2!

Our sweet Tucker is 2! At our house that means he's "officially a Big Boy!" A big boy bed, and no more bottles. I realize at most houses 2 is late to cut off the bottle, but our house is "special." He's done super well with it though, I've been very proud of him. As far as the big boy bed goes, as soon as we work out our "who's in which room" plan he'll be all set, complete with new Toy Story Bedding!

Tucker is a non-stop all-out Boy! He's very intense about whatever he's doing, if its running, playing, eating, loving, he's in all-or-nothing. He loves to play with Dad first thing in the morning, Jeremy has had to wake up a little earlier so that he has time to get in some Tucker time before work. Cars and Trucks are his favorite thing to play, but they always need rescued by Buzz Lightyear...and our trucks can get into some pretty crazy pickles! Luckily Buzz can always get them to safety. He picks up on a lot of things from Maeli, a blessing and a curse! He plays really well with her and would be so nice if she would just give him 110% of her attention. Sometimes she needs reminded that he's the most important thing! He's really loving having a brother that can hold his own, he's great about sharing trucks and blocks and things with Riker. A year from now, I think they will be an unstoppable hurricane of brotherly trouble! Tuck loves to read, especially book with lots of stuff going on in the pictures. He loves to lift-the flap, but we're still working on not ripping the flap off. His very favorite book is "Ham" (Green Eggs and Ham) and he wants it read 3-4 times every night. Tuck also loves movies, and will watch a show for about 30 minutes (such a blessing!) his favorites are Dora, anything Pixar, and Blues Clues. He's also recently become a fan of Psych (thanks to mom). He's also very hygiene conscious and loves to brush his teeth, wash his hands, and use chap stick...he also loves lotion!
This boy really never stops! If he does hold still for a moment, his mouth picks right up where his legs stopped...he's a constant maker of mouth-music, and his favorite songs are E-I-E-I-O and Jingle Bells...however, he also loves to "Shake his Bon Bon." The past 6 weeks or so, his vocabulary has been discovered. He talks all the time, and although he's still hard to understand, he's now considered to be in the normal range of both comprehension and verbalization. He still loves hats and gloves and now wings! He's getting particular about which shirt, what jammies, or how many pairs of pants he's willing to wear...this I think, is thanks to Maeli.
He's still such a sweetheart! He loves to snuggle, give "big hugs" (never just "hugs") and kisses. He's either very happy, or very upset...nothing in the middle. He has a lot of energy and we often have to go run laps in the mornings so that he can mellow out a little for the rest of the day! I cannot imagine our family without Tucker! Which is so funny because according to our original 10-year plan, we'd be expecting Tucker this May...crazy!
Weight- 27 1/2 pounds 43%
Height- 34.8 inches 61%
Head- 19.6 inches 77%

Birthday Extravaganza

We had to start the festivities by making the dessert. Mae and Tuck both were so anxious to lick the spoon that they couldn't take turns....I for one cannot wait to pull this photo out in about 10 years and remind them just how much they love each other.
When we asked Tucker what he wanted for his special birthday dinner, he said, "MEAT!" Jeremy translated that into Ribs, which Tucker loves. He was so excited when I brought out in a huge tray of MEAT! I think both of them are pretty delighted!
He tried to snake some during the prayer...I know, I wasn't being reverent either, but it was so funny, he very carefully watched Jeremy until his eyes were closed, and then made his move.
Thanks to some help from Maeli, the full menu was Ribs, "Corn from outside" aka our garden, star biscuits with honey butter, and stuffed little "tapatoes" with pink juice to drink.

Jeremy had been giving Riker little bits of rib meat, and finally gave in and just gave the kid a bone to gnaw on...manna from heaven! Riker was thinking he was a pretty tough guy!
Maeli, who loves ribs, but prefers to not involve the bone, also devoured dinner!
Tuck loved it, but he wanted to make sure that he was doing everything just like Dad...Dad got cut out of this photo because he really LOVES ribs and had a very messy, albeit cute, face.
We didn't have cake on Tuck's actual birthday because he was having friends over on Saturday for a little party, so he got to blow out the candles on some chocolate rice krispie treats.

Dad then turned said treats into a monster truck!
Maeli and Tuck got to help in their own special way
After baths, Tuck opened presents from the Grandmas...he was so excited about his new books and new train!
For the friend party, our monster truck needed some terrain to drive on, that was my job!
While Dad put some finishing touches on the truck itself...awesome!
Tuck thought it was great, and loved having everyone sing to him!
As well as looking good, it seems that it must have tasted alright too. Jeremy was very impressed with his quality of workmanship as the truck stood upright even after 2 of its 4 doughnut wheels had been snaked by kids.
Pin the badge on Woody went way better than I thought it would...everyone who wanted to try was able to get their self-decorated badge on the poster, some were even really close to spot on! Everyone waited their turn and seemed to really like it.
Tuck got some great Trucks (by far his favorite kind of toy) and a pair of REAL buzz Lightyear wings. He's one Happy Camper. Thanks to everyone who helped our sweetie turn 2!

My Valentine's Day

We had some friends over to decorate cupcakes (thanks for the mix grandma Terry, it was super fun)! Riker wanted to be part of the action, but settled for eating a cupcake on the floor (sans frosting, yet he managed to make a huge mess)
Janel, looking ever so festive in her pink and red ensemble, is by far Maeli's favorite adult. I think she'd choose Janel over me or Jeremy on any given day. I hope AJ had as much fun as Maeli did.
Tucker figured out what was going on really fast...eat the frosting, add more frosting, eat the frosting, add more frosting...cupcakes RULE!
And my sweet Valentine brought me flowers on his lunch break, and a card with a poem he had written himself! Impressive! Roses cuz he loves me, and Daisies cuz I love them-Perfect!
It was a very LOVEly day!