My Baby is 2!

I can't believe my baby is 2!  Where did those years go?  They are almost a blur in my memory--they went by so fast.  Actually, Jack wasn't a baby for very long.  Walking at 9 months, he was trying to keep up with his cool older brothers from the get-go.  Now, he is definitely in the mix--wrestling, running, jumping, and causing all kinds of ruckus--and contributing to the crazy atmosphere that only a house full of three boys can create.  Jack is definitely the independent one, needing no one else to have fun.  Although he loves it when he can get his brothers to join him for a game of "hide-and-seek," or a jump on the trampoline, he prefers to play toys either with mommy, daddy or all by himself.  I think he feels that his favorite cars, tractors and trains are in jeopardy of being taken away when another kid (typically one of his brothers) are involved.  So, he very happily will sit and play, play, play.  He has recently started having his cars talk to each other and it is the most precious conversation to listen too.  I feel like I am enjoying Jack at this age in a way that I wasn't able to with Max and Sam.  With both of them at age 2, I had an infant in the mix so I feel like my attention was more divided.   But now, I am just living in the moment.  Jack is a super sweet and cuddly cutie pie who loves tickles and butterfly kisses.  He adores any character from the movie Cars, and though his interest in them has tapered off a bit from his birthday to the posting of this entry, he enjoys anything tractor or train related.  Jack loves pancakes for breakfast (and usually will ask for them at lunch and dinnertime, too), and he loves a good snack (but doesn't have the sweet tooth like Max and Sam both do).   The kid can't get enough chocolate milk, and taking a nice long bath is one of his favorite things to do.  Jack did develop a superhero obsession early on thanks to the influence of those cool brothers, and will occasionally dress up in costume.  He can be a stinker at times, and definitely wants what he wants when he wants it.  Most of the time, it is hard for me to resist him--maybe because he is my baby.  I love it when he walks up to me with his hands raised above his head, silently asking me to hold him.   I hope this next year goes by really slowly--I have a lot more snuggling and enjoying to do!

Since Jack doesn't have much of a sweet tooth, and since we had just finished the two birthday cakes of Sam's, I decided to keep it simple and make cupcakes for Jack's birthday.  And, I used a boxed mix (GASP!!)...

I can actually justify using a boxed cake mix to make Jack's birthday cupcakes:  We have a yearly tradition just before each of the boys' birthdays of having whatever meal we ate right before they were born.  For Jack, this is a full on turkey dinner.  Talk about a lot of work (Sam's tradition is take-out pizza and Max's is Subway--when we had the original "Pre-Jack Turkey Dinner,"  my mom was in town and did all of the cooking).  Now, I am not so lucky to have her help in the kitchen.  So, it is up to me!  It is a bit of work--especially on a week day, but it is a fun and yummy tradition nonetheless.