Dylan turns 2

Dylan turned 2 on the 2nd this year, which means it was his Golden Birthday!

Even though I plan to pretty much group the boys birthdays together each year into one party, I could not give up the opportunity to celebrate his Golden Birthday!

We started the morning waking him up before Kinley had to go to school and filling his crib with golden balloons and lots of birthday singing.

Trying to show us with your fingers that you are "Two"

We had traditional breakfast birthday candles in pjs.

After Meet the Teacher, we had a birthday lunch at Craft and Crab with both Dylan and Ty's favorite girls.

Dylan and Ryder have truly a special relationship.

They are the sweetest kindred spirits.

They run and hug and play and smile ear to ear and are both so quiet and sweet.

It melts my heart.

Ty has the biggest crush on Finley too so both my boys were in heaven eating lunch with Jenna and Ali.

We had some immediate family over for dinner, cupcakes and presents.

Honey & Boss, Pops & Gram, Minnie & Alex and Bart, Olivia and Anson all came to celebrate.

We ate golden snacks

And after dinner finished sang Happy Birthday with some golden cupcakes

Dylan got a new backpack for school this year from Honey & Boss

Sweet cousins...33 days apart

I LOVE this picture of Dylan loving on Boss

Dylan Lee, you light up our world.

You have brought such incredible joy to our family in your short 2 years of life.

Not one person can can be unhappy or in a bad mood when you are around.

God has given you an absolute gift to be able to light up the room and make the hardest heart soften. You are full of life and have so much love to give.

Your smile just MELTS me.

You have the cutest, cheesiest smile that you constantly smile.

Just looking at you makes my heart jump for joy.

You are FULL of JOY!

Dylan, you are SO tough. You literally hardly ever cry or whine about being hurt. If tears well in your eyes a little, I know it really hurt.

Case in point.

You tripped and fell HARD into our coffee table and tore up your ear. It bled and was gross looking bruised for a couple weeks but it hardly bothered you. You cried for about a minute and were back to playing.

You got this weird skin infection on your legs and we had to give you bleach baths (which I had never heard of) to kill any possible bacteria and put this MRSA killing antibiotic ointment on you for a few weeks to kill it and you did it all with a smile on your face.


I think you have to be tough because you think you can do EVERYTHING Kinley and Ty do.

I cannot tell you that you are too little to do something.

You can do anything.

You can kick a soccer ball, hit a golf ball, hit a tee ball, you can run fast, you can climb everything...up the drawers onto the counter, up a stool to the island, on top of my bathroom counter, in and out of your crib so easily.

You can play the ipad, drink out of a big kid cup, you even think you can pour your own syrup and cut up your own waffle in the morning.

You are a big boy.

Another example...roller skating. Even when they don't allow kids under 2 to skate or make skates that tiny, you find a way.

You also think you can change your own diaper...but, it ends up sideways like this.

You can climb in and out of your crib and have been able to for a while now but, you never get out without me coming in to get you.

Not yet at least.

You wait for me and then let me sit in the rocking chair and you climb out and come sit and my lap and let me hold and rock you for a few seconds.

You wrap your arms around me and lay your head on my shoulders and I could sit there and hold you all day and you sweetly let me for a minute or two...I tell you I love you and you say "I wuv you too" and you quickly go find Kinley and Ty.

But, I live for those moments a couple times a day.

Also, we say the same thing every time before bed or naptime. We started this a while back just trying to work on your verbal skills but it is a sweet little tradition we have continued.

You always drink some milk (still from a bottle....don't judge me), I sing a few songs (your favorite is Jesus loves me), and I say a prayer and then very last we say everyone's name in our close family.....Mommy, Daddy, Kinley, TyTy, Dylan, Honey, Boss, Pops, Gram, Minnie, Alex, Cannon, Bart, Olivia, Anson, Evelyn, Matt Matt, Sandy then I love you, Night Night, and give LOTS of kisses.

It's SO, SO sweet in the dark of the room before bed.

A few general stats....
At your well check with Dr. Scott you weighed 26.5 pounds (5th percentile) and are 36 inches tall (75th percentile).  Tall and skinny.  And you are still a bottomless pit when it comes to eating.  You eat whole avacados everyday, drink bottles of whole milk, eat entire bowls of macaroni, finish your siblings plates...I do not know where it all goes.

You still sleep like 12 hours a day and nap almost 3 hours a day.

Some other sweet/funny things I want to remember about your right now....

you sometimes like to wear princess shoes. Its too cute watching you try to walk in plastic heels around the house.

Ryder is your favorite girl. 
When I ask who your girl is, who your friends are, who you love...you always say Ryder.  When we drive anywhere near the gym you yell "Ryder!" at the top of your lungs.
Here are you and Ryder at the gym one morning.
Just happy to be next to each other.  The feeling is definitely mutual.



You are obsessed with all kinds of bath products...for instance hair spiking wax.

You always want to do it yourself and I have caught you a handful of times with your hair and hands just like this which required an immediate bath.

Sometimes right before school when you are already dressed and ready to go.

You just try to be so helpful.

You also love to mess with everything in my drawers the whole time I am getting ready.
You take out all my make up and try to open it up, play in it, put it on, eat it, anything.
If I catch you in time, you listen pretty well and hand it over.
We play this game daily where you sit in my chair, open my drawer and pull out things one by one to hand over to me while I dry my hair...I end up with a stack of eyeliners, mascara, lip gloss, chapstick, you name it on the other counter that you have handed me in the 7 minutes it took me to dry my hair.


Here you are trying to do Kinley's mouthwash all on your own.
Good thing this has an automatic no-spill, stopper thing in it so you can't just chug mouthwash.

You sure LOVE your daddy.
Your smile lights up his and makes his day when he walks in from work. You sit and hold him and just want to be neat him.
Case in point...mowing.
You will sit on his lap and mow the whole yard and you feel like you won the lottery sitting with him.


Dylan, I can't believe you are TWO! It brings tears to my eyes.  I want to put off everything as long as possible.  Please stay in your crib a little longer, I am no hurry to put you in a big boy bed, or take away the bottle, or the paci, or potty-train.  I want to hold you as long as you let me and kiss you on the mouth 1000 times a day because one day...sooner than I wish....you won't let me anymore.
But, for now, this season, I am LOVING every second I spend with you.  Our Fridays alone, just me and you...when you run into my arms, reach for my hands, ask for more milky...say Oh-tay...instead of OK....all of it. 
I will hold it close and thank God for every moment.
Because it is a gift.
You are the greatest gift!
I love you.  Happy Birthday sweet boy.