Shane's Party Day

Carrie and I are both exhausted!

Shane turned the big....well, he turned two on Thursday. I guess it isn't a big number yet, but when you're the parent of a toddler you'll understand how long and short two years can feel! Birthday parties for young kids are largely a celebration of all the hard work everyone has put into raising a child. As Shane grows older and gains the capability to remember days like this the focus will shift.

Shane and I were best buddies for the first half of the day. There was a free model train display at the church around the corner, so Shane and I went on an adventure. We were gone for a couple of hours chasing trains,  gawking at Legos, and playing on playgrounds (both ours and the church's!).

Throughout our adventures, Carrie was hard at work in the kitchen. She was determined to make Shane a two-tiered birthday cake from scratch.

She did it too!

It had an almond flavor with banana butter-cream frosting and slices of banana on the filling between cake layers.

We were both feeling like pro parents by the time Carrie's parents arrived. It did threaten Shane's nap time, though.

Shane started to stir after only half-an-hour. Carrie asked me to go upstairs. Normally, if Shane starts to wake after a shortened nap my wife likes to go upstairs and lay down next to his mattress. The boy will normally go back down then. I tend to let the boy rouse, but I agreed and ended up dozing on the floor while my boy snoozed on the mattress beside me.

It would've been more restful if I hadn't had a full bladder. I didn't want to risk leaving the room and waking the boy. There was no clock and I guess I was in and out of consciousness so I was in a bit of a time warp. By the time Shane finally woke up, Carrie had cooked her parents lunch, eaten, and cleaned up.

The rest of the day was all about Shane.

Grandpa bought a miniature remote controlled Thomas the Train toy. Grandma located a thirty-year old train set from Japan they had bought my brother in law as a child.

Shane's mind was blown.

He was almost distracted enough to not pop up when we asked "Do you want to see Indy?"

Carrie's parents, Carrie, Shane, and I drove over to my parents for cake and more presents. Shane blew out his own candles! I had to hold his hands to prevent him from grabbing the fire, but he HAMMED it up when everyone started to cheer him. My son loves attention.

There are many fun memories. Jama helped Shane set up his bubble toy. Grandma and Grandpa showed off pictures of the hot-air balloon festival they went to. Pop and I took Shane out to the trampoline and Nana showed Shane all of the new toys she'd found for him. I admit, I rested for a lot of the festivities. Shane was having enough fun with everyone else I didn't feel the need to hover. Then, Shane was nice when we packed hi up to leave! It was a good day! Shane ran to his new Thomas toy the moment we got home. Dan had ordered a pizza, so Shane got to chew on some cheese sticks, too!

If Shane could ask himself one question today, it would probably be "Does it get any better than this?"

Happy Birthday Shane! Your train will be waiting for you in the morning, you'll get to play in Sunday school, and then you'll get your Nana time on Monday.