Patrick's Checkup and New 'Tude

Patrick had his two-year checkup last week. He is now 25.5 lbs (18%) and 34 inches (36%). Still kinda skinny, but proportionate. He is healthy, developing appropriately, and happy. But he has a new 'tude. An attitude.

I won't say this is the terrible twos, because my child isn't terrible, but I have noticed a change the last few weeks. It seems that we have a combination of factors that are all brewing together to make a Mr. Hyde version of my sweet Patrick boy.

The problem factors are: 1) teething and growing are just rough. 2)Patrick can communicate with us now, but not perfectly. 3) when I do understand what he is saying, that doesn't always mean he will still get what he wants. 4) He was getting a little too hooked on movies, and so last week we cut him off cold turkey. We now have a once a week family movie night. The withdrawals this week have been rough.

When these factors combine, I get a day full of lots of short (thankfully) dramatic tantrums. The biggest problem is that when he is frustrated he now wants to hit me, and that is not acceptable.

The good things: 1) He knows how to do time-out -- where to sit, how long, how to say sorry. This works for a while, until the next fit. 2) His tantrums are not very long, a few minutes maybe. 3) He still has sweet moments when he just wants to sit on my lap and read books.

This weekend has been rejuvenating. I am hoping the same for Patrick.

Patrick Dancing

Here is a short video of Patrick dancing to one of his new toys. Yes, he took his dance lessons from his mommy.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eK5jhVl622o

Crash

Patrick had a little accident yesterday when we were walking out to the car. He found out that running down hill doesn't work very well.

Patrick is 2!

Our sweet Patrick boy is two years old! We had a really fun day with him on Friday. In the morning we went to a great big park to play on the equipment and splash in the water.

Tyson had fun climbing on everything!

After nap time we had fun playing in the yard and setting up for our party. His big present from mommy and daddy was a fish tank for his room. We were actually able to keep it a surprise, so he was excited to come back from his walk and find fish in his room!

He also likes the ceramic turtle. I'm pretty sure he thinks it's real.

He knew just what to do to help me feed his fish!

No party is complete without lots of balloons! Sariah helped decorate with balloons and streamers.
We had goulash for dinner again this year, which was a hit because Patrick has not been in to eating dinner for the past several weeks, and for his birthday dinner he had thirds!

He got the ball house for his birthday last year from Aunt Amy, but it has been put away since we moved, so it was like it was new all over again!

Miles and Patrick really enjoyed the ball house. Patrick got many balls for his birthday.

Play dough!
He got a bowling set to use in our long hallway.

He used his teeth when he couldn't get the paper off.

Grandma and Grandpa Cook got him this cute little trike.

This is definitely my favorite picture.

Since he loves balls so much, I made his birthday cupcakes into baseballs and basketballs (and the wrappers were soccer balls). Yum!

Patrick had three cupcakes worth of frosting.

Patrick was spoiled and had a fabulous birthday! We love this little guy so much! He is almost always happy and is learning and growing every day. He surprises me with 2-3 new words every day now, and is starting to put more words together in to sentences. He is very thoughtful and watches and copies everything we do. He is very easy going and plays well with other kids.

Cooks Come to Visit

My family came to visit for a week, and we had a lot of fun. My mom and brother and sister flew in on Saturday, and then my dad drove in on Monday. Tyson and Sariah really enjoyed their first airplane ride. They were also excited to see Patrick again, and I know Patrick loved having lots of people around to play with. Tyson quickly became his little buddy. Patrick would grab his finger and drag him downstairs to play trains. He also loved to copy everything Tyson did.

Tyson and Sariah got new rollerblades, and they were out in the street all week making friends with the neighborhood kids. Patrick got a t-ball stand, and he wanted to try out Tyson's helmet, so I got some cute pictures of that. He figured out how to hit the ball very quickly.

On Tuesday we went to a cute place nearby called Tinytown. It is just a short drive up in the mountains, and they have over 100 tiny houses they have built and made in to a town. There is a post office, library, school, etc. They also have a cute little train to ride. (Since playing with his train set, when you ask Patrick what a train says, he now answers, "crash.") All the buildings were just the right size for Patrick to peek in and explore.

They had these tiny benches for the kids to sit on and Patrick was obsessed with showing us the animals on the benches.

He kept coming back to the benches to show us the rhino!

And the giraffe.

I love this picture with their three little bums sticking out of the movie theater.

This was the library. When I showed Patrick the books inside, he kept trying to pull the door open because he wanted to read the books.

Patrick enjoyed the train ride and sat so good while we watched the kid in front of us throw a royal tantrum.
Tyson in jail.

Peek-a-boo!

There was a playground there too, so I let Grandma and Grandpa chase him around for a while and I took a break!

Silly Tyson and Sariah wanted to swing in the baby swings!

I warned Grandpa that once he got in the swing, he was going to be pushing for at least 20 minutes.

My family got a Wii for Christmas last year, and since we had never played Guitar Hero, they brought it so they could show us how fun it is. My brother is really good at the guitar, and my sister is a pro at singing. She knows all the songs. Patrick learned the drums from Grandpa.

We also went back to the Museum of Nature and Science and the zoo. I don't have any pictures from the museum, but Patrick enjoyed it even more than last year. And of course we can never go wrong with the zoo.

My family was also here to celebrate Patrick's birthday, which made it even more fun! Thanks so much for coming all the way out here!