Davis's Birthday Party

We had a family birthday party for Davis the Saturday after his birthday.  I kind of put it together last minute because, with Russ out of town so much, I wasn't sure we'd actually have a party.  We ate barbecued hot dogs with all the trimmings, and they actually tasted really good.  Davis found a new love for hot dogs and ate two!

We had a helicopter party, and I created this agenda:

First item on the list was "File flight plan" (decorate cardstock helicopters with stickers & markers).

Next item was "Book the flight" (play "copter, copter, plane" -- like "duck, duck, goose").  This worked much better in theory than in actuality...

Then we had to "Perform routine maintenance" (pin the propeller on the helicopter).

Please note that "Cousin It" also made an appearance at the party...

We let the kids "Enjoy Trans-Atlantic flight" (run around the yard with their newly decorated helicopters).

Of course, they had to "Experience turbulence" (bounce balloons--with copters drawn on them--on a parachute), which apparently wasn't cool enough to warrant any pictures..

Finally each pilot had to "Make emergency landing" (drop clothespins into a mason jar), which also wasn't deemed picture worthy.  (Or maybe my photographer was too busy taking pictures of me...)

The kids had fun, and each game only lasted a few minutes, which was perfect.

 We took some cousin pictures, and some of them actually turned out pretty well.  I think Russ and my sister Michelle had the kids patting their lap or doing some sort of game to get them to smile.  Very clever!

I had great plans to make cupcakes with propellers in them, but at the last minute I decided they wouldn't really look like anything.  So I made this helicopter landing pad cake instead.

 Please note the finger smudge by the exclamation points...

My little monkey was very excited to touch the cake (as you can see below).

 I may have run out of frosting to do fancy decorating on the sides of the cake... But my oreo "asphalt" circular landing pad pretty much made up for that.  And I may have made the cake from scratch too -- yum!!!

Davis had a great time with his cousins, and they brought him some fun gifts. 

 I had to throw this pic in because it makes Davis's foot look HUGE!!!

Is this what that Primary song is talking about when it says "I have grown a foot or two"???

Yeah for parties!  And yeah that I don't have to make them very elaborate yet!

Happy Birthday to Davis!!!

My little guy turned two today!  

When I ask him what today is, he says "my birthday!"  He has been singing "birthday to you, birthday to you!" this morning (he initiates it himself too -- pretty funny).  Here are some fun facts about my little two-year old:

• Davis can say ANYTHING!  Give him a word, and he can parrot it back quite clearly.  He is especially good at saying "calculator," "hippopotamus," "jellyfish," and "machine."  Davis also knows how to use most of his "giant" (another favorite word) vocabulary in correct context.  Today, in the bathroom, he pointed to the shower curtain and said "shower curtain." How did he get to be so smart?!
• Davis loves to blow bubbles.  I bought a fancy schmancy bubble-blowing machine thinking he would love it (and he does), but he prefers to blow bubbles from the wand by himself.  And it didn't take him long how to figure that out.
• While Davis loves blowing bubbles, he freaked out when I tried to give him a bubble bath.  He didn't want the bubbles touching him. I had to drain all the bubbles and water out and start over with clean water.
• Davis's favorite phrases are "my turn," "I get it," "I do it," "look," and "mine."
• Davis knows how to lock the doors.  In fact, on Saturday he locked me out of the house...I ran out to the garage for a minute, and he played with the lock.  I had to coach him on how to unlock the door for me.
• Davis likes to watch Backyardigans, Dinosaur Train, Curious George, Toy Story 2, and the Cars movie.
• Davis is a really good eater, but he especially loves watermelon, strawberries, black beans, rice, sausage, pepperoni, chicken strips, popcorn shrimp, cheese, and fruit snacks.
• If you ask him what his name is, he says, "Davis Lasson."
• Davis doesn't like loud noises, especially the lawn mower and the vacuum. He is very quick to point out any noise.  He says "noise" and sometimes "afraid" or "scared."
• Davis likes to wipe his nose and show us his boogers.  "Look!  Look," he says (and sometimes he'll add "gross").  I must admit this one is my fault.  When he was younger, he really hated blowing his nose.  I thought, "maybe he'll think it's fun to blow his nose if he gets to see his boogers..." Boy that one backfired!!!
• Davis likes to count.  He usually says, "3, 4, 6, 7, 10."

We celebrated the day by taking cookies to Kindermusik class.  We went to lunch at Cafe Rio with Davis's friend Ellie (he loves the rice & beans!).  Then we went to grandma's house and had a party with cousins Abbie & Brett.  Aunt Amy brought popcorn and balloons.  They ate popcorn out of special cups and watched Mater Tales.  Davis was in heaven! Thanks to my sister, Amy, we have a few pics...I may have been delinquent on the camera that day...but we'll take lots of pics at his birthday party on Saturday!

 watching a show with our special popcorn buckets

 digging into the popcorn with all his might

 opening a present from grandma

 Yeah a remote control Lightning McQueen car (only remote pictured here...)

Grandma made homemade macaroni & cheese (one of Davis's favorites) for dinner, and then we drove to the airport to pick up Russ, who had been in Panama for the past week.  What a busy and fun day for a very busy and very fun boy! 

Happy Birthday, Davis!

We love you!!!

Staying Local & Going Loco

The past two weeks, Davis & I were doing this:

Making a garage for Davis's cars out of blocks

(best pic I could get of him...)

"helping" grandpa fix the kitchen light

(Davis had to wear his hat backwards, just like grandpa)

 eating cheesesteaks with grandpa

(grandpa spent the night since grandma was helping Aunt Marie move to Tennessee)

 celebrating Easter

 having family over for Easter dinner

 making a mess with water

 wearing socks on hands while pushing shopping cart

 coloring at a new portable table

 eating Mexican food with grandma and grandpa

 trying out cousin Brett's "bike" and helmet for the first time

 going to the tulip festival (twice!)

Did you notice Russ was absent from those pictures?

Russ was busy doing this:

riding a camel in the snow

 spending a night in a ger (yurt)

 dressing up like a Mongol warrior

 riding a small horse

 visiting with church members in their ger

 seeing the Terra Cotta Warriors

 climbing The Great Wall of China

traveling with his sister and nephew to pick up his parents from their mission in Mongolia

(and also visiting China with them)

Now who do you think had more fun during these past two weeks???

For the record, I could have gone too, but I didn't want to leave Davis for two weeks.

(And I don't regret my decision.)