 pm, so Carmen and I went to daycare around 3 and sang to Jayden and watched them eat cupcakes.  The boy on the left and the girl on the right are the kids I consider to be Jayden's older siblings.  They are such amazing kids and are so wonderful with the little kids at the daycare.
Instead of trying to blow out the candle Jayden tried to grab it.  Nearly caused Juju to have a heart attack.  I was laughing.  Oh well.  He didn't  grab it, he didn't get burned.

Now THIS is how you eat a cupcake.
My dad's comment was "did he eat the candles?!?"
In reality, he ate all the stars (sprinkles) off the top.  Then licked most of the frosting.  And then said "Mama, hewp" and made me feed him bites of cupcake.  Whatever, it's his birthday.

The best thing is that we all came home right afterwards, so we were all home by about 4 pm.  We opened the rest of the presents, sort of.  Anytime it got "hawd," Jayden said "Mama, do it."  Great.  We're raising a kid who gives up the minute things get hard.  Awesome.  That's the #1 thing to fix before he turns three.  ;)

We got to hang out together, checking out presents, talking on the phone to the grandmas and the auntie and then eating dinner together.  Because he is the most spoiled child ever (see the picture below for extra proof), he got to have a second cupcake.  But this time he blew it out by himself.  It's amazing how much performance anxiety he has.  He seriously can be an entirely different kid when it's just the three of us versus when there's anyone else around.

Cupcakes!  Totally novice decorating skills, but they tasted so sugary and good!

The haul.  And this doesn't even include the water/sand play table.  I may re-wrap the legos and give them to him at Christmas.  He was honestly overwhelmed tonight and I so badly do not want him to be that kid that has everything and expects everything.  It's such a fine line - I want him to understand that you don't just always get what you want and you have to work for the things that you do have.  I do realize he's two.  But I think it's an important lesson to instill in kids early.  So I have to figure out how to give him cool stuff, but in moderation, and how also to encourage him to use his imagination, to make a car track out of cardboard boxes (thanks Gamma!) or to turn blocks into a train (which he has also done).  I'm sure I'm over thinking it.  I usually am.  But it's something that's always going to be important for me.

It was a nice day.  I'm exhausted, of course, but that's probably from staying up late last night preparing for today and preparing for our trip tomorrow.  

So tomorrow we get on a plane to fly to San Francisco.  Yes, we're flying on Friday the 13th.  I'm not happy about it but we had no other choice.  One of my co-workers told me that growing up in Mexico it was Tuesday the 13th that was unlucky, not Friday the 13th.  So tomorrow we will be Mexican.  If only in my head so I don't become totally crazy and paranoid.  :)

Not too much to report for the past few days.  Jayden and I spent a long time at the park Sunday morning while Carmen watched football (Jayden gets way too involved in TV so I try to keep him away from it when possible - he gets to watch a little at Juju's house, about 30 minutes, and a little at home sometimes, also about 30 minutes).  I don't want him in front of it for an hour a day - it's just not healthy.  So I am going to come up with field trips for however many Sundays we're home during football season.  We'll probably go to the zoo a couple times, maybe to the Discovery Science Center, I'm sure we'll be back to the park, etc.  Every day this week, in fact, Jayden gets in the car when I pick him up he looks at me and say "pawk?"  And I have to tell him, no, we have to go home and see Jazzy. And then he's fine because he does love his doggie.  And actually calls her "doggie" half the time.  

Here are some park pictures:

Swide!

Climbing up the ladder all by himself.  He's such a big boy!  Except for when he gets to the top and I have to help him get his hands and feet on the play area.

Hanging from the bar above the slide.  A three year old boy was there playing on the slide with us and he and Jayden kept trying to copy each other.  It was hilarious.

Here's to us surviving two years.  And to making it many many more.  As my friend wrote today, when the kids are going nuclear on her and she's home alone, "the next departing flight is in seventeen years!"  So yeah, we've got something to look forward to.  And seventeen years may be optimistic, depending on the path he takes!