Happy Birthday Dale!
Dale turned two years old yesterday (August 31st). Fortunately we celebrated his birthday last Saturday because he developed a fever Monday night and was miserable until this morning. On Saturday we had both sets of grandparents and Justin's brother Trent and his wife over for dinner before we sang a song and had cake and ice cream for Dale. I spent nearly an hour at Walmart earlier in the day trying to figure out what to get him for his birthday. I am amazed at how 99% of toys these days are cheap, small, or battery driven. I wanted something big for Dale to play and be rough with! I knew I was going to get him a "Cozy Coupe" because he's always trying to run away and across the street to the side of the neighbor's house where they have their own Cozy Coupe. The second toy I opted for was one of those "Sit 'n Spin" toys (again, no small cheap parts, no batteries!). Dale has thoroughly enjoyed both of them!
No big party for the two year old. We had a surprise going away party for Justin's parents immediately following Dale's "party" so things were pretty low key, which is really alright because Dale had no clue what was going on...
He blew out his candles on the first try!
Adaira made sure to doll herself up for the occasion with every single one of her hair clips.
Justin had already assembled Dale's car, so he brought it out under a blanket. Dale wanted in IMMEDIATELY after getting a glimpse of it. In the picture below he's trying to climb in through the back of the car.
It's a hit! He's been playing with it every day! Unfortunately half the time we are taking it away from Brighton and Adaira (who refuse to leave the darn thing alone!) so Dale can have some play time in it. Brighton has told me numerous times that he wishes they made those cars just a little bigger so he could have one.
Dale is such an awesome addition to our family. It's almost hard to believe that this little troublemaker can bring me so much joy. He is so full of personality! A few nights ago at dinner we were all amused just watching Dale. We started laughing at him and he just kept being funny to feed our laughter. He cocks his head to the side and makes these sly little faces as he mumbles his gibberish and then he'll completely change course and gasp and point at things as he whips his head in different directions to show us what he is pointing at. Somehow it makes it so much easier to deal with the fact that he throws his food and plate on the floor when he is done eating at practically every meal, eats crayons and ink stamps any chance he can, gets into my make up and his Dad's dental floss almost daily, dumps out any board game that sits below 4ft high - he pushes a chair up to the shelves to pull them down, asks for a cup of water just so he can go dump it on the carpet and get down on all fours to pretend to drink it up - which obviously doesn't happen on carpet, climbs up on the island counter and whacks the pendant lighting whenever he can, raids both fridges and the outside freezer when left unsupervised (on his birthday I was looking for him and was starting to freak out because I couldn't find him. He was IN our spare fridge - the door was only open about 4 inches - tasting his birthday cake and the sheet cake Justin made for the after party), and many more troublesome behaviors on a daily basis!
Dale loves to dance around to music and laughs whenever he sees what he thinks is a funny picture. A few weeks ago at the Owens Sr. household, we were having a get together and Grandpa Dale was giving treats out to the three little boy cousins (Dale has two Owens' cousins less than four months younger than him) and we were trying to get Dale to dance around to earn his treat. He was hopping and turning around and doing everything he could! The other little boys didn't quite get it and weren't nearly so animated. This last week at church Dale's nursery leader was handing out mini marshmallows at the beginning of nursery to help calm down some of the kids who were upset being there. As Dale stood in front of her with two other little boys waiting for his marshmallows, he was jumping and hopping around trying to "win" his treat, just like with Grandpa. It was so cute! I think Dale's exposure to Brighton and Adaira has made a huge difference in his inhibitions...in that he doesn't have many! He still prefers Brighton to Adaira, but he'll be sweet with Adaira on occasion as well. Unfortunately the only downside to his closeness with Brighton is that Brighton lets (and encourages) Dale to be rough with him and smack him around (Brighton just laughs, then Dale laughs, etc.). This translates to Dale being rough with other kids when he thinks he's just being playful. Something to work on!
Dale isn't talking much at all still, but he seems to be picking up new words about every other day. He's actually trying to talk more now, which is obviously the key. He wouldn't even try a month or so ago. What he lacks in language he more than makes up for in his physical ability. A few days ago he decided to get off the trampoline all by himself by sliding down the pole (that holds the safety net in place) until he was closer to the ground and then just dropping the rest of the way!
Ah... but doesn't he just look so sweet and innocent!
I can't say enough how much I adore this little guy. He goes down like a champ 99% of the time for his naps and bedtime. He runs up to any one of us and gives us a big hug on the leg at random times, and he loves his older siblings. I am loving the one on one time I have with him right now and feel some anxiety about losing our little connection when our baby girl joins us in just over two months. I hope he responds well and we have a repeat version of Brighton and Adaira (who were super sweet to each for the first few years). We love you so much Dale! You light up our family in so many ways and my heart wouldn't be nearly so full without you!
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