Donuts With Grandpa

Sam's school had Donuts for Dads in February. Ozzie had to work so Grandpa Workman filled in for him. Sam was thrilled his Grandpa was coming to his school and was delighted to show him around. Gus was sad that he wasn't able to stay and play, but he did get to be in the picture. And, as Aunt Sally says, his time will come.

And Gus is TWO! How Did That Happen?

So, three weeks ago today, my little bear turned two! I just can't believe it!

We had a very small party with family and just a few friends. Originally, I'd intended to have a big party for him, but we had a change of plans and we put together a small celebration at the last minute. Of course, a party isn't a party without a favor, so we passed out Lolli-PUPS to go with our theme.

And, a puppy cake! Got to love the Publix Bakery. And yes, this cake was mostly all frosting. I'm not sure I got an actual piece of cake with my frosting.

The sweet two-year-old still talks about his puppy cake.

Happy Birthday, Dear Gussy Bear! Happy Birthday to you!

Sam was a BIG help opening presents. Presents? We did put no gifts on the evite, but nobody paid any attention to that.

Finally, it wouldn't be a birthday without just a little more puppy cake (frosting) and Cheerios before Night-Night!

Oh, Babiest Boy, we love you so much. You are sunshine and delight each and every day of our lives and these past two years have been a dream -- a dream that moves much, much too fast, but a sweet, wonderful Gus-filled dream.

Sam's First TBall Game

Today was Sam's first Tball Game. It was a hoot! He did really well! He was nervous before we left this morning and said he was afraid he would hit the T instead of the ball. So we had to

explain to him that it's okay to make mistakes as long as he keeps trying. At the game it turns out that he did hit the T instead of the ball a couple of times and, you know what? He was fine

with it and he just tried and tried again. It's a great team and he has a great coach -- a friend of ours whose son is in Sam's class at school. It was a lot of fun to watch -- all the kids were fighting over the ball and piling up on top of each other. Some of them ran the wrong way, some of them (including Sam) spent a lot of time sitting on the field and some of them had meltdowns, but it was great fun and they were all good sports!

Check out that uniform:

Love this face:

Uncle Michael, Grandma and Gus came to watch the game:

SWING, Batter!

One of the pile ups:

Good Boy, Mommy

Last night, Gus wanted me to help him build a train track. So, he grabbed my hand and dragged me with surprising strength over to the track pieces. "Go, Mommy," he said as he pulled me along. He then pointed to the floor, "Sit." He repeated "sit" until I complied and then he said, "Good Boy, Mommy." He's so funny! He says the most amusing things. One of his favorite things to say is, "Ride in Daddy's car/truck/boat" or "Where Daddy go?". When Gus does have the opportunity to ride in Daddy's truck (his most favorite activity) he is so happy and will tell you all about it all day!

Today, Sam was playing with a garbage truck and Gus wanted to play with it too. I took Gus to the truck drawer and showed him all the other trucks he could play with. After I pulled out about six or seven of them he said, "Thank you, Mommy" with the sweetest sound of true appreciation in his deep little voice.

Tomorrow, Sam plans on having a lemonade stand and I've sent out email requests in hopes that we'll have some lemonade purchasers.

Every day is an adventure.

Birthday Brick

Last March for his birthday two of our family friends gave Sam his very own engraved brick to be placed near the train station at our local park -- they have one of those mini-trains and the boys LOVE to ride it. When Sam's not in school we spend a lot of time on the train. Anyway, after much ado and almost a full year later, the brick has FINALLY been placed.

And, it will be something Sam can treasure always.

Even if he does, as my father predicts, have to scuba dive down to visit it once the results of Global Warming have taken hold of Florida and sunk our dear state.

Why?

Gus's question du jour -- WHY? Isn't he a little young to start that? Of course, he's not yet two and he thinks he's four so silly me to wonder why...

Train Wreck

So, last week one of my dear, dear friends met me (and the boys) for coffee/diet coke after Baby Boot Camp. I haven't seen Kathy in years! Years! And, at one point we were a daily part of each other's lives. We had a lot of catching up to do in a short period of time. She'd only met Sam once before and this was her first introduction to Gus. "Tell me about them," she said. "What are their personalities?" So, I told her about Sweet Sam (who was running circles around the coffee shop). Similar in personality to her gentle boy whom she referred to as earnest. Earnest. I tried that on Sam and I liked the way it fit him. Kind. Loving. Smart as a whip and someone who doesn't miss a thing. He's always paying attention. "And, Gus..." I said and then paused. Gus, too, was circling the shop with wild abandon (I know, I know. Classy parenting on my part. It wasn't as bad as it sounds and we were practically the only ones in there. I'm pretty sure the guy with the head phones never knew we were there). It was during my pause that Sam flitted by and said to Kathy, "Gus is a train wreck!" and then he zoomed away laughing. Yep. That told Kathy more about my children and our life than I ever could in our hour-long, well-deserved and long-time coming, coffee-shop-reunion.