Brody's Birthday Party, and Easter Weekend

Easter weekend, my parents, my sister and her family, and mother-in-law came for Brody's birthday party.

Lauren, and Grandma.

"Landoonious".

Aunt Mel, and Nate.

After the food and presents, my dad, and Jason set up an Easter egg hunt outside.

Then it was cake and ice cream, of course.

Our birthday boy spent the rest of his party semi-naked.  It was easier to strip him down to his nothings for cake with all that dye in the frosting that stains forever.  Afterward, he didn't want to get dressed again. Kind of embarrassing and gross to be naked at your own party, but I guess it's ok for a two-year-old.

This next series of pictures makes me laugh.  You can follow along with the story . . .

We sat the cousins down to get a nice picture.

(Nate is still leery of Brody- actually babies, or toddlers in general. Notice him keeping an eye on Brody) .

Started out with them all smiling.

Then Brody snaps his cheek with the elastic on his hat.

Ouch! That hurt.  Brody starts to cry.

Nate starts to cry.  Brody gets concerned.

"Why are you crying?"

 The End. Pictures are over.

Brody got a little cheeky while trying out his new lawn mower.
The funniest part was he had no clue he was being indecent.

The next day Grandma helped Brody outside with his bubble-blowing lawn mower.

Grandma read Brody's birthday cards to him, along with a few stories.  It's so fun to have the grandparents here.

Sunday was Easter, so we got dressed to go to church.

After church we attempted to get a family picture, but someone refused to cooperate.  This was the best we did. . .  Brody had a one track mind because on the way home from church, Brent mentioned to Brody that he could go with him, and Grandpa to check the cows (which were calving), and he wanted to go NOW.

Then we finished the weekend by having Easter dinner at our house.  

We asked Brent to take a picture of us three girls.

But we kept criticizing his picture-taking skills, and made him retake it a few times.

He decided to be a smart-aleck and asked for a picture with my mom, so he could do the same.

Our families are the best.

Terrific Two

Some call it "the terrible two's."  We choose to refer to Brody's age as "terrific two."

March 18th was the big day he turned TWO!

99% of the time Brody is happy, adorable, and fun. Only on occasion does he act like a schmuck (we all have the right to do so once in awhile though. Right?)

Other words that describe him: energetic, busy, inquisitive, a dare devil, humorous, smart, shy (when strangers talk to him he deliberately turns his head the other way and stares), helpful (he loves to help me with chores).

He's extra special to us.  I can't imagine life without this little guy. 

Brody's vocabulary grows daily, it seems.  I'm constantly hearing him pick up new words, and phrases.  He doesn't consistently talk in sentences yet, but I'm sure it's not far off.  

His first sentence (that he's been saying for months) is, "I did it!"

The middle of April his second sentence was, "I broke it!" He said it with lots of enthusiasm too, as if he were proud of himself.  (Luckily it wasn't anything important that he broke--He was playing with Brent's razor travel case, and broke the top off).

We often affectionately refer to him as "BeeDee."  A few months ago, Brody learned his name and that is what he would say.  However,  he won't say his name anymore when we ask him.  The answer we get now is, "two."  I think we've confused him by telling him he's TWO. 

At Brody's two-year doctor's visit (on 4-16-12) he weighed 31 lbs., and was 33 1/2 inches tall.  He basically cried the entire time-- there were too many strangers looking at him, talking to him and touching him. 

Brody is a good eater, and isn't picky when it comes to food.  As long as he's hungry, he'll eat about anything.

His favorite treat is a "pop pop" (Popsicle).

Brody's all time favorite book is "Goodnight Moon."

He also likes a book called "Growing Up Cowboy."  Go figure.

Recently, he's become obsessed with "Baby Time" (Baby Signing Time DVD's), and we watch them every day- more than once.

His best friend (other than his dad) is still his binky (oh, and his silky blanket).

Brody calls his binky, "that."  I think it's because we're always referring to his binky saying, "you don't need that. You're a big boy."  We haven't convinced him. . .

 

His favorite thing to do is pretty much anything outside.  This afternoon we went outside to look at the cows in the corral, and Brody fed them handfuls of hay.  He's not afraid of animals even a little bit.  It impresses me, and worries me at the same time. He had a melt down when it was time to go inside. If we'd let him, he'd stay outside all day long, every day. 

Uncle Jared (Brent's youngest brother) is his pal. 

Jared stayed with us during the week for the majority of the winter while he was working at a feedlot here in town.  When Jared would get home from work, Brody would follow him around the house. 

The weekend of Brody's birthday, his birth parents came one evening to celebrate with us.  (we waited until April to have his actual party- after my parents got back from Arizona).

Kourtney brought this cute farm animal cake. . .

One of the things Brody got for his birthday was a bubble machine.  He was ecstatic about it.

Our baby is growing up right before our eyes.

Did I mention he's a genius?  Check out how he holds a pencil. What two-year-old does that?!

He loves drawing "pictures," and coloring.

When I tell him to smile for a picture, I get this cheesy, goof-ball face.

I sure do love him.