Johnny turns 2!

My little Bubby turned two years old.  (Below he demonstrates both ways of holding up two fingers. Most often he goes for the "gun" approach as seen on his left hand, but he surprised me by pulling out the traditional method on the right just before I snapped this photo. His shirt reads "I'm two...you've been warned!")

He's a Cinco de Mayo baby, and we started the day with a party in true Adam and Marie Wride family fashion: breakfast in bed. Long ago, we decided that it is far too lonely to eat breakfast alone in one's bed, so we have made it a family event. The birthday boy (or girl) gets to sleep in while others rise early and prepare a breakfast tray. Then we all sneak upstairs, light some candles, and waltz into the bedroom with a rousing chorus of "Happy Birthday to you!" It's a great way to start a birthday.

With Spencer and Emma's birthdays being just before John's, he was well-prepped for this family tradition. As soon as we were within range, he blew out his two candles, and we feasted on homemade cinnamon rolls, eggs, and yogurt - lightsaber Gogurts to be exact.

The remainder of the celebrating we put off until today, Sunday, when we invited extended family to join us for a birthday dinner, cupcakes, ice cream, and presents.

We had a special stake meeting today for church, and during that meeting John asked me repeatedly to draw "Neigh! Neigh!" This is a regular occurrence, and I responded by drawing the same line drawing of a horse all over the photocopied hymn paper provided to those of us who sat in the hard metal chairs at the back of the gymnasium. John loved it. On a whim, I thought it might be fun to arrange the cupcakes in the shape of a horse and decided to pipe that same line drawing over the top of them. Cupcakes make an unforgiving canvas, and I am no artist to begin with, so here's what I came up with:

My mom asked what it was.

Celeste offered to let me in on a cake decorating class she plans to take.

I had to explain to John that it was a horse. "You know, John, 'Neigh!'"

Cake decorating fail, but at least the cupcakes themselves were a hit!

John blew out the candles as soon as they reached the table and before we had finished singing. We relit the candles, so the two year old got to blow them out twice. Here's a photo of the second round. Love that Spence is ready "help" little bro, but Emma the enforcer has things well in hand.

After that, it was time for presents. We convened to the family room, and the kids saw to it that the traditional present-opening chair was in place. (Not sure how that became a tradition, but S and E felt that was very important for their present-opening last week and let us know it.)

Heavy, heavy hang over thy poor head...

What do you wish this person with a bump on the head?
*This fun little tradition came from Adam's family. It gives the receiver of the gifts a chance to offer kind wishes to the giver.

Birthday wishes from Johnny:
For Grandma - ya (love)
For Grandpa - ball
For Laura - choo choo
For Grammy and Papa - wawa (water)
For Aunt Janet - happy
For Mom and Dad - kiss
For Uncle Joel - nigh-nigh

John is sure happy with his: Thomas the Tank Engine train set, Thomas book, college/mission money, swimmer's robe, Chuck the talking/moving truck, doggy book, lift-the-flap book, life jacket, alligator stuffed animal, and Jr. Mints. John-John sure loves being in this awesome family.

Thank you for coming and sharing in the festivities.  John was thankful in his nighttime prayers for each of you by name (with a little help from Mom so we didn't forget anyone).