Birthday boy

It's hard to believe, but Jack turned 2 years old yesterday! Grandma and Grandpa Nold were in town, and they hosted a birthday party for him on Saturday. We got to visit with several friends from the Ridgewood neighborhood, and Jack got some playtime with Aubrey and Hannah. Also some other March happy birthday shout outs to: Grandpa Nold, Aunt Lisa, and cousins Lori and Alexis!

Here's Jack chowing down on birthday cake. He's gotten pretty skilled with a fork, and he made surprisingly little mess!


Of course, being at Grandma and Grandpa's house also meant Jack had access to a ceiling fan. He kept sneaking over and climbing up to reach the wall controls.


Jack playing with Aubrey and Hannah (and Mary).


Helping Aubrey collect all the bows.


And here's a few shots of us opening presents. Thanks to everyone for all of Jack's gifts! Our house is feeling even smaller with his new collection :)



Giving his new monkey backpack a kiss



Jack was a big fan of this cart with Megablocks.


Dad and Jack horsing around before the party. Look at that hair!


Grandpa showing Jack how to operate the new pinwheel Grandma found for him.


Unfortunately this was the only picture I got of the dogs, so you can't see Macie up close. Macie is Aunt Lisa's new Labradoodle puppy. She's so cute and sweet!


A video clip of us singing "Happy Birthday." We forgot to teach Jack beforehand about what a candle is and how to blow one out. Oh well, we'll make up for it next year.


Finally, a few thoughts to wrap things up. This past year has gone by so fast; yet on the other hand it also seems like such a long time ago that Jack was a baby and turning 1 year old. He has grown so much this year and developed into a wonderful little boy.

He's extremely curious and is always trying to figure out how things work (and he's usually pretty good at it!) He's extremely lovable and still lets me snuggle with him for a few minutes here and there. Jack's intelligence and span of knowledge have also really blossomed this year. While he's still not saying much, he understands almost everything. He knows his letters (upper and lowercase), numbers, colors, parts of the body, etc.

I also love his quirky little sense of humor. He likes to fake me out sometimes at night when we're putting up his bath toys. I'll tell him, "get the yellow cup," and he'll start to reach for it but then get an impish little grin on his face and grab another cup. Then he giggles hysterically when I say "No silly, not that one."

We love you more every day buddy and look forward to another year of watching you grow up!