Burl's 2nd Birthday

Burl, how old are you?

I two.

And about 20% of the time, he can actually make a two with his hands.
The rest of the time, he does something like this:

Monday was a big day for Burl and a big day for us.  John took the day off, so we had a special time celebrating Burl.  All day long, we had special things for him.  It was great.  I love birthdays and celebrating birthdays, and nothing is better than celebrating kids' birthdays.  

The night before, I strung up balloons so Burl would get the hype that comes with celebrating.  Mama loves anything with hype.  We tried to explain to him what birthday meant for him.  Candles, balloons, party, cupcakes, presents, etc.  I think that he got it because he woke up at 6:45 and started yelling "yeah" from underneath his door.  This is WAY early for him.  I think it was a case of the Christmas morning syndrome.  The anticipation pulled him out of bed.

He saw the balloons right away and things got started.  I made one of his favorite things: meat, specifically sausage, with a side of eggs.  We sang happy birthday, popped a candle in that patty, and let him blow it out.  Repeat three times.  He even got a few little presents during breakfast: an art box full of crayons, scotch tape, play-doh, and safety scissors.  He also got this book, Little Blue Truck is kinda  big deal around here.

The morning was spent doing things that Burl likes to do.  Tool time with John and me was a hit, especially when I make the tool sounds.  He got to take a ride in John's truck and play outside.  We also gave him another little present.  It was good fun hype.  

After his nap, we had his little party.  We invited his cousins and a few friends to meet us at a local park and playground.  For each kid, I made a little snack box.  Oreo balls, cupcakes, salty snack, and a little toy.  

Everyone enjoyed the snacks.  And Burl loved the playtime.  

Fern was bundled up in the Ergo, so she missed out on a lot of the action, but we brought out for a family picture to prove that she was actually there.  

After the park, we went to this BBQ place that Burl likes (mainly because it was the first place he saw a real Santa and they have these big cardboard pigs that he oinks at every time we pass the place).  The grandparents, uncles, cousins came with us and we opened presents there.  Looking back at it, opening presents at a BBQ joint really doesn't sound like a good idea, but I'm pretty sure Burl didn't care.  

We went back home, put Fern to bed, and had a little playtime with Burl and his new toys.  We put him to bed, and realized that all the hype and worn us out.  It is no small thing to celebrate a birthday and I think that's how it should be.