Charlie is 2

On the 12th Charlie turned two...actually the date was 11-12-13 which is pretty cool. He took his sweet time coming out so he didn't make it in time for the 11-11-11 birthday so we at least get to celebrate this significant date.

The morning started abruptly because I heard Charlie in the bathroom instead of his bedroom. This has never happened. He is in a toddler bed but rarely gets out. We also have a "child proof" door handle on the inside of his door so he shouldn't be able to get out if he tried. It's more of a safety precaution than anything because his door opens straight to the top of the stairs. Anyway, I'm hoping it was just a fluke and I maybe didn't completely latch the door the night before. That being said he was just in the bathroom brushing his teeth (his toothbrush has become his favorite toy) and being as safe and happy (and proud) as can be.
Charlie got to eat oatmeal (his favorite) for breakfast. He gets to eat this more often now that he has proven himself in control of a spoon and he doesn't even get that messy!

Another reason that Charlie's birthday is special is because he shares it with a very special friend from Armenia. Siranush! I'm guilty of not keeping as close to her as I feel I should  but we at least made sure to give her a little birthday call before she went to bed in Armenia.

Then Charlie and I went to OMSI to have a special birthday visit. We haven't been there in nearly a month because of traveling and being sick so it was super fun. I remembered my camera, I even remembered to charge my camera battery before we left...the problem is, I left the battery plugged into the wall at home so I was still unable to take pictures at OMSI. I already have tons of pictures from our OMSI outings so I guess it's not that big of a deal.

We came back and Charlie fell asleep in the car. I transferred him up to his bed and he enjoyed a nice long nap.
When he woke up, we made his birthday cupcakes together. He loves helping in the kitchen, and usually I'm patient enough to let him help :) When he sees me in the kitchen, especially near the mixer, he will pull out "his" stool and set it up right by me.

He also got to taste-test the dough. Don't worry, there are no raw eggs in this cake mix. 

The following pictures make me laugh...when Charlie looked at them he said "mouth...dirty" he has recently found that he doesn't like being dirty.

Charlie is singing to himself in the next two pictures.

 When the cupcakes were ready and his present was wrapped. We went over to Max's uncle Jay's house for a small family party. We had pizza, veggies, grapes, and cupcakes.

Charlie was pretty excited about the pizza

 He then had fun playing with his uncle/cousins/relatives. And especially Mum-Z's dog.

 It's crazy what a difference a year makes, Charlie was a natural at blowing his candles out this year!

Charlie liked wrestling with his family members but it soon got pretty crazy and we had to pull him out.

 And then Charlie got to open a couple presents.

He requested Uncle Jay's help

 He absolutely loves the Rubber Duckies from River Grandma Annette. He had so much fun playing with daddy but I love this picture because of Mum-z in the background looking so happy and content when she doesn't even really remember us. She loved watching Charlie play.

He then got a little more playtime with his (Max's) cousins

Charlie gets to have another birthday party with his friends this weekend so we look forward to that.
We absolutely love our big two-year-old. He learns so much everyday and we learn so much about his wonderful personality. We look forward to his next year as he continues to grow and learns what it means to be a big brother.