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.

Max's Quirks

Max does the funniest things. Chris and I just shake our heads and laugh. He loves to line things up and arrange them.

He also has an obsession with shoes and puts on whatever pair is lying around.

And he has a slight obsession with my boots and goes for them first when he is in my closet. Maybe because they are almost as tall as him??

Sydney's Quirks

Sydney has some funny things she does. She has to be like Max in anyway she can. She's constantly trying to move to get to him and is starting to get up on her hands and knees trying to follow him. We'll see how long it is before she crawls. And fortunately Max is very tolerant of her. In the picture below he is putting letters on her head, but only because that is what Chris does to him. So really he's just trying to play with her.

Here she is trying to steal Max's sippy cup. Once again wanting to be like him. We can give her an empty one and she'll play for 15 minutes just because she sees Max doing the same thing. It's so cute. And he's good about just taking her hand and moving it away from his cup. In fact, when she first wiggled her way over to him, and before I could grab the camera, he put out his left hand and just patted her on the arm. So cute!

She also loves her toes and has since she first discovered them months ago. Max never did this and I think it's one of the cutest positions a baby can be in.

She also hates the sun and cannot stand to have it on her face. She's getting used to being outside though as Max and I both love it and she doesn't have much choice.

Making Cookies

These pictures are old. They were taken back on January 16th. I'm really behind in my blogging...
Max likes to help me make cupcakes and cookies. He helps me dump the ingredients and then takes samples to make sure they are turning out right.

I think these were okay. :)

I lied...

An hour ago I posted that Sydney's

other tooth was about to break through.

I lied.

It's here.

Hopefully that means a break in teething for a little while.

Sydney is Six Months!

Sydney turned six months on tax day (April 15th). She is a pretty serious baby. Her smiles are rare and giggles rarer. But she's starting to come more out of her shell and will give her parents big grins, squeals, and on the rare occasion, a giggle. Her bottom right tooth is sticking through and the the left one looks like it's going to cut through at any moment. She eats rice cereal only so-so and hasn't really liked any of the veggies we've tried yet. She's also not sleeping through the night yet but that's a whole different story. :) I got this cute picture the other day while Chris was reading her a book. I have a similar one of Max.
We went to the little water park/play area in the middle of town the other day. Doesn't she look adorable in her little sundress and hat?

She is so frustrated she's not crawling yet. I got a couple of pictures of her trying the other day. She's starting to squirm forward a little but nothing definite yet. She learned to sit up about a month ago though so that has helped with the boredom of being a baby that can't move. Especially with your older brother running around you all the time.

She likes her jumper when Max isn't trying to spin her in circles...

Her stats at 4 months:

Weight: 13 lbs. 50%

Height: 24 2/3 in. 55%

Head: 41.5 cm 55%

Her stats at 6 months:

Weight: 15 lbs. 3 oz. 30%

Height: 25 1/2 inc. 30%
Head: 44 cm. 90%

Just like Max, she's an orange on a toothpick :) Big head is supposed to be an indicator of intelligence, right???

The picture of Max with Chris: Cute, cute kids if I do say so myself.

(By the way, I know she looks like she's smiling in all of the above photos, but they are the five I got with a decent face out of the I don't know how many that I've taken of her!)

Max...

Last night Max had a cough so I gave him some cough medicine with some chocolate milk (nestle quik).
This morning Chris gives Max a sippy cup with milk in it and Max rejects it (read - throws a tantrum and yells). Chris thinks he's giving in and pours some Slimfast in with the milk, not just fake pours it either like we usually do but actually gives Max some. Max still rejects the milk (read - yells again at the top of his lungs) and points to the pantry. I see this and tell Chris I think he wants the Nestle Quik. Chris gives me an exasperated look and gets out the nestle quik. He pretends to pour some in the sippy cup with the lid still on. Max still won't take it (once again this involves yelling) and he points at the silverware drawer. I tell Chris that Max understands that you have to STIR the chocolate milk. So Chris gets out a spoon, with a look of "you've got to be kidding me" on his face, stirs the milk, puts the lid back on, and hands the cup to Max. Max smiles and starts to drink, happy as can be.
Chris says I created a monster.
I think we have a kid who knows what he wants, knows what is involved in getting what he wants, and knows exactly how to get his parents to do it. What can I say? I'm whooped. But wouldn't you be too by this face?