Picking Peaches

The church orchard had a surplus of peaches, so they opened
the orchard to the public.

We took a little drive to Hurricane to glean some.
I packed the camera to document McKay's first peach picking experience.
He was a great helper!

Honesty

Mom: "Does Mommy look pretty?"
McKay: "Katie's pretty!"

Katie is McKay's cousin on whom he has a major crush. He's been in love with her since she played soccer with him at our family reunion. Whenever we talk about her, he gets a big grin and a twinkle in his eye. It's true, Katie is very pretty.


Mom: "What's going on here? What are you in to?"
McKay: "Trouble."

That's often the case.


Mom: "Why is your hair sticky?"
McKay: "I make handsome."

If I call him by anything other than his name, he'll say, "No, I handsome."


We were out for a ride when McKay shouted out, "OH MY GOSH! A water fountain! Dad, pull over! Let me out!"

I'm not thrilled he's picked up on certain phrases. We've tried to change it to "Oh, dear!" or "I can't believe it!".


If McKay feels wronged or is upset with me, he'll say, "I tell Dad!" The same thing goes if he's upset with Nathan, "I tell Mom!" The other day he was upset with both of us and thought he was being mistreated so he yelled, "I tell Joe!"

Joe is our neighbor/friend and is a dog trainer. McKay often asks to go to "Joe's house". Joe is a pretty cool guy. McKay likes to pretend he's "Joe" and trains his stuffed animals to "sit".

Two to Teenager?

Lately, when McKay is bored he'll walk around the house, shrug his left shoulder, kick the floor with his right foot and say, "Nuffin' (nothing) to do, nuffin' to do."

Seriously?


A frequently occurring conversation with McKay:

Mom: "McKay, please take that (toy, wrapper, pencil, etc.) out of your mouth."
McKay: "Cows eat it!"
Mom: "No, cows don't eat it."
McKay: "Pigs eat it!"
Mom: "Nope, pigs don't eat it either."
McKay: "Roosters eat it?"
Mom: "No one should eat it. It's not food."
McKay: "HA HA HA HA HA!"

He always includes cows and pigs, but the other animals change. How has he already learned the "everyone else is doing it" justification?


Nathan came home from work the other day and said he needed to go mow the lawn. McKay responded, "Do it later...do it tomorrow!"

McKay already knows about procrastination. Has he learned that from me?!?!?


Playing the guitar and drums are still McKay's favorite pastimes. He picked up the following phrase from a song in the parade at Disneyland's California: "I don't wanna work, I wanna bang on the drum all day!"


McKay still reminds us that he's two. Last week, he stuck a pencil eraser up his nose and pushed it up even farther trying to get it out. He was quite alarmed, as were his parents. Nathan held him down as I pulled the eraser out with tweezers. We were all traumatized for quite some time after. I'm 98% sure he won't do that again.

Hairy Situation

McKay decided to style his own hair while I was in the shower and used lotion for hair gel. He was quite proud of himself until he got worried about the mess he made. After I started taking pictures he realized he wasn't in as much trouble as he thought he was.

The Land of Disney

Disneyland was more fun this year than ever!!! We'll let the pictures speak for themselves:

Party Time x 3

I'm pretty sure this is the last year McKay will have more birthday parties than he is years old.

Party One

The weekend before McKay's birthday, the Kemps came over to hang out with us and brought McKay a delicious cupcake cake. They also gave him another weapon....a foam sword which he loves! What will we do now that they live so far away?!?!








Party Two

We went on a family vacation to California with Nathan's cousin's family, the Wrigleys (Jared, Sarah, Logan and Ethan). They are great friends and we love spending time with them. We spent McKay's birthday (4/26) on the beach where we had a little birthday party. (Two different beaches to be exact.) We spent most of the day playing in the sand on Balboa Beach. It was a little cooler than expected due to the wind, but we still had a lot of fun.

We saw quite a few dolphins swimming close to shore. I was never quick enough to capture more than the fins.



We ate lunch at Ruby's (on the roof) on the pier. We enjoyed spectacular views and fed the birds (even though the sign said not to---shhh!).

(Logan and McKay---two very good friends!)

(McKay either eats it by himself or not at all.)

(McKay was given a special Ruby's hat and sundae.)

Later in the day, we headed down the coast to Laguna Beach where we ate cupcakes and McKay finally got to have the fire (on the candles) he'd been asking for. He knows fire and birthdays go hand in hand. I made the cupcake toppers at home and was glad to find a store that sold cupcakes with blue frosting. (Because blue is McKay's favorite color.) I could've made them myself, but it was so much easier this way.





Party Three

We had another party for McKay with some family and friends at home on Saturday, May 1st. I made him an interesting excavator cake (it's only his most favorite object in the world). Please be kind. It had been a long week so it wasn't perfect to begin with and then McKay got his hands on it. It did resemble a digger, but not to the extent I'd planned. Hopefully by next year his favorite thing is a circle or a rectangle. (I hear those shapes make great cakes.)



At least it tasted good!




The present he loved most was his drum set. (I suspected it would be.) I got it after Christmas on clearance and have had to resist several urges to give it to him early.




(See previous post for McKay's birthday tribute.)

TWO!

Our smart, happy, funny, sweet, handsome baby is two years old!

Two! TWO! TWO!

There are so many things we love about McKay. Here are just a few:

::: His morning snuggles.

::: His special guitar performances with great dance moves.

::: The way his little voice sounds when he says things like:
"Mom, buy it!" "What?" "Come on!" "Cows, over der." "Fick it! (Fix it!)" "Mom, wake up!"
He talks nonstop and we mostly understand what he says.

::: How he says, "Cheese!" and gives us a silly smiley face when we try
to take his picture.

::: His shyness.
(He got a double dose of that from both of his parents.)

::: His never-ending supply of energy.

::: His affinity for large vehicles.
Specifically, boats, semi-trucks and trailers, dumptrucks, diggers and loaders.

::: His favorite color is blue.

::: Instead of sleeping with a soft cuddly teddy bear or blanket, he holds his miniature semi-truck.

::: He likes to be involved in anything we're doing even if it's work.
He loads the laundry in the washing machine. He helps unload the dishwasher and puts the dishes away in the correct places if he can reach. He really can wash dishes. (He'll even take the silverware out of the drawer and pretend to wash it in his play kitchen.) He's offended if we take the garbage out without him.

::: His curiosity.
(Even if it usually gets him into trouble.)

::: How he loves to sing and do the actions to "Popcorn Popping on the Apricot Tree".

::: His Atomic Elbows.
He pats his right elbow twice with his left hand and then brings the elbow down on his unassuming target.

::: His sloppy kisses and big squeezes.

::: His infectious laugh...even when it's fake.

::: How he lines up all the various bottles under my sink along the edge of the bathtub.

::: How he calls me "Mom" at least 200 times a day.

I can't ever say it enough or loud enough.....I LOVE MCKAY!!!
And I feel so blessed to be his mom.

McKay's Grandma Miller wrote him a poem for his birthday and I loved it so much that I want to share. Here it is:

Morning Star
By: Wanda Miller

Two years ago
With a baby's cry
A special star
Lit the morning sky

Trailing glory
And bringing joy
To the parents of
A little boy

Touching the hearts
Of those who knew
His miracle birth
Was a dream come true

Blessing lives
From the very start -
Lighting the landscape
Of my heart.