Devon: 2 years old

My how times flies! This was Devon on his birthday last year ... just one year old. He was so little! Just a few teeth, just starting to get the hang of walking and babbling up a storm.

What a difference a year makes at this age. My little man is 2! He is so insanely cute there is at least one time a day I just stare at him in amazement of his cuteness. It seems like everyday he does something or says something totally new it is difficult to keep track of it all. I am so proud of the sweet little boy he is turning into. I am so grateful that I have a husband who takes care of our family so I can stay home and watch him grow. Being a Mom is such a big job, but I am so lucky to be able to do it each and every day all day long!

Devon loves calculators. There are at least 5 that I can see from where I'm sitting that he carries around with him pushing buttons and calling out random numbers. I keep one in my purse in case of an-out-in-public/bored emergency. He will often hold one up to his ear and use it as a phone to call Gamma, Papa, Emily, Sadie, Chloe, Heidi, Abuela or Pops. He is starting to have these pretend conversations that are super sweet to witness.

His verbal ability is amazing! He can repeat back 3 syllable words with great enunciation and is getting better and better with 4 syllable words. It is so cute to hear his little sentences starting to come out. 3-4 word sentences! We are still working on the alphabet as well as counting and he is able to recognize more and more letters. He knows all his colors and shapes and still loves to read. I read to him at every meal and he has nearly memorized his favorite book "Babylalalala love" (Baby Love). It's a pretty long book and I will read a line and he will say the last word of every other line (since they rhyme) for pretty much the whole thing. He has an unbelievable memory so if you tell him something you better be ready to do it because he will never let it go no matter how much time has gone by.

He will often tell me what he wants to eat which has helped to ease my mind a bit regarding food. I worry when he goes through his phases of not eating very much that it's because he doesn't like what I'm serving him so it's nice that he is starting to tell me what he wants. He still loves "ponies" (my little pony fruit snacks), lasagna, hamburgers, dino chicken nuggets, ice cream and rice. The other morning when I asked him what he wanted for breakfast he said pizza ... and you better believe I made him pizza ;)

This was the day when Devon reached over his crib and grabbed a pen out of his coloring box and decided to color the sheets before falling asleep for nap. Every time I give him THAT particular pen he says "sheets" and we talk about that day.

He loves to say and play "electric tocar (guitar)" and is a great roadie to his Dad by plugging the cord into the amp and turning it on. I love to hear him sing the "Mama song" because he just says "Mama" over and over and over again and dances while Joe strums away. This does not, however, make Devon a Mama's boy. It is a sad thing for a Mom to admit, but Devon has crossed over and is now a Daddy's boy for sure. At least he has been the past few weeks. I'm assuming that it has everything to do with the addition of the little lady and the inevitable division of attention among the siblings, but he is definitely a different kid lately. Even though I try to focus my attention on Devon during the day, it is impossible (and probably not healthy in the long run) to give him 100% of my attention all the time. Audrey has to eat and be held and comforted and he has to understand that there are now two of them and at times he will have to wait. This has been a good learning opportunity for him to understand being patient, being a good helper and playing well by himself.

He follows Joe around the house like a shadow and will stand and stare out the window when his Dad is working in the garden. He wants to do everything and be everywhere his Dad is. It is wonderful to see the love between my amazing husband and my beautiful little boy. They have become good friends and if you ask Devon who his friend is he will say Daddy. It is so helpful that Joe gives Devon a bath and gets him ready for bed while I nurse the baby and that he tells him bedtime stories about the moon, stars and rockets as part of Devon's ever evolving night time routine.

I think when Audrey first got here I was trying to figure out how to make things work with 2 kids when she needed my attention for feedings without making Devon feel slighted. He also wasn't eating well and was really fussy about getting into his high chair. I would turn on a cartoon during those times and over the course of a month Joe and I both noticed that he wasn't as interested in reading as he once was. Once we realized that this was the case, I started reading to him while he ate. Not only was I able to get him to eat more at meals, but we wants to me to read to him all the time which I love because I get to hold that sweet child on my lap. I have made a concerted effort to be more aware of the quality of the attention that I am giving him and really enjoy what we're doing together. If it feels like work to me then it's probably not fun for him so I try to make it fun! I try to get him food he likes and give him special treats when he's good (IE: juice ... in a box is a special treat). I tell myself every morning and every afternoon after naps to be as patient as possible and be more sensitive to how he's doing at that time. I still let him watch cartoons, but he's not as interested as he once was.

Devon has been coming up with his own tricks to dazzle us with and his latest is The Robot. One evening he just stepped both feet out wide (practically the splits) and pulled in his legs and arms in tight standing up straight. When Joe asked him what he was doing he said,"Robot" and that's what we call it. I don't know where that one came from, but it's hilarious just the same. Maybe even funnier because he came up with it all on his own. He must have seen a video on You Tube of a robot that moves like that, but who knows.

I took Devon to Chuckie Cheese and we met up with Aunt Jane and Sadie. I didn't realize ahead of time that Devon would be too small for 98% of everything there until we got there, but he had a good time anyway. Since I already bought tokens I let him put them in the games and I helped him play as much as possible. I was determined for him to get tickets so he could walk away with something from the experience so he got an Airhead candy (since Sadie got one Devon HAD to have one, too), a couple of mini-Tootsie pops and some rubber bugs ... A.K.A. choking hazards. Good job Mom. When he saw Chuckie you could tell he was equal parts fascinated and freaked out. He just had this goofy smile on his face. He grabbed me by the finger and made me follow Chuckie around, but didn't want to get near him. Notice that he put Audrey and I in between him and Chuckie. Classic.

Devon loves to be outside and is a boy through and through. He loves to see bugs, lizards, play in the mud, trucks, tractors, the moon, rockets, astronauts, dinosaurs, Egypt, rocks, digging with a shovel and lets me know when he farts and burps ;) Joe caught Devon a Hawk Moth and we named it "Hawky the Hawk Moth". If you know Joe, it would be obvious that only HE could come up with that name ;)
Daddy caught Devon his hopper. Devon was so brave and tough to touch it. Ask him, he'll tell you ;)

We went to the zoo with Gamma and Gampa (he used to call him Papa, but that name seems to be disappearing) and walked around.

I usually put Devon in the stroller, but since I had 4 extra helping hands to keep track of him I put the baby girl in the stroller and let him walk.

He had a great time having a little more freedom and got to feed the giraffes.

He loves spending time with his grandparents and was EXHAUSTED by the end of it. Oh, and he thinks the elephants at the zoo are stinky.

The night before Devon's birthday, Joe and I blew up a bag of balloons and when we got him up in the morning we dumped all the balloons into his crib and all over the floor of him room. I think that would be a fun tradition to do every year. I just picture doing that to him when he's 18 and still getting a kick out of it. I imagine him saying it was lame and secretly loving it ;)

For his super special birthday I took Devon to Old Pueblo gym and met up with Aunt Jane and Sadie.

It's a gymnastics gym that has "free gym hour" and kids can go wild climbing, going in the foam pit and jumping on the trampoline. Then we went to lunch at Iron Grill. I didn't want to do anything too out of the ordinary because I wanted to make sure that everything we did he liked.

Martha (Joe's mom, Abuela) offered to have a family dinner at her house so we went to her house and had a family party. I am not a big fan of parties for kids when they're this little, but since she offered I think it is a nice thing to do as a family. Devon had a blast! He got some great gifts and doesn't know what to play with first. He got a sock monkey tea set from my Mom (as well as a bag full of other equally awesome gifts), a stomping, roaring dinosaur from Aunt Crystal, a huge tractor from Joe's parents and a truck and cash register from Joe and I. I think his favorite gift was a yellow robot that Joe gave him. His eyes got wide when he saw it, they got wider when it moved and I think his head exploded when he realized that it could walk. We let him take it to bed with him and he played with it for an hour. Joe is such a sweet Daddy and knows just what Devon will like.

I was in charge of the cake so I wanted it to be good. I went to a bakery that specializes in wedding cakes, but will do birthday cakes also. So you KNOW the cake is gonna be good. It wasn't THAT much more expensive than a Costco cake, but it was 10 times better tasting.

I can make a cake. I really can. But just because I can make it doesn't mean I have to. I would rather spend time playing than making a cake just for the sake of appearing to be Super Mom ... something that I definitely am not. Plus, I'm a little bit fancy in case you hadn't heard ;) I want a fancy cake for Devon's fancy 2 year old birthday party from a fancy wedding cake store ;) I picked out a white cake with Bavarian cream filling and covered it with stars, a moon and a rocket ship, of course! Yum! (high pitched voice!) It was so good. Can someone please have another birthday so I can get another one of those cakes?

All in all it was a really fun day and Devon was one happy kid. Nothing makes a Mama happier than to see her kids happy. He had a great time playing, seeing his cousins and grandparents and having people make a fuss over him. He loved playing tea party with Aunt Crystal, eating with Gamma and Gampa, going out to see the jumping castle with Pops (yes, they had a jumping castle) and on and on and on. Such a lucky kid.

My Mom said it best ... 2 years ago today I became a Mom. I remember the day he was born so well and I think it's important to remind yourself of the details so you don't forget them. Every birthday he has makes me a little sad at how quickly time is passing and well with pride at what a sweet boy he is. I am so proud to be Devon's Mama and I cherish everyday with him.

Happy Birthday to my favorite little boy in the whole world.
I love you,
Mama