The Most Wonderful Time of My Year

I love Memorial Day, not because I'm terribly patriotic (because I'm not), but because it's when summer starts around our house. Darreck's last day of the normal school year was Friday, and he starts his summer job at the cemetery tomorrow. Despite the torrential rain we've been having lately, I've been in a decidedly sunny mood planning all the things we're going to do this summer. We don't have any great, big plans, but I'm looking forward to barbecues and trips to the park. This year I'm especially excited that we are planting some vegetables. As much as I hated pulling weeds as a kid, I'm really pumped to be doing a small container garden this year. It makes me feel like an honest-to-goodness homeowner (despite that fact that we could've done a container garden in any of our apartments).

 However, I still think what I'm looking the most forward to is the sunshine that will, hopefully, be out soon. I was not made for winter, so why I came back to Montana I will never know. Well, the family might have had something to do with it, but that's a different story altogether. I crave sunshine; I need sunshine. My natural vampire-complexion is even craving sun. I'm so tired of feeling cold and wearing real shoes that I hurt a little inside. So, summer, not Christmas, is the most wonderful time of my year. Actually, my secret (up until now!) dream is to live in the southern hemisphere someday. Christmas in summer sounds a lot like heaven on earth to me.

Birthday Bash Part 2

Our birthday weekend expanded to Sunday when we had a special, Max-themed Sunday dinner. Mom made chicken strips, mac and cheese, and jello. It was a huge hit, as were the presents. Kayla got him a munchkin-sized basketball hoop that he's in love with, and mom and dad got him swimming lessons for summer and a monster tonka truck. I'm hoping I can get some pictures form mom later, even though he doesn't pose so well anymore.

Monday, his real birthday, we played with his two friends that we babysit a few times a week. Luckily, it was a nice day so we spent a lot of time at the park. After the park we unveiled his present from Darreck and me. We got him his very own bike, and he's slowly trying to learn to ride it. We made him his favorite, hot dogs and crackers, for dinner and then took him out for ice cream with my family. He doesn't do so well with cake, so we figured ice cream would be a better alternative. He still only ate a few bites, but at least he got a ride in grandma's car, which he's obsessed with.

Today he went to his doctor and got a clean bill of health. He was 27 lbs (38th percentile) and 35 inches (75th percentile). He was also ahead of average on his developmental tasks: he's talking in two and three word sentences  running and jumping, and using utensils and crayons like a pro. He's also learned to count to 10 with sporadic success and is starting to learn some of the letters. We're really proud of all he's learned and how he's growing. It's a little bitter-sweet to think about how fast he's growing up, but each new little thing he learns is still exciting. We're so blessed to have such a great little boy!

The Big Birthday Bash

Today was the big, choo-choo cake day! We had Max's seven best friends over to play, and it was a crazy, loud blast. The original plan was to play with his trains inside for the first part then move outside for cake and going crazy, but wouldn't you know it, it rained- for the second year in a row. Ugh! the day Max was born was amazingly beautiful, but we haven't been able to replicate that since. 

A picture of the famous choo-choo cake, which is all I have heard about for the past week. Every day Max would ask me, very earnestly, "choo-choo cake today?"

I love getting Max balloons, but they didn't last long before being put up. Max was a little rough with them, and with his friends for that matter. The kid really needs to learn to not hit and not throw! Today I'm choosing to blame it on too much stimulation and way too much sugar. 

Blowing out the candles on the cake. Once it was over, Max begged to let him "blow the fire, blow the fire!" again and again. 

Max was turned off by green frosting last year, so of course I had to get it again this year (dumb mom moment). He didn't really eat the cake, but he's had a lot of fun playing with the decorations so far. 

He's such a lucky little guy to have such great friends from church. The kids today were so sweet, especially this little group of boys who played with the trains the entire time. I hope they rub off on him a little :) However, the fun doesn't stop here! We still have a family party tomorrow and his real birthday on Monday, then on Tuesday he's going to the doctor to find out where he is on growth and development. I'm dubbing this the birthday long-weekend because one day isn't good enough for my little man.

Nothing New

I feel bad for not posting in over a week. I know I have faithful grandma readers, and I'm supposed to be keeping this as our family journal. But, literally nothing worth mentioning has happened this week. Sure, we're enjoying the beautiful spring weather, and I could mention that we're sick yet again, but I've been there and talked about all that.

I guess I should just be grateful for the calm and relaxed weeks before summer break. It's nice to be in our "normal" routine without any "abnormal" distractions. I love having Darreck home more in the summer, but right now I'm just basking in the calm and quiet with Max. Max and I are both pretty independent and laid-back when we're home alone. Darreck shakes up our world, in the best of ways, when he's home in the summer. I need it, even if I only can handle it for three months at at time.

Keep checking back, though, for the birthday craziness that's about to ensue this weekend. Max is almost two!!!!

Spring Cleaning with a Little More Oomph

I love cleaning; it's therapeutic. However, spring cleaning just doesn't quite do it for me. I prefer spring re-arranging. It seems that between March and May every year I get inexplicably bored with everything we own, but Darreck has leaned that it's cheaper to move it around and make it look new then just buy me new stuff. This year was a double-bonus because I managed to kick him out of our closet entirely and into the guest room. That's right, a walk-in closet all to myself! Yeah! We also moved the bed in our room to make the room look bigger (which we should have done months earlier), and, the piece de resistance, we put Max into a big boy bed!

I'm really happy to report that he's done great with his hand-me-down bed from Aunt Kayla. It's actually been an improvement over the crib because he can get back into the bed himself whereas, with the crib, he would just roam the house until one of us figured out he was up. The crib is still in his room, just in case, but it's going to be hard to say goodbye. We're not saving it, and it seems cold to just throw away such a huge part of his baby-hood. But, such is life and next week it will be gone.