Mason's Second Birthday

We celebrated Mason's second birthday. The birthday that seems to take a child from "baby" to "toddler". He has had toddler status for awhile, but every day he loses more and more of his baby-ness.

I had a living room full of balloons for him to wake up to, which started his day off with some excitement.

 
That kid loves balloons.

Matt took the day off to spend with us. He decided that every year he will always take the boys birthdays off so that those days are always spent together. I think that's a wonderful idea. After breakfast, we opened presents.

He got a new big boy water bottle, just like mommy's, which he is always stealing from me. His has monsters on it, so I am hoping it will appeal to him more than mine.

He also got a helmet . . .

To go with his new bike!

 Here's a better picture of what the bike looks like:

 It's called a "balance bike". It doesn't have any pedals. The idea is that he will learn to balance and steer by using his feet to walk or run, without worrying about the pedaling or needing training wheels. It is also sometimes called a "running bike". We have seen kids zooming around play grounds on these, and I am confident that Mason will master it by this time next year. He was very excited about it.

But it's a gift he will definitely have to grow into, so he couldn't fully appreciate his new gift on his birthday. Which is okay. He had fun spending time with Daddy.

Maddox had a hard time watching Mason open presents.

But it was a good lesson for him. He even got more use out of Mason's bike than Mason did. We have big plans to get Maddox a scooter for his birthday this year.

Sharks were Mason's one request, so that evening we invited some friends over for a shark themed birthday party. I didn't take any pictures of the party, but we ate shark eggs (yogurt covered raisins), shark teeth and seaweed (chips and guacamole), shark bait (Swedish fish and gold fish crackers), and a bucket of chum (watermelon). It was pretty clever I think. I wish I would have taken a picture. We also had cupcakes, frosted in ocean blue with gummy sharks on them, and of course the the best part of all: cake.

The cake was from a bakery on Southport called Sensational Bites, and it turned out perfectly. Mason loved the sharks.

 Mason even wore his shark trunks for the occasion.

We did manage to capture a small video of the festivities.

 And as per usual, he was naked by the end of the party. Even more naked than this. But I wouldn't want to embarrass him. Not too much at least.

It's hard to believe that my baby is two years old. His birth day and first birthday still seem so fresh in my mind, how did we already get to birthday number two?

They sure do grow up quickly. Happy birthday, Mason Ray. I love you with all my heart.