TWO. (Or Four, if you ask him)

Too fast the time has flown by. 

I feel like I was just holding all 6 pounds of this little nugget,

Completely, whole-heartedly, and utterly in love with the new little man in my life. . . 

And then I blinked.

And THIS happened!

On Saturday, January 5th, we celebrated his birthday.
We started off the day with the only acceptable way as a Malufau:

 With "Breakfast in Crib"

He loved every second of it. 
I will never forget his huge smile, and him licking his chompers when he saw us walk in.

He is such a picky eater, I figured we'd give him something he was sure to eat. . .

Popcorn.

Syrup with a little pancake.

And

Soda!

Sign us up for parents of the year on that one.

What a happy boy!

Last year at Walmart in the clearance bin there were plates, cups, party hats, and tablecloths with sports balls.  At the time he was a wee bit 'ball obsessed,' so I thought I had scored.  And only 27 cents a piece.  Double score.  So, for the past year, I have been thinking his 2nd birthday would be a walk in the park, I already had the table stuff, practically done, right?

 Well, somewhere in the last 3 months, much to my dismay, this boy has become a train addict.  So much so that I hear him at night in his crib chanting 'chugga chugga chugga chugga choo choo.'  And we have a train book that  he insists  we read (multiple times usually) before every nap and bedtime. 

So, as I was pulling out all my clearance items, and talking to Scout about his party, she informed me: "But Mom.  Porter likes trains much more than he likes balls." 

Point taken.

Train party it was. Sigh... 

Which meant I had to pay $4 at the dollar store for a tablecloth, cups, plates, and utensils

(I'll put it on his tab)

If we are going to do 'trains,' we may as well do it right.

With a train on our sliding glass door:

Train treats:

And a train cake. 

Don't look too closely at the shoddy craftsmanship.

The best part about moving here to St. George, is that we are close to family. 

Porter is one loved little boy.

So many of Ammon's family made the drive from Cedar City for the shindig.

We played some games...  "Porter Version"

Opened some presents:

Took some cute pictures:

Ate lots of Porter's favorite foods: 

:

Blew out birthday candles with four different breaths (from 4 differentmouths):

Played on the bunk bed (we should have known we didn't need any toys once this was built):

And took a spin in our new sweet birthday ride.

 At the end of the day, as the kitchen was still covered in dishes, frosting still plastered the table, and new toys were laying all around, I just sat and snuggled this little boy, trying to soak up every bit of him. 

It was a perfect day with lots of family, very few frowny faces, lots of sugar, and lots of giggles.

It was a good day to be two!

Back on this day, I knew I loved this sweet little boy that Heavenly Father had blessed our family with,

 

 

But never could have imagined how much joy, laughter, head shaking, warm snuggles, funny faces, and  dirty little boy adventures he would bring into our family.  

I could stop the birthday post here, but humor me as I become a little sentimental, and write a few things that I love about this boy. 

I know all moms say that they still think of their children as babies,

well,  It's true I guess.

I feel like Porter should still be the roly-poly chubbers, that I had to shove his gigantic thighs into the bumbo and sit him on the table. . .

Not the skinny, handsome 2 year old sitting on the table this way.

One of my favorite parts of the last 2 years, has been watching Scout and Porter become great friends.  It sure didn't start out that way. 

The whole time I was pregnant with Porter, I remember thinking and wondering how Scout would react to having a little baby around.  I never even imagined that she would completely ignore him, and most of the time, not even realize he was there. 

For the first 6 months, the only time she acknowledged him was when she heard someone call him 'Porter,' and she would correct him with a "His name is Baby Jesus!" (The result of having a baby 10 days after 

These two have come a long way from the first time she saw him. Most would look at this picture and think she was smiling and pointing at him; Aww, what a sweet moment.  

False. 

She was smiling and pointing at the buttons on the bed, which she thought were much more interesting than the infant that happened to be sitting next to her.

Ignoring soon turned to acknowledgement, which turned tolerance, which turned the occasional 'let me put Porter by you and smile,'

And to the occasional 'playing,' until Porter went all Godzilla on the tea party, and tears followed:

Which quickly turned to friendship and love like every parent hopes for.

 These two are funny!  Between the two of them, there is never a dull moment around this house.  Porter completely idolizes his big sister, and wants to do everything she does:  If she has a band aid, Porter needs a band aid, if she is sitting on the potty, pretty soon Porter is running around the corner with his diaper off, she is getting her hair done, Porter somehow managed to put a headband on his receding hairline, and if she is snuggled in bed, you can guarantee there is another warm body right next to her. 

I never could have imagined the joy I would get every moment of every day (well, for the most part) from my children. All day I wish I could remember the sweet moments, the funny 1 liners, the sound of not one, but 2 giggles echoing off the walls, and the mischievous look when they are being naughty together!

When Porter was born, my dad made him a few wooden trucks.  Porter was so small, and I took this picture of him and one of the trucks: 

Both weighing about the same, and practically the same size.

Same truck.  Same boy.  Few more scuffs (on the truck, not the boy)

Crazy how fast they grow (the boy, not the truck)

This poor little boy has had a rough go these past 2 years physically.  I sometimes forget just how sick he has been, and then I see pictures like this and all the emotions come rushing back.

Luckily we haven't had a hospital visit in quite a while, but he is always fighting with the latest virus that is floating around.  I have questioned why a little boy has to be so sick, all the time, and then have to step back, and remember that it is not in my hands, and that our Heavenly Father loves our son, and that there is a reason for everything.  Since he was a month old, doctors have been saying that all this will make him super resilient when he is older, but I still am not sure I buy that yet.  For being so sick, he has always been a happy boy (minus the roid-rage), and if nothing else, it has made him a rock star at taking medicine, maybe too much so, since he walks around the house with the Tylenol bottle and a syringe. 

 Almost done, I promise.  Anyone still reading?

 

Some Porter Facts at 2:

Height:  Shorter than Scout

Weight:  Skinny.  I don't think he has gained more than 3 pounds in a year.  Really.
Still has a receeding hairline that can put any balding man to shame.

Talking:  Can say more than Scout could at his age.  Loves to copy whatever Scout is saying in his super deep voice.   People can't understand 50% of what he is saying, but he knows what he's saying, and sure thinks it's funny.

He never wants to miss out on anything:  before every nap and bedtime we go through the same thing: "Daddy night night?  Scout night night?  Nana night night?  Clay Boy night night?  Avery night night?  Papa night night?"  He has to make sure everyone else is sleeping, and that he isn't missing out on any party.

He is our resident toilet flusher,  whether or not the person using the toilet is finished, it will be flushed.

I am not quite sure how he has any energy, with his pathetic food intake.  Super picky, and most of what I feed him ends up on the floor, or in Scout's hair. 

Thinks he is a 5 year old boy, and wants to do everything 'big kids' do.

Loves to read books.  Also likes to rip them.

Spends a good part of his day acting like a dog (thank you Avery and Austin).  The other day he literally crawled everywhere we went, with his tongue hanging out of his mouth.

Is like his sister, and has good manners.  Always says excuse me whenever he wants someones attention.  Normally it doesn't work, because people don't recognize 'Me Me' as 'excuse me.'  Don't know why not?

50% of the time he loves to be held and snuggle.  The other 50% of the time doesn't even want you to hold his hand.

Loves to make funny faces.  Loves even more to look at pictures of his funny faces, and try to copy them.

Alright.  I will spare you any more gushy details of this little man.

We are so happy he chose to come to our family. He keeps us laughing and hopp'n.

Happy Birthday Porter!