Damon Turns 2!!

Happy birthday to our Damon Boy!!
These 2 years with Damon in our family have gone by really fast. I always think of him and refer to him as my baby, even though he's much more a kid than a baby anymore.

Damon loves loves loves to be outside. Nothing makes him happier than putting on his shoes and running out the back door, and nothing makes him cry faster than being told he can't go outside. It's heartbreaking and also adorable at the same time to see him hugging his cowboy boots, a major frown on his face, holding his quivering chin before the tears overflow and run down his cheeks. I'm not sure why he always holds his chin when he starts to cry, but I love that little quirk of his.

Damon can put about 4 words together in a sentence right now. He says a couple new words a day. He says 'Hi Mom' and 'Hi Dad' constantly. And he really makes you believe he's going to do what you ask him when he responds with 'Kay'. More often than not he does not do what you ask as soon as you turn your back, but he sure sounds convincing!

Damon adores his brother and sister. He loves to feel like an equal with them and keep up with whatever they're playing. Rockwell and Tessa both adore him back. They think everything he does is so cute, and brag about him to other kids. The first thing Damon wants to do when he wakes up in the morning or from his nap is go find Tess and Rockwell.
  
Damon loves fruit snacks and asks for them all day long. He still loves peek-a-boo and hide and seek.   He likes nursery now, and the bubbles are his favorite part. He likes to read books. He loves to not have any clothes on, but he also loves dressing up for church. And he always holds doors open for me while saying, "Here Mom." I love that!
  

Paul went into work a little later today so he could make chocolate chip pancakes for the birthday boy. The kids were all so excited for Dad's pancakes!

Damon was so excited to move into a forward-facing car seat today. He was so cute looking out the windows. He got all excited when he saw a bird. When we drove away from it he kept saying, "Birdie! Where are you?"

We opened presents and had dinner when Paul got home from work. Damon was super excited to open more presents.
  
He loved his new tools and tool belt.
  
We sure love you Damon Boy!!

Everyday Adventures

Tessa still has a few words mixed up, and I think it's adorable. She calls tennis shoes 'antenna shoes.' She calls candy corns 'acorns.' And instead of naked she says 'connected.' She has a very big vocabulary, and often chooses words that seem mature for a 4-year-old. She always says humans instead of people. We got to church one day and it was crowded, and she said, "There are a lot of humans here!" The other day she cleaned up her dishes and crumbs after breakfast and then asked me if the table looked ship-shape? I love the words she gets mixed up. It reminds me how young she still is.


Tessa, Damon and I met Buffie and her kids at Cafe Rio last week.

They came over and played after lunch. The kids always have so much fun together. I loved finding all of them with backpacks on, ready for their trip on an airplane.



Dante and Alexys came over for an evening while my parents went to the Tulip Festival at Thanksgiving Point. The kids all had fun playing in the basement together. We roasted hot dogs for dinner, and then watched Despicable Me. It was a really fun night.




Damon had us all laughing when we found him hiding like this. He really wanted to play hide and seek, but wouldn't let go of his balloons.



We met Al and Katie at a park again last week. It was fun to hear all about Katie's trip to Europe!

Damon went on a twisty slide by himself, and was pretty proud of himself for it.
  

We met Al, Hallee and Wyatt in Provo Canyon. We walked from Nunn's Park to Canyon Glen park. The girls were so adorable skipping along the trail, holding hands.

It was fun/exhausting to throw rocks in the river. Tess and Damon just wanted to get in the water, so we didn't stay too long at the river. We ate lunch on some grass and just enjoyed being up in the mountains again.


The kids rode their scooters to school for National Bike to School Day. They liked that a lot.


We did yard work for family night this week. Damon and Tessa helped mow the lawn while Rockwell and I pulled weeds.

The kids loved finding all the creatures that came up with the weeds.
  

We had Damon's birthday party at Grandma Ham's on Sunday afternoon. He loved opening presents, and handed every bit of wrapping paper to me and said, "Here Mom," every time. That was a crowd pleaser. :) He's loved playing with all his new toys this week. I can't believe my baby is almost 2!
  

Track Meet

Rockwell had his first track meet last week. It took a while to figure out how it all worked. We just showed up without any instructions or anything. We did eventually get it all figured out though. Rock decided to run a 4x100-relay, the 50m, the 100m, and the 400m. He said the 400 was his least favorite, but I was proud of him for trying it and choosing it over the 200m. He had a lot of fun at the meet and met a few new boys running the relay together.

The meets are hours long, so it was tricky keeping Tessa and Damon entertained the whole time.
  
The last half of the meet was better, after we figured out that we could wander with them and make it back to the track just for Rockwell's turn. We found a corner with rocks and open space to run. Damon was so stinking cute! He would race from one end of the asphalt to the other. He'd get in the "runner stance," say Set, Go! and run to the other side. Then he'd do it over again the other way. It was adorable!