May the Fourth Be With You, Easton!

Easton has been telling people for months that he is "into Star Wars". He has also been telling anyone who will listen that he is having a Star Wars birthday party. His birthday is November 12, about two weeks after I will have given birth. I decided the only way to make his birthday wish come true was to throw him an early birthday party. 

We put out his Star Wars books and figures on display, I got some Star Wars fabric for a table cloth, and even a Darth Vader cupcake stand. Star Wars stickers adorned the paper cups. 

The kids helped me stuff a Darth Vader piñata before the party. We made Star Wars chocolates with some molds I bought, and way too many cupcakes. 

Gabriela made some awesome decorations. 

We had no activities planned apart from cupcake eating and piñata smashing. The boys just played together, checked out our Star Wars pop up book, and ran around like little boys do. 

It was a mellow party with a few friends, some fun Star Wars decorations and Easton got his party wish. Happy early birthday, Easton. We will celebrate with round two on your actual birthday. 

Easton turns 3

Our fearless kind-hearted Easton Michael turned three years old. Three whole years since I birthed this baby of mine. We had a lovely low key celebration to mark the occasion.

We spent a few hours at the zoo where we all delighted in seeing the baby baboons. Easton just laughed and laughed watching them play.

We were also excited to get an up close view of the lion, who is sometimes hiding completely out of sight. The weather was beautiful, the zoo was practically empty, and we just took it easy, going at the kids' pace. 

After some outdoor play and a quick grocery trip, Easton had his requested birthday dinner of pizza and carrots. We baked a cake, had ice cream, and he enjoyed opening a couple gifts.

He has been asking for an orange garbage truck and was thrilled to receive it. So thrilled, he wanted to bring it to bed with us. After compromising, the garbage truck spent the night on the nightstand. Gabriela happily gave her brother a manicure and pedicure when he asked her too.

I cuddled up with Easton and told him about his birth, how delighted we all were, how he didn't even cry, he just stared at us so inquisitively for what felt like forever. It was a perfect celebration   

Easton loves to help me cook in the kitchen.

As long as he can sit on the counter or stand on a step stool, he is set.  He is starting to write some letters and draw people.

Just the other week, he did this fabulous completely unprompted drawing of a garbage truck with wheels, a garbage man with glasses, a key and the steering wheel, and the garbage can being lifted by "the grabber".  

Easton builds elaborate guns out of Legos every chance he gets and uses them to fight the bad guys like "Dark Vader". He is always "Wuke" and sings the " bad guy ship song" (imperial march ) constantly. Easton has a very detailed imaginary world and does lots of pretend play. He climbs onto wooden posts and rides his horses to the barn. He loves to read and usually (but not always), when it's really quiet I find him in a pile of books. Every day in bed he pretends to be some kind of creature and snuggles up to me making animal sounds and calling me one of the following: mommy caterpillar, mommy ladybug, mommy humpback whale, mommy tiger, and my personal favorite, mommy rancor monster. He loves digging in the dirt, spotting construction vehicles, and daddy's big white truck. 

Easton is really getting the hang of pumping his legs while swinging. He surprised me this week by running after and kicking a soccer ball repeatedly. He definitely has a knack for new physical activities. He is constantly jumping off things a and finding new hills to ride his bike down. 

He is starting to insist on doing things independently. like buckle his car seat, wash his hair, or put on his socks and shoes. This usually happens at inopportune times, but I try my best to give him the time to figure it out. 

I just love when Easton says, "hummy in my tummy" and "ants in my pants, maybe I do the buggy dance" and the other day, while I was rinsing a cup under the sink he informed me that we are having a drought!

He keeps the mood light hearted around here by always asking questions like,  " what would happen if Simone tried to eat my food?" He is always talking about his sister. The other day he informed us that it was actually Simone who unrolled all the toilet paper in the bathroom.  

Easton still doesn't like having his teeth brushed, or getting his hair washed by mama or daddy. He doesn't care for salad, or really just eating at meal times. 

Easton is such a love bug and expert cuddler. He knows how to cheer us all up when we need it. He is such a joy to have in our lives and we love him so dearly. Happy birthday, you sweet three year old.

Easton's 2nd Birthday Party

Easton turned two in November! We had a sweet little gathering for our two year old at our new house.  I decided we would have a fall menu - soups and breads. Lane made a giant pot of chile con carne and I made a giant pot of minestrone soup. We had some homemade pumpkin cornbread muffins and homemade rosemary parmesan artisan bread.  It was delish.

And here is our birthday boy testing out his new soccer set, with a basketball, of course.

We were glad that cousin Andrew was able to make it to the festivities. 

Easton was so happy to see Uncle Nate arrive to the party.  He immediately ran into his arms and gave big hugs and kisses

Can't leave Auntie Liss out!

We couldn't have asked for a better day.  Originally I was going to set up some fun craft tables inside, but the weather was so beautiful, no one wanted to be indoors.  So we had our play dough and paper covered drawing tables outside.  The main attraction for the older kids was chicken chasing, I think.

Easton gets some Auntie love.

Here he is, getting his birthday crown just right.

Easton was serious about blowing out those candles.  He nearly splattered hot wax all over my face!

Look at this awesome Grover painting our friend Adam made for Easton!  We love it so much.  Handmade personalized gifts are the best!

Easton loved his watch from Nana and Papa.  He had been wanting to wear Gabriela's watch all the time.  Since the band is an elastic adjustable band, it fits his tiny wrist.  He always says the time is 8 o'clock, no matter when you ask. 

We are so grateful that some of our friends and many of our family were able to join us in celebrating our big boy. 

12 months old

Easton is one! Our sweet baby boy turned one. I can't believe it.  He has nine teeth, including one molar.  And, today he was a little fussy because he's working on pushing another molar out. 

Easton's airplane sign

He is still signing away.  Easton's new signs this month are car, bird (it finally looks different than the milk sign), book, hat, and his new favorite sign, by far, is the please sign. He totally made up his own sign for please and he does it all the time he wants something.  Easton signs please when we remind him, but he also just does it independently when he really wants something.  It is the cutest thing ever.  I am pretty sure I saw him do the "thank you" sign the other day, but I have only seen him sign that once.  He is even stringing signs together like, "eat more please".  The other day Easton really wanted a clementine. So he signed "eat" and then pointed to the clementine peel and signed "Please" after that.


He is getting more and more confident about taking steps. In fact, the night before Easton's birthday party, he started taking the most steps at a time that he ever has.  Of course, his preferred mode of transportation is speed crawling, but we keep catching Easton deciding to stand up without being supported by anything and taking steps on his own.  He also is a fabulous cruiser.  My favorite part though is that when he falls, he assumes the "let's do a somersault" pose as if to say, "I totally meant to fall on the floor just now".

Easton gives the sweetest kisses. I love how he assumes the position and just waits for someone to turn him over so he can complete his somersaults. His blonde hair just kills me, especially when a breeze blows it all over. He does this adorable milk giggle when he knows I'm about to start nursing him.
Easton's heart melts for dogs - statues of dogs, books with dogs, and of course, the real deal. He also loves the Little People Playhouse, and plays with it every single day.

Today we celebrated his birthday by going to the zoo.  He loved cruising along the exhibits in the amphibian and reptile house, pointing out all the brightly colored frogs.  Easton learned how to brush goats, and then when we were done, we took him to the carousel. The instant he saw it, he frantically signed "please" over and over again.  He had pomegranate seeds and pozole for dinner -two of his favorites, and then we ended the night with another round of happy birthday singing and cupcakes.

Easton Michael, we are so lucky you are in our sweet little family. Happy birthday, baby boy.