Grayson's 2nd birthday party!

 Grayson's birthday invitation.  He LOVES the Dinosaur Train TV show, so I decided that would be a perfect theme.  For the last 10 days we have been watching the weather channel.  It has been forecasting cold weather and rain.   We were so worried about it "raining on our parade" but all the happy thoughts and prayers you all sent out for us came true and we had a dry party with even a little bit of sun!  It definitely was the coldest day in April in a long time, but it was dry so I can't complain.   Grayson was a rockstar.  He has been having some difficulty again with social anxiety so we were interested to see how it would all play out.  He had a good nap and a full belly and was superb!  He was happy and engaging with his guests.

 Dino tracks leading up to the front door.   (I know they kind of look like middle fingers, not my intention. :) )

 Train on the mantle.

 I started a tradition last year where all the guests sign a book related to the theme.  This is this year's picture.

 Dinosaur Train themed goodie bags with dino stamps, paddle balls, bubbles, and a train whistle.

I think I may have stepped up my game a little bit for this year's photo op.  More adults took pictures with it than kids.

 Digging for Dino station!

 Food set up and decorations.

 Pictures are from one year to 23 months.

 Pepperoni and cheese pizza.

 The birthday boy!

 Family pict.

 Cooper enjoyed Digging for Dinos!

 Shannon and Daphne.   Baby Grice is due any minute!   So glad she kept "it" in there for the duration of the party.

 Jen and sweet Sophie going down the slide.

 Johnna, Stewart, and Tripp playing in the backyard.

 Grammie, Bibby, and Uncle Jeremy.

 Gramps with Mel and Jamie.

 Great Grandma Jojo and Nonny swinging.

 "The boys."

 I've got a cookie!  I am doing great.

 Walking around the backyard with Uncle Andy.

 Going down the slide with my buddy Jamie.

 Kissing Bibby Sue through the glass door!

 Grayson's cool dino cake!  Gotta love Costco.

 Cooper and Tripp in line for cake.

 Pizza and cake.  What a good diet today.

 Mommy with her Mommy group friends!

 Cooper and Casey.

 Pin the horn on the triceratops.  Cooper was a bit confused.

We had a great day!  We appreciate everyone who came from near (two houses down) and far (long drives and plane rides away!)   We also appreciate people who sent cards and gifts but weren't able to make it.   Thank you so much for helping celebrate our special little boy!

Fun with the water hose

 We had a great time last week and played out front with the water hose. We wanted to see if he would have any interest in doing these type of activities since summer is fast approaching!   Suffice it to say that he loved it.  We started out in full clothes, but that didn't last long!

 There are several different settings on our hose nozzle and sometimes we would just it mist and fall over him.

 Pure joy on this little boy's face.  I will do anything to see that smile.  :)

Our first Easter egg hunt!

 We had a great time this morning!  We went over to our friend London's  community and participated in our first egg hunt.   Let's just say it is very helpful that eggs kind of look like balls.  Grayson was all about it!  Above is an action shot of him getting his first egg!

 A pre-egg hunt picture.  Disclaimer: It was a perfect day to be outside but it was very windy.  I have no idea how this "flock of seagulls" hairdo happened.

 Whoa guys!  I got another one!

 He didn't so much care that there were little treats inside, but he did open it to check it out.

 Big smile! On the hunt to find another one!

 Daddy carried my basket around for me.  I put each egg inside.

 Mommy's attempt at a candid shot.

 Frontal view of the Easter egg hunt bend. :)

 I love Easter eggs!  Can we do this everyday Mommy?

 Of course impossible to get all the kids looking and smiling, but I think I got one with all the Moms!  What a great group of women.  I am so lucky!

 Eggs are awesome!

 When we used to ask Grayson for a kiss, he would bow down his head and "allow" us to give him one.  Now, when we say kiss, he plants one right on our lips!  I LOVE this new trick!

 All 7 kids stayed seated for more than .3 seconds!  I consider that a success!!  What a great day!  We can't wait for next year. :)

Winter and Grammie visit

 We have had some really cold days here in Jacksonville.  Some days have even been too cold for outside playing, so we have had to be creative.  We created a fort one day.  Grayson liked to play inside  with his toys and he also read some books in there.  We had a fun visit with Grammie.  Picts follow further on the blog.
Grayson continues to do well with play dates, outings, and eating.   We try to go out once a weekend to have lunch with Grayson.  He sits wonderfully in a booster seat as he eats his meal.  Even when there is no booster, he will sit in the booth next to one of us and eat.
We have switched his therapies and he is going to start receiving OT weekly and his developmental specialist monthly.  Mommy also fought to get a third provider added and we will now be receiving speech therapy once a week as well.   We will start that next week with a speech evaluation.
We are STILL waiting for the 4th and final 2 year molar to come in.  It still has one portion that has poked through and I can see the rest of it, but no progress yet!

 What a mischievous looking face.  What has he just gotten into?

 Daddy took a picture of Grayson and Mommy inside the fort.  We have had a lot of PJ days. :)

 Limbering up.

 Hello gorgeous.

 Grayson thought he needed to rearrange the dining room.

 We had a lot of fun playing with Grammie, both inside and outside.  She played the game "You better run" but with a twist.  Grayson loved her long nails, so at first he would run away, but then he would run into her legs for a back scratching session.  The above picture is part 2.  The below picture is part 1.

 A tried and true classic bath time game is dive bombing Goofy.  He hasn't cared for it in the past, but Grammie decided she would give it another whirl.  He LOVED it! Look at how excited he is for Goofy to dive bomb!  (Dive bomb- get dropped into the water after flying around in the air)

 We got a hair cut and decided to spike it.  How cute?!