Matthew's Birthday!

Matthew officially turned 2 on January 12th, but that was a Tuesday and our Tuesday's are very busy with activities, so we made sure to celebrate the weekend before his birthday. On Saturday, after Ben's soccer game, we went to the Kohl's Children's Museum. We haven't been there in years and Matthew had never been, but he loved it! We bought a membership so I can take him while the older kids are in school. He started off in the car room, which was right up his alley :)

Ben and Juliette helped show him how to race the cars.

Abbey helped him drive a pretend car.

Eventually we had to pick Matthew up and move to another area - I think he could have spent our whole morning in the car section and not see anything else!  So we moved to the grocery store section and he had such a good time putting food into his cart.

Next up was the sandwich making station.  Good thing he has so many helpers!

We made our way back to the water room.

Matthew found some balls!

Ben and Juliette raced a water stream

The oldest kid in our family joined in too.

Matthew couldn't get enough balls!

I can't be sure, but I think a science lesson is happening here.

Matthew helped Juliette aim and shoot the water at the target!

Abbey found a rock climbing wall.

Nice job Abs!

They had a surfing area - Matthew needed a little help staying on, but Juliette had it down!

Catching a wave.

Ben enjoyed this section too.  He has pretty much aged out of this museum, although he did have fun experiencing it with Matthew.  But he did enjoy this surfing area.

We left the museum and headed home for nap time, but I think Matthew really enjoyed it!  And as per tradition with each of the other kids, I made an Elmo cake for birthday #2!  When the kids asked me why I always make an Elmo cake for the second birthday, I told them that every 2 year old loves Elmo!  Around 3, the kids each had their own interest and request for what they wanted on their cake, but not quite yet at 2 and Elmo is always a safe bet with 2 year olds!  Besides, it is fun to make.

The next day we had Aunt Domi and Caroline over to celebrate his birthday with family.  Belle sure liked having Aunt Domi over!

Big boy was surprised when he got up from his nap to find we had visitors over!

We got a few balloons that he enjoyed playing with.

Abbey and Juliette wanted to decorate some cupcakes with the leftover icing from the Elmo cake - I think they did a really good job!  Future cake decorators in the making!

Then we let Matthew (and all those willing to help him) open up a few gifts from family.

Check out that awesome dump truck that his Godfather Cousin Andrew sent him!

Then it was cake time.  Paul and I had high hopes that he would really love his cake this time.  If you will recall, he cried during the whole cake experience when he turned 1 so we were hoping for a better outcome this time!

Abbey bringing the cake over and Ben bringing the cupcakes.

He was intrigued by the whole thing.

He was trying to blow out the candle, but he couldn't quite blow hard enough.

So Paul took the candle out and brought it a little closer to him.  And then he was able to blow it out!  We chopped off one of Elmo's eyes and put it on his tray but he wanted no part of it!!  He kept pushing it away.  Another disappointing cake experience!

On Tuesday, his actual birthday, we went to his normal toddler class and everyone wished him a Happy Birthday (because we got this cool birthday shirt as a hand-me-down).

Tuesday nights are tough because Ben has soccer and basketball and the girls had Indian Princesses that night too, but we managed to find about 10 minutes where everyone was home to sing to Matthew and try this cake thing one more time.

He again enjoyed the candle.

And was able to blow it out, but he wanted no part of the actual cake eating.  I guess I should be glad that he doesn't like cake (after all, that's healthier, right?), but it's a little disappointing too.  Oh well, maybe he will change his mind by the time he turns 3!

A few days later I took Matthew to the doctor for his wellness check-up and he did great!  He talked to the doctor and was very cooperative.  He had to get a shot and he just kind of watched them do it and didn't even flinch!  He was totally fine with it, which was awesome!!  The nurse was very impressed.  Now on to his stats....big boy weighed in at 30 pounds and 33.5 inches, which put him in the 84th and 20th percentiles.  You would think from those stats that he is quite the porker, but he doesn't really look that way at all.  He must be all muscle :)  He is sweet and easy going and has added a lot of joy and laughter to our lives.  Happy Birthday my sweet baby boy!!