Life is full, and fun, and exhausting...

Hi again...so much has happened over the past few months, and I don't know how I am going to get all caught up with all of the posts I want to write.  Now that school has started and I am working a bit more, our days seem jam-packed and just want to crash at the end of the day.  I have made a chore chart and I plan to add blog-updating to it.  I seem to have a hard time making time for it.  I suppose if I post a little bit at a time, more often, it will be easier.

Let's start with Reier's second birthday.

Dahlia had a sleepover with my parents the night before Reier's actual birthday, so my boy and I had the morning all to ourselves.  We had a pancake breakfast (his choice) and went to the Ballard Locks to look at the boats and fishes, and to pick up Dahlia. He was having a great time running away from me.

I think they are sort of starting to look alike...maybe...if you squint.

Reier was very excited to have a cement mixer and a garbage truck to add to his fleet.  He drove them around the rug for about an hour making all kinds of little boy truck noises.

We have decided (for now) that the other kid gets to choose one present on the sibling birthday.  Dahlia chose roller-skates.   She was a natural.

When asked what he wanted to do for his birthday, Reier said "fimming (swimming), eat soo-see (sushi), eat ice-mee (ice-cream)."  Done, done, and done.  All within one block on Greenlake.

Bucket hat.

Cutest little sweetie boy I have ever seen!

Reier is a master chopstick-user.  And aren't his curls just delicious?  I am definitely going to cry when (if!) he ever gets a haircut.  Our children attract a lot of attention because of their hair.  

Yummmmm!

He even shared with his mama!  What a nice kid.

We also had a party with a few friends and lots of family.  Again, he wanted to swim, so off the wading pool we went.

My attempt to get Dahlia to stop playing with her friend to pose for a picture.

I look a little wacky here, but doesn't he look so charming?  

He was a little bit interested in the cupcakes I made...

...And a lot interested in the trucks his grandparents brought for him.

Dahlia was given a beautiful Venetian mask by her Aunt Caitlin, who had very recently returned from her honeymoon to Italy.

Matching dino tattoos!

One of Reier's favorite presents of the day was this dump truck "pup-po" (pillow).  He sleeps with it every night and asks me to feel it on a regular basis because it is "soooo soft, mama."

Reier has proven time and time again to be the kindest kid on the block.  He is generous and thoughtful, observant, careful, and just plain nice.  He cleans up after Dahlia, reminds her of the rules, and tries to follow them himself.  He certainly has his two year old moments, but overall, he is a complete delight.

Reier continues to be very tall for his age, and luckily he has the language skills to sound like a 2.5 year old, since most people guess that he is 3.  He followed in Dahlia's footsteps and was mostly done with napping by age 2.  This may seem terrible, but now we can usually get both kids in bed by 7pm, sometimes earlier.  The no-nap days are much more survivable with an early bedtime.

He and Dahlia are starting to get along better, and can actually play cooperatively for longer periods of time.  They are sharing a room (bunk beds!) and most of the time it is really fun for them.  It is great to see them playing together and acting like little buddies.  They seem to have a really good time as long as I stay just close enough to intervene if necessary.  They are pretty well matched in a wrestling throw-down so I can't get too much done while they are together.  I end up refereeing a lot.

The best part of his birthday was that if anyone asked him how old he was, he would say "I be 5, Dah-yah be 2," with a very sneaky smirk on his little face.  That didn't go over too well with big sister.  She didn't get the joke.