Hayden's 2 & 1/2 Birthday

When I was growing up, my family celebrated 'half birthdays'. It was nowhere near the hoopla of a real birthday, but it was an anticipated special day nonetheless. My half-birthday is technically February 30th, which doesn't ever exist, so we'd have to celebrate on Feb 28th. Usually all it entails is a special dinner and dessert with just our immediate family, a card (with a little "half" squeezed in between the words "Happy Birthday" on the card), some small gift or flowers, and a couple Lotto scratch cards (don't ask me how that tradition started!) Even to this day, I mentally anticipate my half-birthday (even though my last celebrated half birthday was 15 & 1/2 (when I got my driver's permit!). Bummer. ;)

I thought it was a good idea, though, since for a child, a whole year between your Special Day is quite a long time. Phil never celebrated half birthdays growing up, but once I explained it to him, he was on board to start the tradition for our kids. It's always so cute when you ask a kid how old they are and they answer "TWO AND A HALF!" because that "HALF" is a big deal!

So today, November 20th, was Hayden's 2 & 1/2 birthday. We went to the Toy Store and he picked out a metal 50s Chevy Pick-Up Truck. I was surprisingly able to convince him not to get the garbage truck, which seemed poorly made and surely would break easily. He added it to his collection. Not like he needs more, yesterday we lined up all his vehicles on our table:



He sure LOVES cars, trucks, and trains! He knows the difference between a "hummer" and an "SUV" and a "Jeep", has an Army Truck, a Monster Truck, and a Garbage Truck, among his favorites. And if a truck has a "Spare Wheel" or a hitch on the back, that is very exciting! If it pulls a trailer, that is a bonus, too! He loves to lay with his head at eye level to watch the wheels and roll the vehicles back and forth. He tells you that Daddy drives an "SVT" (which he has a small model replica of!) and Mommy drives an "Outback" and Uncle Adam drives a "Jetta Wagon". He can point out these types of cars when we are out driving on the road. It's amazing.

Before dinner, he (and Brooklyn!) watched an episode of SuperWhy! If you look closely, you can see his new red pickup in his hands.


For dinner, Phil brought home Red Robin takeout (seems to be the easiest way for our family to enjoy a restaurant meal these days) and Hayden got a half a cheeseburger, in keeping with the theme!

We also determined a few months ago that his half birthday was going to mark the day Hayden stops getting a pacifier. To ease this potentially painful process, we borrowed a strategy from the Supernanny. She has toddlers send them to the "Paci-Fairy" who leaves a special prize for the pacifiers. So we rounded up all the pacifiers - 5 - and set up a magic pacifier box that transformed his 5 pacifiers into 5 Matchbox cars and trucks (I left out the part about "Paci-Fairies" - I'm still debating whether I want to make up certain fictitious characters... Kind of seems like lying to your kids... Guess I better decide where I stand before Santa season!! ...).


He seemed to think that was a pretty awesome trade. Although, here it is 9:30pm and he is still chatting away in bed... Hmmm...

Earlier in the day, I made a half cake (and cupcakes with the leftover batter). After dinner, we sang "Happy Half Birthday" and he blew out his 2 and a half candles.




He "blows" by saying "FFFFFffffffff" with all his might. It's adorable. He really enjoyed his cake (with M&Ms!!) so maybe that's also partly why he's still awake!

And since I've been so Camera-Happy the past couple days, here are some extra bonus pictures of adorable Brooklyn:

Brooklyn 3 Months

So I'm obviously not doing the week-by-week updates that I did for Hayden, but I already feel like Brooklyn's infancy is whizzing by like a bullet train, and I better stop once in a while to record these times.

With your 2nd baby, it's so hard not to compare them to your first. So here are some statements about Brooklyn, and if you knew Hayden as a baby too, you can guess what is similar and different.

• She is close to being able to roll over.
• She grabs at things and pulls them to her mouth. I think she's teething already.
• She cries when she is tired and is hard to console.
• She is having a really tough time sleeping longer than 45 minutes, and is a really light sleeper.
• She VERY RARELY sleeps in the car.
• She often cries in the car.
• She likes to eat every 2-3 hours, and fusses if we offer her a bottle.
• She spits up sometimes, but just a little bit.
• She prefers to sleep on her tummy, in the bouncy seat in our bathroom with the fan on and lights out, or in bed snuggled up next to me.
• She doesn't like to be swaddled, at least not with her arms in.
• She doesn't really like her pacifier. She'd much prefer her fingers or fist, if she could just get the coordination down.
• When she's not tired or hungry, she is pretty mellow.
• She 'talks' adorable coos and high-pitched squeals.
• She has cradle cap, but it's getting much better with the help of olive oil before bathtime.
• She may have a dairy allergy/sensitivity. I'm off the elimination diet and we're watching her BM's closely.
• She outgrew all her 3 month size clothes and weighs around 17 lbs now. Sizes 6-9 Months fit perfectly!
• As much as I was excited about "pink", I think she looks really good in purple
• She likes to stare at the ceiling fan.

Hayden is doing so much better lately with Brooklyn. He asks to hold her and is very gentle when he does. Then he promptly asks me to hold her!

He likes to gently touch the top of her head and then does his "that tickles" giggle. He is surprisingly good at using his whisper voice when she is sleeping. In the car when she is crying hysterically, he seems to be tuning it out better and doesn't start crying, too. He'll mimmick her cry sometimes, but not be truly upset. Here is a cute photo of Brooklyn "tackling" her big brother: