He's Two

On Sunday we had Brian's second birthday party. It was a Winnie the Pooh Hundred Acre Wood barbecue. Everything was pretty laid back. Paul cooked the Ballpark hot dogs, burgers, and veggie burgers on his new grill (Fathers' Day present). We had four large bowls of fruit: black seedless grapes, strawberries, blueberries, and cherries. Also included was a pasta salad, variety pack of chips, baked beans, and fixins for the meat (relish, lettuce, tomatoes, onions, celery salt, pickles, buns).



The cake was pre-ordered from Costco: A white cake with vanilla cream cheese filling and decorated with balloons. I added a Tigger and Pooh toy from The Disney Store. Here's some pictures of the decorations: Here's a picture of the cake:



The Guest of Honor was still sleeping when the guests showed up. He slept for forty minutes after the party started (it didn't help that Grandpa turned on the stereo). Brian was very foggy when he woke up. He didn't want to go down and see people. So, he hung out upstairs with Auntie Lisa, Uncle Eric, and his cousins Courtney, Allison, and Lauren while they played pool. After a small meal (encouraged by Lauren) of hot dog, fruit, and pasta salad, Brian decided he could come downstairs for presents. Literally the only thing that lured the child downstairs was presents and cake. This is not normal Brian behavior. Usually he is Mr. Social Butterfly.



Present opening with a 2 year old is very different than present opening with a 1 year old. Courtney was designated by Brian to be the helper. He would try to open something and then take it to her to open it. He also would call all the cards "mail," halfway open the present corresponding to the "mail," discard both, and move on to another gift. He liked everything he got. Toys seemed to be preferred to clothes even though for weeks he has been asking us for new clothes and to go to clothes stores.



Here are some pictures of opening presents: Actually working on a video clip for this...see comment about opening presents with two year olds to figure out why the pics didn't turn out so good.



After the presents were opened, it was time for cake. Right before it was time to sing, Grandpa and Uncle Andrew went outside and started the bonfire. So, Brian had to go check it out with Uncle Eric ad Daddy. Then everyone came inside to sing. Brian blew out the one small candle without any help. I helped with the big 2. He was nicely waiting for me to cut the cake when Grandpa showed Brian he could stick his fingers in the icing.



Bonfire



The party lasted for a while. Most of the guests left by 8 pm. Truthfully, I didn't get to talk very much with anyone until it was time for them to leave! I was busy making sure everything was running. Even though, the party was a success :)