Sully

You guys....my baby boy turned 2 today. My chunky thighed, rock solid, gap toothed, fearless, block-footed, smiles for days, big bellied, loud, car-obsessed, dirt throwing, happy, mischievous, cuddly-when-he-wants-to-be, sister-lovin', Daddy's best friend, Mama's boyfriend, blue eyed baby is not a baby anymore :(  He is 2. And I know he's still young. He's still a toddler.  But he's not a baby.  He hasn't been a "baby, baby" for a long time.  But now he looks like a little kid. He is growing so fast and wants to do EVERYTHING himself.  He is in charge of all of us and he knows it! He can throw a fit with the best of 'em and man, the terrible two's really are TERRIBLE.  But then he looks at me with those eyes and he speaks in his sweet baby voice that he only uses when he wants something and even though I know I'm being manipulated, I just turn into complete mush and give in.  Which means he gets his way all the time. Way too often.
He is so special to me! I am completely obsessed with him.  He LOVES his Daddy the most and Piper second best.  Piper and Sully, together, are the worlds' cutest little humans.  Their relationship just melts me because they truly adore each other. Piper laments over how adorable he is at least once a day.  She cheers him on with all of his milestones and can't wait to play with him when she gets home from school.  And when he sees her each day his face lights up! There's nothing sweeter! Lucy loves him too- that's her baby brother.  But Piper and him have something special!
 I love watching Daddy with him as well.  They are just the best buds that I always envisioned when I pictured my son. Because even though we both technically "made" him, I almost feel like he was a gift I gave to Shawn, since I am the one who carried him and nourished him in my belly for 40 weeks.  Does that seem weird? I don't know...probably. But I know Shawn wanted a son so badly someday and when we found out that our last baby would be the son he always dreamed of, it made it that much more special to "give him" to him. It looks weird to type.  It's not something that's easily explained! But between his relationship with Shawn and his sisters, I get to witness remarkable moments every single day that make my heart take flight.  This little boy gives that to me every single day.  Do you know how special that is to me?? I can't get enough of him!
The days are NOT always easy with him, don't get me wrong.  But there is so much of him to love and he makes me laugh just enough that the bad moments seem to slip away after he goes to bed each night. And yes- I still go and hold his hand while he peacefully dreams in his crib every night.  I will him to squeeze my finger the way he did when he was a newborn, but those days are long gone now.  However, he still sleeps with his hands curled up, so I slide my finger into his palm anyway.
Speaking of sleep, he also recently stopped sleeping on his belly with his buns in the air.  I love it how babies do that and I wish it never ended....but it does.  He still has a crib because he is a night-owl.  Meaning, he wakes up in the night a LOT and Shawn and I don't want him getting up and playing.  He has all of his toys in his room and until he can sleep soundly ALL through the night we are keeping his confined in his crib, hehe!  He likes his crib though, so it's not a bad situation at all!

His favorite things are: trains, cars, tractors (anything with wheels, big or small!), fruit snacks, buckets of water with cups in them (he can spend hours just pouring water from one thing to another- it's his latest obsession!), the trampoline, slides, throwing rocks and dirt, running around and around, shoes, cough-drops, gum, Elmo, the movie Cars, wrestling with the dogs, playing peek-a-boo, playing "chase," being outside even when it's FREEZING out, climbing all over mommy and daddy when we lay down, eating chips, yelling "NO!" and  "MINE!," and digging in sand. This Spring we need to get our sandbox cleaned out and re-stocked for him! He will love that! He still hates getting his diaper changed, he hates when I take things away from him that he's not supposed to have, he gets REALLY mad when he has successfully snuck one of the girls toys and they find out and take it from him, and he loves making messes and breaking things.  I guess all of that means one thing: he is a rowdy little boy and a typical brother :)

Sully has us all shamelessly kissing the ground he walks on.... what are we to do??!

There is a good chance, though, that The Terrible Two's might harden our hearts towards him a little bit this year though, so I'll keep you posted. ;-)

For his "Two-Year-Old" photo shoot, I wanted him totally in his element having fun. The best place to take a rambunctious, dirt-loving two year old is to a construction sight! Tractors and dirt as far as his legs could take him! That place was heaven to him! I let him get dirty and I snapped away! It was a perfect and FUN afternoon!

This morning we brought Sully his traditional Breakfast-in-crib :) He thought it was so cool that all of us walked into his room at the same time singing. He loved it! It was pretty dang adorable!

Before the girls went to school we let him open one gift in front of them- a sink from Nana and Pops Smidt that has real running water.  He was SO into it! He played with that thing for hours today! It was awesome. Definitely a winner!!

He then helped me bake his cupcakes (and by help, I mean he just kept sticking his chubby fingers in the batter and testing it out for me;-) ).

While he napped, I picked up Piper from school and it was time for the rest of his presents! He received a new T-Ball set, a pretend motorcycle, a bouncy donkey thing, a new swim suit, an adorable retro Radio Flyer tricycle, and a velcro ball catch/mitt set.  He was royally spoiled! Thank you to everyone who contributed to his birthday! I wasn't able to get a picture with him and all of his gifts together because, well, he's 2.  Tasmanian Devil, remember??

We had Taco Bell for dinner (with Cars decorations, naturally!) because that's his favorite! And he literally inhaled it. He ate a cheesy roll-up and cheesy fiesta potatoes in less than 3 minutes. It was awesome! Cupcakes came next, and then a BIG, extra bubbly bath in Mama's tub.  

He facetimed Ninny and Baba and Grammy and PawPaw and had a great day!

Sully baby, I love you more than all the leaves on all the trees.....and after you go to bed tonight and are in a deep sleep, I'll stand over your crib in your darkened, quiet room and my heart will break...and I'll quietly sob.  Because my heart beats outside of my chest; in you.  You have my whole heart and I love you more and more every single day.

Happy Birthday sweet boy.