The Cutest Thing. Ever.

Zwei

Alles Gute zum Geburtstag Dude! (Over a month and half later. . .). Never one to buy into common traditions, Mama chose an Oktoberfest-themed birthday party in lieu of a typical childrens' character theme. Some day soon, this will not surprise you. at. all. There really isn't much to say except that you had a lovely time celebrating your German Heritage and the second anniversary of your eviction into this world. Thus, we will let the pictures do the explaining:

Our neighborhood surely refers to us as 'The weird house with the not-Amurican Flag'. That, or 'The House with the dirt patch out front'.

Balloons! I seriously could have foregone every other decoration and bought you some balloons. You would have been perfectly fine with that. (Notice the new lighting in the background!)

This sign is a play on the sign posted at Checkpoint Charlie in Berlin - an old checkpoint between East and West Berlin that we visited on our honeymoon in 2008. 

The actual sign. 

Per tradition, Izzers joined in the festivities. 

Before dinner, we attempted to get a family picture. I won't repost that as it has already been seen on this ol' blog, but wanted to point out that most of the attempts looked something like this. 

The food. Oh, the food. Mama and Daddy spent five hours the day before the party making German Potato Salad - still not as good as Great Grandma V's, but alright nonetheless. We also had brats (with kraut), pretzels, fruit, and cake! Oh, and Bier and Gewürztraminer wine. 

We had two cakes - a Black Forest Cake (traditional of Germany), and a 3-layer cake with chocolate, red velvet, and yellow cake layers to look like a flag when cut. Both were amazingly good. 

And the presents. Oh the presents. You are becoming quite gifted at opening boxes, but still want to play with what you just got rather than open something new. . . . or with ribbons, as Aunt Issa is showing you here. 

This card made noise - something Star Wars related and you laughed everytime you opened it and the music began. 

A Magnadoodle. We have used this many times to draw 'pictures' and letters. You are currently loving the letter O. 

We knew the Harley brand would be represented, and you received your very own Harley Build-A-Bear, complete with Leather jacket, chaps, and its own Harley. 

A four wheeler and skidloader, remembrances of your times with Grandma and Grandpa. 

A tricycle! Finally, you can give Dad's arms a rest from pulling you in the wagon. 

Star Wars. I think Dad may have been more excited about this than you ;)

Channeling Bob the Builder - still your favorite. 

An original, metal Tonka truck from your Great Uncle GT. You hauled Darth Vader in this the first day - who needs a fancy ship? (Daddy will probably come back and edit the real name of Darth Vader's ship here because 'there is no excuse for Star Wars ignorance').

Mama and Daddy asked a friend to make you a wooden firetruck and your favorite part is the ladder. 

Yep - we've reached the Thomas stage. Within a week, we had an expansion track and another train for you. You ask daily to 'Buil Tack' (translation 'build track') and we have fun designing new paths for Thomas and Henry. 

While the birthday party had a very Bavarian-German theme, I believe Mama's family is actually from the Mecklenberg region of Germany. Anyone know what region Daddy's family is from?

Thank you to everyone that came to celebrate and for the wonderful gifts. We are thankful for such great family and friends :)

24 Months (2 Years for those not living in denial)

While the expression on Justin's face doesn't show it, we have reached an exciting¹ time in the Dude's life. We have hit the big 0-2. No more answering the age old question of age² with " He's XX months old." No sir, we have now hit Two Years.³

¹By exciting, Baby Daddy also means almost incomprehensible.

²Pun fully intended, although not necessarily funny.

³And by now I mean almost a full month ago. . .  good thing we aren't trying to break news on the Ol' Blogosphere. . .

Month 24 continued to show the Three Basic Truths of the Dude:

 - He's a Tank.

 - He's smart enough Baby Mommy and Daddy have to watch what they say and do.

 - The ladies don't stand a chance.

First the Tank-ness (Food). Justin's eating habits have been pretty consistent: if you're eating, we're eating. Justin prefers the colorful sweet stuff (fruits, cookies, ice cream) to cooked dead animals, but we haven't found any new foods that he refuses to eat.

A trait that is a combination of food and intelligence: Justin knows where both Four Queens Ice Cream Shops and Scratch Cupcakeries are in the Waterloo - Cedar Falls area. And by knows we mean he'll start asking for them if we are in within half a mile of any location. He has also figured out how to get Baby Mamma addicted to Skinny Caramel Macchiatos at Starbucks to help ensure that he gets cookies during their weekly Target visit, kind of showing how the ladies don't stand a chance either (including Mammas). . .

Soft Serve Ice Cream Cone from Four Queens - the perfect food for Tanks

Justin has also continued to work on his Mental Muscle in month 24. He can now count to Ten, knows where to throw away garbage, and will pick up his toys (sometimes). He now also knows when Isabelle has made a mess, and will scold her repeatedly with 'Bad Dog! Bad Dog!' until someone cleans up the mess.

Justin has also started becoming very good at mimicking those around him. This will be especially fantastic when Justin is hanging around Babby Daddy during football games or times where Baby Daddy is trying to be an amateur repairman. . . 

Justin has also picked up an interesting habit: lining up stuff. It started with his Little People Cars. . .

Green Lantern is in front to protect the innocent civilians

It then became lining up other toys:

Insert some bad pun about chilling out here. And yes, Justin did dig them out of the freezer.

Baby Mamma would like to point out that Justin was obviously having the John Deere pull the other equipment

And has now expanded to how he draws:

'What I've done here is illustrated the different running lanes available on a zone read option versus a  Base 4-3 Defense

Justin proved to us that he has learned from his times out on the farm.

Cattle need to eat and drink too, Iz.

Finally, we have full grasped how to use the No, in all of it's inflections. . .

As for not giving the ladies a chance, Justin has started saying Hello to people he knows well (which you need to take the projected adorable factor and quintuple it). He has also picked up showing appreciation by saying 'Tankyoowelcome' instead of 'Thank you.'

As for photographic evidence, we have this:

You know you couldn't resist seeing that peaceful face every day of the week and twice on Sundays

And this:

Just don't ask me to paint you like one of those 'French Girls'

Other highlights of the last of the 'months':

John Deere had a shindig in Waterloo to celebrate their 175th Anniversary. We took Justin to get a chance to look at some of the tractors, visit a Petting Zoo, and get really sweaty.

We could just park this in the backyard Dad

Just smile and pretend we're not discussing how to best get this beast out of here. . . 

Yep, still subjecting him to being a Cubs fan

Insert inappropriate comment about a mule here

We also helped out Papa and Grandma W. package sweet corn . . .

If by help you mean make a mess in Papa's machine shed and get Gator rides that is

. . . and also helped celebrate Grandma W's birthday by being calm at the restaurant for 1.4 seconds.

About 1 second longer than the time it took to snap this picture.

Justin also got to experience his first Roller Derby!

Is a big fan of events that take place in Arenas, as long  as you keep the air horns off.

With that, we'll leave you with an image of the Happy Family as we wished Justin a Herzlichen Glückwunsch zum Geburtstag!

Excited to be stuck with Mom and Dad in a Photo. . .

Okay . . . one more.

Thanks for Reading! Someone besides me has to keep the number of page views up. . .

Month 23

(Dada insert: Holy crap, it's actually on time! The Mayans may be right)

This may be the second-to-last monthly photo, Little Dude. That's probably why you are smiling in this picture. "Haha Lady! Only two more . . ." (or not, your father thinks we should continue this tradition and I have great thoughts of pulling you out of hockey practice in high school to come sit in your chair and take your 204th monthly photo).

Here is a rundown of your 23rd month, in no particular order:

You attended your second Edgewood Rodeo Days parade, and you split your time between running around like a banshee trying to get candy, and chilling on Mama's lap. You are still not a fan of loud noises, and the firetrucks sent you straight back to Mama. Just so you know, this is perfectly acceptable at any age - no matter what your future partner tells you :)

Equally enthused for this tradition. 

You made an appearance at the wedding of two friends, and in typical fashion, spent the first half clinging to us, and the second half running around like a banshee (notice a pattern?). You quickly found where the cream cheese mints were kept and circled back at least 6 times.

Saaaaaaaay 'Hockey'

Can you believe they just let these mints set out? 

Our family spends Father's Day with your great grandparents, and this year you got to run around. There was sidewalk chalk, bubbles, open space, and your family - you were a happy little dude, as evidenced below:

"This one is for the ladies"

When the Jedi force just won't work . . . sometimes you have to get your own frisbee. 

"OMG - Jenny look at her butt, it is soooo big . . . "

I shall take my light sabers and see you on the dark side. What?!? Bubbles? Oh, sweet. 

That sidewalk chalk is vicious . . . 

Mom and Dad have been doing some work on the house on weekends, and you have spent time with both Grammy and Papa and Grandma and Baba. You love every second of it and I sometimes wonder if you are excited at all to come home. 

Speaking of grandparents: You are a big fan of your grandpas. When at each house, you ask for them often. In fact, this month you learned that Papa (Grandpa W) drives tractors. Also, you started calling Grandpa H 'Baba' and know that he drives a Harley.

With the angle of descent of this new toy, the friction between the car and the ramp, and the mass of this police car, it should take approximately 4.2 (repitend of course) seconds to reach the bottom. Time to test . . . 

You have been called 'Tank' for awhile now, and we have been on the lookout for a shirt with a Tank on it (You can't say your parents aren't clever). Dada even drove to a store in Iowa City on his way to Davenport because we thought one would be there. No dice. But - we were wandering through Kohl's before a movie started and found this on the clearance rack, the only one left, in your size - It was fate. 

A shirt. Boom.

Your attitude is pretty unchanged since last month - mostly chill plus a note of defiance with a strong dose of strong will (German say what???????). You love to bring this out in restaurants on your naive parents. At Olive Garden you drew on the wall with a crayon and let everyone in the vicinity know your feelings about eating pasta - you were carried out early. At another restaurant you decided to scream. Literally . . . scream. See the below picture for a reenactment. When we are old and senile, we plan to return the favor :)

Let's see if I can hit that High C. Beyonce aint got nothin on me.

One of our weekend projects was to paint the entryway and stain the railings. When it was completed, we decided to not put the gate back up, and you have done great with it. We no longer live in a gated community and it is fabulous :)

 Guys, I need new toys. I can only drive these cars so many places.

Damn it feels good to be a gangsta . . . a white, Cubs loving gangsta. 

Sleep: You still sleep very well. You wake up between 6:30 and 7:00 each morning and nap once starting at 12:30. You are ready for bed around 8:00 - 8:15 each night.

Hair: Still crazy. You have your fourth haircut scheduled for next week and those curls are not going anywhere my little Toehead.

Food: You still love fruits, most vegetables, and flavored meats. Izzers is still fat. We don't see this changing in the future

Vocab: You say more and more each day and we have stopped trying to keep up. Just today you heard the washing machine beep and said 'Mama . . . lautry' repeatedly. You now use the full 'Ready, Set, Go' when we are not fast enough for you. You have even said 'Go Cubbies' (much to the chagrin of Grammy I am sure).

With that, we move onto Month 24, planning an early Oktoberfest birthday party (yep, we're weird), and realizing that we almost have a two-year old.