This past weekend was a big weekend for us. Saturday was Cade’s 2^nd birthday. Where does the time go? We had been talking to Cade about his birthday for a while; asking him how old he was going to be and that he was going to be a “big boy” now and that he no longer needed his “bah” (pacifier). We told him that baby Cole (Kevin and Carla’s new baby) needed his bahs and he was excited to donate them. That would happen on Sunday.

I woke Cade up early on Saturday to take him on a hike with Kevin and Connor. When I woke Cade up, I was excited to tell him Happy Birthday and his first reply was a still half asleep “Cake?”. That’s what a birthday is all about. Cade and Connor rode in the backpacks for our 6 mile trek. They are our training weight for our backpacking trip that we are doing in 4 weeks. Cade and Connor love going on hikes with us, looking for bugs, lizards and airplanes. When we got back from the hike, we gave Cade his presents from us. We got him a little scooter that he was very excited about. He quickly reminded us that he needed a helmet and was ready to go for a ride. I took him to the park to cruise around.

After nap, it was time for his party. I grabbed everything (almost- I forgot the homemade guacamole and chips that I had to run back and get just before dinner) that I was supposed to bring and ran by Chronic Tacos to grab the trays of rice and beans that I had ordered. The guy helped me out and put the trays on the front seat. When we got to Grandma and Grandpas, I noticed that most of the bean ‘juice’ had spilled out of the container and was soaking into the seat and dripping onto the floor. What a mess but no time to clean up. I took out the floor mats and threw down a towel...back to the party and BBQing the carne asada.

At the party, Cade opened his gifts. This year was much better than last to watch him open gifts. He was “wowed” by each of them. It was so fun to watch. He got a ride-on motorcycle from Grandma and a Scooter from Uncle Nick that he loved showing off. He was actually quite good at riding both.

The next day he played for hours with his new water table. He loved splashing around and dumping water on his head. He got so many new toys that he was in heaven all day. Also, thanks to Uncle Nick, Cade’s new favorite phrase is “Oh maaan…” It was cute for the first 1000 times, but then we wondered if he could say anything else.

Later on Sunday, he said that he had to go pee-pee. He has said this many times and we take him to the potty and he sits for 2 seconds and says “all done”. So I assumed that this time would be no different. I took him to his potty and he sat down and…HE WENT! His potty started playing music and I yelled to Kaity and praised him for going potty like a big boy. I think that I scared him a bit but then he was very excited that he did something good. He got a jelly bean and immediately wanted to go potty again to get another jelly bean. He knows how to work the system. He went again later that day and again on Monday. Looks like we are on our way…

Since today was the day that we were to donate the bahs, we got a bag and gathered up all of the ones we could find and walked over to Cole’s. Cole was happy to get so many new bahs but Cade was not so happy to leave them with Cole. We tried several diversion tactics on the way home but he was not a happy camper. When it was time for bed, of course he was asking for them and we reminded him that he was a big boy now and that baby Cole needed them more than he did. The first night was a little rough but much better than we anticipated. He was restless and cried on and off for about 45 min and then he was out. On Monday at naptime and bedtime, he asked for one but he quickly went to sleep without it.

When I got into the car on Monday morning to go to work, the car smelled like I left the body in the car. I swore I threw it in the river… Oh yeah, the bean ‘juice’!!! I shampooed the carpet and upholstery when I got home but I think that the damage is done. I may have to call a professional. It is disgusting…