Baylor's Birthday: The Day

My little boy turned 2 on September 7th ... can you believe it?! Because we had his party the day before, we did whatever he wanted to do for his actual birthday. I let him wander around before breakfast; along the way he grabbed his balloon.

Mollie got to hang out on the counter with him while he ate.

Then he set to work exploring all the new toys he'd received the day before. I just had to snap a picture of him playing with his mat with an oven mitt on his other hand. Too cute!

Then we had a picnic on the porch.

With Mollie going crazy nearby in her jumperoo.

Mollie soon settled down for her lunchtime nap, so Baylor and I enjoyed a little mama/son time over some good food.

After his nap, we were joined by my mom and sister for dinner and fun.

You wouldn't ordinarily think a two-year-old would request going to the mall for his birthday, but that's exactly what he wanted. He wanted to go on an elevator but balked a bit when we suggested going on his usual favorite (at Barnes and Noble), so we headed to Macy's. On our way there, we detoured to some ride-on toys to see if he'd be interested in a ride. At first he just wanted to sit in them.

You know, turn the steering wheels, bang on the lights ... that sort of thing.

Mollie looked on while her brother explored.

He finally came upon this hot dog van and was comfortable and curious enough with it to let us put in some money and try it out.

The buttons all started to work and do different things once we put some money in, and he thought that was the bees knees!

Of course, now that he realized it wasn't scary to be on these things while they moved, he wanted to try some of the others out.

After we finished up on the ride-ons, we headed over to the play area so he could play on some breakfast foods. There were lots of other kids to watch and play near, so he had a great time.

At long last it was time for an elevator ride! No one else was there, so he got to push the button himself. Can you believe how tall he is?!

Waiting for the elevator with Mama.

It started up dramatically, so he held my hand on our first ride up. And my heart swelled.

After our first ride up and down, we stopped for a little "waterfall" action; he calls anything where the water actually falls down a "waterfall". And, of course, he helped me push the button.

We rode up and down again, just him and I, and on our way up he discovered the "open door" and "close door" buttons. It was fine because no one else was wanting to ride the elevator. Unfortunately, it caused a series of events which led to him getting his fingers caught in the elevator door. On the bright side, this was pretty much the only time he cried on his birthday. (And his fingers were okay ... just a little sore.)

Then we went and rode the escalator at Macy's. He's a total champ getting on and off the moving stairs; some people don't even have that mastered as adults!

He didn't care if he had birthday cake on his birthday, but green ice cream was a must!

While Christine and I finished up our mini Blizzards, Mom took Baylor to Barnes and Noble for one last go around on the elevator and escalators.

All in all, I'd say the little man had a good birthday. Hopefully this will usher in the year of the terrific twos! (Knock on wood!)