Max is TWO

There are quite a few new posts today so keep scrolling down!
We're beginning to really like birthdays around here. Presents and an excuse to make cake are always great. Max turned two last week and we invited people over for dessert. Max got a train table with train tracks inside and a train rug from his parents. (Who also still need to buy him a tricycle for his birthday but he doesn't know the difference so they are procrastinating doing it.)

Normally I would not boast that I got my son's birthday presents at a yard sale, but here I can't resist. I was out looking for sandals for Max when I saw this train table. It was marked $30. I looked inside and the train rug was folded up and included along with the tracks and a few train pieces. It was very much an impulse buy. I brought it home and instantly regretted doing it because I always, ALWAYS regret impulse purchases. Chris kept telling me it was fine and reminding me how we were just looking at these train tables a month ago. I finally felt better when I looked these exact items up online. Brand new the train table and train set together is $160. The rug itself is $50 alone. That is a savings of $180. I suddenly felt much better about my purchase.
And Max LOVES it. Chris is going to build it a stand that is Max's height but Max doesn't seem to care right now. He likes to get in the box when the lid is off and put the bridges along the outside edge. It's a hit and it's nice to know $30 was well spent. (I hate buying toys they never touch!)

We worked on blowing out the candles but Max still needed a little help.
I made frosting filled cupcakes (you fill the inside of the cupcakes with frosting using a #12 cake tip - SO EASY and delicious!) and a strawberry shortcake because the strawberries looked delicious. The cupcakes have strawberry icing too. So we had pink frosting for our son's 2nd birthday. He didn't care and next year maybe I'll do something more appropriate for a 3 year old boy. Here are some pictures of Max that were taken in the last month.
He still LOVES LOVES LOVES water, no matter the temperature of the water or the temperature outside.

He also loves Ring Around the Rosy. Chris's youngest sister Aleksa was nice enough to play it with him and his cousin for quite awhile.

He also loves his dad. Above, he is flying a kite with Chris. Chris was sitting on the ground and Max went over and just plopped in his lap. And below Max was sick and got up too early one morning so I put him in bed with Chris while I took care of Sydney. This is how I found them later (before I woke Chris up with my flash). Chris can't wait to take Max fishing and some days neither can I!

But most days Max has turned into a very sweet boy who *usually* listens and is so sweet to his baby sister it could make you cry.