Oliver's 2nd birthday!

Oliver turned two on Monday 8 December. We had a little present opening session in the morning after breakfast, before he was whisked off to ABC's. He enjoyed having "Happy Birthday" sung to him - he almost knows all the words now.

We celebrated Oliver's birthday with a family get-together on Saturday. Once again Oliver was very lucky and got lots of wonderful gifts from everyone. He got some more books, play dough, an alphabet puzzle, a Thomas the Tank Engine t shirt, an art easel with paints and chalks, a Scoop toy (from Bob the Builder), a model digger, some money, and an alphabet game. Wow!

He had a fun morning racing around with his cousins, and being generally loud and boisterous. We lit the candles on his Bob the Builder cake, but he didn't really like it when everyone gathered around the table to sing "Happy Birthday" to him. He was pretty tired from a late night on Friday (we went to a bbq) and all the attention was a bit overwhelming. He didn't manage to blow out his candles - he tried, but they were a bit out of range, and he was more interested in getting his hands on the cake!

After a little bit of cake Oli was rearing to go again. When everyone left us around lunchtime, Oli was still pretty wound up and excited. We ushered him off to bed and he was (eventually) out like a light. He slept like a log for 3 hours! A much needed rest for everyone.

Oliver seemed to change overnight when he became a two year old. His usage of the word "no" seemed to quadruple, his volume control got turned up to (and jammed on) eleven, the pitch of his voice got lower, and I changed from "Mummy" to "Mum". So when I walked out of the bathroom one morning and left him there, I heard: "Mum!... Mum!... Where ARE you?!!" in a very loud and booming voice. (I was just a few metres away in the lounge). My sister reckons that someone sneaks into their room the night before their 2nd birthday and gives them a testosterone injection! I just hope it wears off quickly.

Ella was a bit unsettled throughout Oli's party. I guess the late night on Friday had messed her around too. She wouldn't feed properly, so I eventually gave up and put her to bed. She slept for 4 hours, and woke up starving!

So that's Oli's birthday done for another year. I can no longer talk about having two kids under two - Oliver 2 years old, Ella 5.5 months old.