TWO!

How can my baby be TWO?!?!?!?!? Seriously. The past 2 years have just flown by, and I am amazed at how our little man has grown and changed and turned into a little boy! Seems like he skipped the toddler stage altogether and went straight from baby to kid! So sad for this mommy. Anyway, this weekend, instead of being sad and thinking about how my baby is growing up... we celebrated our BIG 2 year old!!!! Lots of family came to town to celebrate with us.

Friday Jeremiah got to celebrate his birthday at daycare with treats!

Thank you Pinterest.

Michelle, our daycare provider, kindly texted me this pic of the birthday king enjoying his treat. :)


Meema and Grampa Wiers arrived just in time for dinner at Panera with us! I wish I had my camera when Jeremiah watched Meema walk up the sidewalk-- excitement isn't a strong enough word! :)

Saturday was the big day! J awoke to a Happy Birthday sign and b-day balloons.


After breakfast, we headed downstairs so that J could see one of his presents from Meema and Grampa Wiers-- his very own kitchen!

He made popcorn, vegetables, coffee, bacon & eggs.... and made sure to bake everything in the oven. He loves his new kitchen!

Then we were off to Jordan Creek Mall so that Jeremiah could experience the Build-A-Bear Workshop. This kid loves his stuffed animals-- you can tell by the way he chews on all of their noses!

He picked out a doggie (surprise, surprise)!

Clutching his doggie and watching how the lady put the stuffing inside...

Then J got to push the pedal while she put stuffing inside his doggie!


Doggie got a bath...


And then it was time to pick out clothes and accessories. Wow. That's quite the process! J ended up picking a Chicago Bears uniform (complete with helmet and football). Daddy carefully dressed the doggie...

Meema and Grandpa Wissink, Aunt Rachel, and Kobe arrived while we were in the bear-building process. J was so excited to see them! He got a great big hug from his cousin Kobe!

We then christened the doggie "Max," printed the birth certificate, and were on our way! After lunch at Chick-Fil-A, we headed home for a nap for the birthday boy-- it was quite a morning.

After a nice nap, it was time for presents (that's Max, the Chicago Bears dog sitting in the dump truck)!


Opening up tractors from Aunt Rachel, Uncle Kelly, Kyan, and Kobe!

He got a kitty-cat keyboard from Aunt Abby and Neil (oh, they arrived during naptime!).

And he loves rocking out with the guitar he got from Uncle Matt, Aunt Cheryl, Josie, and Evan! I'm not going to lie, Daddy and Mommy have also played a few tunes on the keyboard and guitar.


He's blurry because he's dancing!

He got a cool talking tractor from Meema and Grampa Wissink!

And a cool remote control car from Meema and Grampa Wiers!


After presents we went out for dinner to The Pizza Ranch! Although this was our Plan B (we hope to try Zombieburger someday when there is not an hour and 45 min. wait!), it was yummy food as always!

Abby and Neil obviously approved (Neil was a first-timer).

Once we got home, it was time for cake and the singing of "Happy Birthday!" If you know Jeremiah, you know that he is quite happy to be the center of attention. This was no exception. HERE is a video!


"Enough with the pictures, just give me more cake!"

It was quite the day of fun and celebration for our birthday boy! Sunday was a bit more low-key, which was good for all of us. Meema and Grampa Wissink, Aunt Rachel, and Kobe headed back to Sioux City in the morning. After church and lunch, Meema and Grampa Wiers headed back to Wisconsin. J was sad to say good-bye, but was consoled by the fact that Abby and Neil were going to stay until Monday!

Sunday night we introduced Abby and Neil to Smokey D's. I think Neil is in love. Not with Abby, but with the food we have here in Iowa.

In order not to embarrass Neil, I am refraining from posting the AWESOME pic we got of him enjoying his ribs. You're welcome, Neil.

I took Monday off (yes, I know it was President's Day-- my school views holidays like this as prime opportunity for torturing teachers with professional development. Too bad I was "sick"). I took J to the doctor for his 2 year check-up! And yes, it is official. We have a big boy. I was surprised though, that he is "only" in the 89th percentile for height at 35 and 3/4 inches tall. He is also in the 98th percentile for weight at 35 lbs-- this was not so surprising. The dude is heavy! The nurse asked all of the normal questions about J's development and kind of chuckled when she got to the last one-- "Does Jeremiah use at least 6 words?" (SIX?!?!?!? Are you kidding me?!?!?!?) She laughed and said, "It's more like 6 word sentences for him!" Yeah, he's verbal. J also got his second Hep A vaccine (ouch, but the band-aid made it somewhat better) and a finger-prick for lead testing (or something like that). He has NEVER been a fan of this test, and neither have I. I would hate to have my finger poked and then squeezed, and squeezed, and squeezed until the proper amount of blood is in the vial. Sheesh. He was a trooper, though, and only really cried when she poked his finger. The entire way home he was saying, "Band-aid. Good boy!"

We said good-bye to Abby and Neil and then enjoyed spending the rest of the day together (we did our normal standard things-- a trip to Target, the library, and even a quick walk around the block)!

Happy 2nd Birthday, Jeremiah!!!! We love you!!!