the birthday man

When we woke up today I saw Paxton first. I asked how my big 4 year old was doing, he responded by telling me "no mom, today is not my birthday, this is Gauge's day"

He was right, it was Gauge's turn and Paxton had no intention of letting anyone forget it. Birthday present number one, a really good big brother. Can you believe he is two?
For Gauge's birthday it took me most of the day to make and create his cake. This worked out okay because Ryan had homework and Paxton had school. Gauge helped me all morning and played with balloons. He played in the leaves and with Paxton's new toys, then he hung out like usual waiting for tonight, when we would finally go to Chuck E Cheese. The boys have been wanting to go here for MONTHS!
Last time we were here, Gauge was in a car seat

Gauge figured out pretty quickly that he didn't like the rides that moved. Here he starts to panic so he grabbed the wheel and started climbing over Paxton to get out of the bronco
So we tried the little trolley. He sat on the floor. When we put him up on the seat he actually jumped out of the moving vehicle.

This ride will be perfect, its tame right?!

Oh crap!

Here he found a safe one
he sat on the middle of the ride, off of the seat to ensure his safety...smart kid I'd say!
Paxton on the other hand, had a great time

Gauge did like the smart car

this smart car by the way, is actual size...

later we hit the games

Ryan taught the boys how to play

they climbed the jungle gym

and last but not least, they used the shot gun to kill the animals. Seriously, this child's game had the animals fall over and die when they were shot. We were a little taken back by that. You can barely tell but Ryan is there teaching Paxton how to shoot a rifle...left handed The boys tuckered out pretty fast so we headed home for cake and presents.

In this picture if you look closely you can see Gauge's hand on the chair as he gets down and runs away while I am cheering for him and we are singing happy birthday

uhhh...this is awkward...

We finally got him to come check out his cake and he tried to blow out the candles

I think this balloon was his favorite present. It was tied to our door when we got home from dinner.

Presents. Thank goodness for hand me downs!

Paxton was just as excited for the presents

the boys playing together with their new toys

We are so in love with you Gauge. Your Dad and I cannot get enough kisses, whether you want them or not and you love, love to get tickled. You are starting to talk. You say cute little phrases like "here you go" "there they are" you say Bye bye, wow, I love you, go Diego go and blast off for Little Einsteins. Still no "Mommy", we're working on that.

You could spend the whole day by yourself. You don't need anyone else to entertain you. You climb and play with your toys like they are going out of style. You love to be outside, your out there any chance that you get and your favorite thing to do outside is to jump with Paxton and Daddy. You all stand together, Paxton in front of Daddy and your in front of Paxton and you all hold hands and jump at the same time. You can get on and off the trampoline by yourself too, those little tummy muscles are amazing!

You also love motorcycles, especially the red Honda in the back. You sit on both motorcycles every chance that you get.

You always try to get us to laugh. Today I was watching TV and when I looked at you, you were peeking at me around Paxton. I smiled and you said, Peek a boo and started to laugh. You have such a good sense of humor.

You love to run. You hate wearing your shoes. Whenever we get into the car, by the time we reach our destination both shoes and socks are off of your feet.

If there is anything that we don't want you to get into, you find a way into it. We locked the cupboards so now you scale your way up them and onto the counter...you can open door knobs now which has turned into a big problem for us...

When we call your name, you immediately take off in a full sprint the opposite direction laughing the whole time. Daddy loves it, I loved it until I got to be pregnant.

You carry Woody and his hat EVERYWHERE. You love little Einsteins and Toy Story, you could watch them both all day long. Every one of the little hot wheel cars that we own have had tires removed and I am pretty sure you ate them.

You love your big brother Paxton. Whenever you can get away with it you climb up to his bed and sleep with him at night. You are starting to mimic things that he does and you love it when he plays with you, especially in the tub. Which by the way, you think its funny to turn on the shower and get the whole bathroom wet...its not funny!

You go a hundred miles a minute but when we can get you to slow down for a minute you are the best cuddler in the world. Sometimes when I am sleeping from working the night before I will wake up to you bringing fish crackers into the room with you, you crawl up into bed with me and hand me the clicker so you can watch TV and lay down with me. I love it!

We are so proud of you little Gauger and can't wait to see what you come up with next. We are so happy that you are part of this family.

We love you little man! Happy birthday!