Colin is 2!

i love taking a little snapshot of my kids on the eve of their birthdays.  usually, they are fresh from the bath, and we take a second as a family to think about what a great year it's been and how FAST the time has gone.  this time, the girls realized this is their ONLY brother, so this is the last time they will say goodnight to a 1 year old brother.  (have to admit, that got me a little teary).

 these girls love their baby brother so much, i think sometimes he feels like it's a little too much!

 here he is shouting"i'm one", i think it's going to take a while to teach him a new age!

 the next morning, he woke up a brand new 2 year old!  (notice the crossed two fingers, he can't really seperate them, and when he does he says, "west-side" instead of "two")  

 we had a fun time putting together our little family birthday party.  i took the girls to the dollar section of Target, and picked up a cake, keeping everything very low key.  unfortunately, the bakery had their big book of cakes open to the Superman section, and i found out how very into Superman our little guy really is!  they could not put anything Superman on the cake with such short notice, so we settled for the traditional "Happy Birthday Colin." (and I took the pic after i started cutting, doh!)

 the girls hit it out of the park in the gift-giving department.  Anna gave him this glowing bouncing ball:

 Avery chose a rad motorcycle:

 and Madeline filled in the Superman gear with some coloring pages (combining 2 of Colin's favorite things):

 this was one happy birthday boy!!!

Colin,

How are you already 2???  we have been so blessed to welcome a son into our family.  you are growing up so fast, and it doesn't help that you are in the 100 percentile for height.  you are ALWAYS happy, and the friendliest kid in town.  someone at church (i can't remember who) calls you the Mayor, because walking down the hall you say "Hi" to everyone, and usually remember everyone's name.  around town you are no different, but since you don't know the names you just shout out, "hi Friend!" to everyone you see.  even the most grizzly looking stranger gets a friendly "hi" from you, and if they don't respond, you are relentless until they do.  you always get a smile, even from the grizzly ones.  we are so excited to keep watching you grow!

we love you son.
love,
Mom and Dad