Truck-Themed 2nd Birthday Party

This is going to be a long post...so hang in there! On the 20th of June, we hosted a 2nd birthday party for Tyler in our backyard. It was a truck-themed event, as Ty is pretty much obsessed with all things trucks! I went with more of a construction theme and made the black tablecloths roads and the centerpieces trucks of all sorts. I also decided that instead of doing BBQ I would make something Tyler really loved, so I went with Italian (or noo-noo's as he calls them). It seemed to be a hit. It was also fun this year because Tyler could play and run around with all of his friends. Last year he was just beginning to walk. The kids blew bubbles, played with their pails and shovels (that was their "goody bag") in the sand, ran through the sprinkler, and had a blast on our new swingset. I was pleased with the party...and glad the stress was over. Ty seemed to have a blast too...which melted my heart! Now we have to figure out what to do with all this plastic. I think it's time to box up some of his baby toys and call amvets:) Here are some pictures of the party for those of you that couldn't make the trip. His cute truck cake and my attempt at a dirt cake in a truck!Some of the decorOpening gifts with his buddies Connor and Logan (and Daddy too)Mimi and Auntie Cindy looking onHis cute Miami backpack from Mimi and Papa DaveSprinkler fun with his friends (thanks Uncle Brian and T for the cool gift!)Bubbles with TA tired, wet boy after his party...getting ready for a LONG nap!My fam, who were an incredible help during the partyAs far as Ty goes...he's just the most amazing and loving little boy! It's incredible how much he has changed, and how blessed I feel to see it all first-hand since I'm home over the summer. His vocabulary has gone into overdrive in the past few weeks. It's amazing! He is also the king of repeating every word, no matter how hard...so I have to be very careful these days with my road rage:) Here are a few new things he does/says that I find funny or entertaining:

"oh my" or "oh geez" or "oh boy" or "oh yeah", he kisses my boo-boos (and his own) often, gives the biggest hugs, sings twinkle twinkle little star in the grocery store...loudly, sings spongebob square pants theme song in his toddler language and it's hilarious, he says "whee" every time we push him on a swing, when I come into a room he says "hi mom" like a teenage boy (hilarous!), kisses the dog and hugs her everyday, he tries to whistle for cincy (it's more of a screech but it's adorable), "hi Cinc" or "good girl" or "go potty Cincy" because he loves his doggie, he has to go into the bathroom with us and say "bye bye poo-poo bye bye pee-pee" and flush (it's really fun when we're in public bathrooms and he's announcing to whoever is listening that Mommy is going pee-pee and poo-poo even when I'm not), Ty can count to 10 but never says the number 1...so his counting starts with 2. When he counts to 3...he says "two, three, two", Ty is swimming and jumping in the pool/lake without any adult help (he has no fear!), says "thank you mom" without being prompted, he's obsessed with shoes and is very particular with which pair he wears everyday, Ty lines up everything...his cars, books, whatever, in perfect lines (thanks to his OCD mom...oops), when he has poop he backs his butt up to us and says "oh poo-poo mommy, yeah poo-poo" then he grabs is diaper caddy and brings it to us (now if only he would sit on the darn potty!), he can throw his dirty diapers and anything else we ask him in the trash (handy!), he'll randomly come up to me and say "I wuve ooo" and gives me a kiss (heart melting!), when he farts he says "oohh" then whispers "I toot ma-ma", calls milk "mop" and it's too cute to try to correct just yet, when we take his shoes and socks off for the day he smells his feet and says "oh pee-ewww, stinky feet", he washes himself in the shower and follows the prompts we give him on what body part to wash (he knows every...I mean every...part), when he can't find me he says "oh mama, where are you?".

There are so many more great things...a million...but I am sure I have bored you thusfar, if you are even still with me. I just can't believe he's 2! Time truly flies when you're having fun, and we certainly are having a blast with our little man! We love him more than words...and can't believe he's not our baby anymore.