On March 10, 2011 Shane Daniel Greenfield turned 2!!! He now weighs 32 pounds and is 34 inches tall!
Yes, it's true - somehow our little baby is TWO! Dan and I can't believe it has been two years since our lives were forever changed by the most amazing little man! In some ways it feels like Shane has been here forever. I can't remember what it is like to not be his mom, but in other ways it feels like he was just born yesterday. He has grown into the most amazing toddler! He is compassionate and funny and loving and oh soooo happy! He loves him mom, his dad, his dog, Elmo, his family, his stuffed animals, balloons, his slide - the list goes on and on and not in that order. I am pretty sure he would send Dan and I up the river if Elmo asked him to! He is my pride and joy and nothing else that I do in my life will mean more than being his mom. So here are some of my favorite Shane moments from recent weeks... 1) He calls every trip to the potty by anyone, "pooh, pooh." So if I am at one of his classes with him and tell him that mommy needs to go potty, he comes along saying "pooh, pooh" the whole time I am in the stall. You can guess what everyone always thinks I am doing! 2) He brings his special friends (Tigger, Big Bird, the monkey we gave him for Valentine's Day, the build-a-bear dog I made him for his birthday, and a Dr. Seuss Reindeer/dog) everywhere with him. He loves to sit them at the kitchen table and gets mad if Dan or I try and sit in one of their seats. He also feeds them food. 3) When we put him in bed with his friends & sing his special song, he looks at us and says, "Bye bye" and just like that we can leave - no tears! 4) When he wakes up in the morning he talks with his friends until I come get him and when he sees me he YELLS, "HI!!!!" and jumps up and down in his crib! It is sooo cute! 5) He loves to bake/cook with me and I let him stand at a chair and help add pre-measured ingredients. Unfortunately, he is not neat so I then have to guess how much of the 1/3 cup he spilled and add it back in. He gets so excited to help, that I can't say no. 6) Just like he loved the "neigh, neighs" on the lawn during the holidays, he is good buddies with the "tican" (leprechaun ) on our front lawn now. 7) He loves to dance on our counters (don't worry, we stand right next to him) when the radio or ipod is on. 8) He learned how to hide under his crib and uses it like his little fort for him and his stuffed animal friends. This list could go on and on, but I am sure you all understand - we adore our little man and he brings us more joy than we could have ever thought possible.
OK, so what have we been up to... Lots, unfortunately, I always forget to take pictures. Well, not always, but more than I should. A few weeks ago we headed to Monkey Bizness with Kristine and Connor and had a great time (as evidenced by Shane's flaming red cheeks!) He loves that place! In fact, it was that place that inspired me to suggest my parents and sister get him a play house for the backyard.
Another SUPER cute thing that Shane loves to do is walk around in Dan's shoes - how cute is that???? Here are some pictures!
On Shane's official birthday, March 10th, I planned on making his Elmo cookies for the party and having him munch on a few that night for dessert. We did make the cookies and they did come out really cute, but Shane did not like them... He loved the idea of them and was yelling, "La La" after he saw them decorated. He could not wait to try one after lunch, but Shane does not like to have his hands feel sticky (he hates playing in the sand for the same reason) and once he touched the frosting he refused to eat the cookies. I knew I could not give him cookies as a birthday treat that night, so I called Dan and asked him to pick up a mini cake for after dinner. We put in a candle and Shane loved us singing happy birthday to him. He also loved blowing the candle out. We videotaped the whole thing, sliced up the cake & instantly realized that we forgot to take pictures! Oops! Good thing Shane liked blowing out the candles, because we did the whole thing again using his slice of cake! Here are the pictures!
After eating some cake, it was time for presents! He actually had quite a few to open. He had one from us (the build a bear dog that I made him that night), books from a teacher Dan works with(Mary Spoils SHane rotten), and an Elmo DVD and activity books from my cousin Susan. Here is the birthday boy opening his presents.
We had Shane's party at our house on Sunday. We decided to keep it small this year only inviting close family and friends with kids Shane's age. Little did I know that would still equate to 45 people plus some kiddos in our house. Our house is not large, but it is far from tiny. It is 2,000 square feet, plus a finished basement, but it is not ideal for that many people. Our family room is upstairs, which I normally love. We have the three bedrooms, plus our computer and hang out area upstairs. I can work while Shane watches Sesame Street and my laundry is going. It works out great most of the time. However, that leaves my downstairs with a dining room, kitchen and living room. It is times like Shane's party when I wish we had the family room downstairs. Anyways, we made it work. We moved all of the downstairs toys out to the garage or upstairs and turned the upstairs into the play zone for the kids. We hired our neighbor (7th grade) to watch the kids upstairs. Clearing out the toys from downstairs allowed me to add a table and chairs in my living room. We also added a few to the basement and there were seats for all. PHEW!!! The food was great, we ordered Italian Beef sandwiches and made baked mostacholi. Dan's mom made potato salad, my mom made a regular salad, and Geri made pasta salad. We also had tons of appetizers and snacks! Yum! Here are some meal time pictures! We set up the awesome picnic table Aunt Geri & Uncle John gave Shane for his 1st birthday, as the kiddie table. Here Alex and Connor waited to start their meal, while Shane sat on the other side sipping his milk. Aunt Joan, Cy, and Jorie sat in the dining room with Andrea and Dave & Augie.
Here are the last of the meal pictures - They are far from perfect, but I am thankful to have these since I was so busy running around that I forgot to take pictures! I am not sure who took these, but I am assuming Dan. The first picture shows the lunch crowd in the kitchen (Cathy Burke, my dad, Danny, Bob, Megan, & Cathy McFarland.) The second shot shows a long line of people waiting for food plus Melissa and I chatting. The third is a picture of some people eating in the kitchen and living room. Starting at the back table we have Johnnie, Chris, & Mike. The kitchen table has Sue, Debbie, Dan's mom (though you can't see her face) and Geri Girl (You also can't see her face.) The last picture shows a different view of the kitchen table and my mom as well as the heads (no faces again) of Margaret and Bernadette.
After lunch, the real fun began! Elmo came for a visit! Shane was sooo excited that it was worth every penny of the costume price! Dan could barely see in the Elmo suit, but he did a terrific job as Elmo. In fact, when he walked in it was like a rock concert. Shane was screaming and jumping! Connor was yelling, Liam was excited, and Alex was thrilled! It was so cute!!! Augie was not feeling Elmo, but the rest were beyond thrilled. I had to lead Elmo through the house so I could not take pictures. Dave videotaped for us and the video is AWESOME! I am going to try and get Dan to upload it to the computer so I can put it on here. Anna took pictures with our camera, but Augie (her son) was so scared of Elmo that she was across the room so the pictures are not great. I know Geri took some so hopefully I can get some of hers for the blog. Here is Elmo's arrival! He brought all of the kids a balloon.
Everyone was so excited to see Elmo! I was kidding Dan that for 10 minutes he got to experience what it is like to be Bon Jovi! Alex and Connor went in for hugs right away, so did Grandma Carolyn! After seeing everyone else getting to hug Elmo, Shane decided it was his turn, with some help from Auntie Kristine!
Once Shane started hugging Elmo - he didn't want to stop!
Liam Jumped in for a quick hug and then it was time to go! Elmo was overheating!!! The best was when he left, Connor ran outside to say goodbye! Elmo needed to get in the garage and couldn't until we got Connor into the house! It was pretty funny! It would have been funnier if we had to send Dan on a walk around the block in his Elmo suit!
After the Elmo left it was time for games. I had pin the tail on the donkey, hot potato, and an Elmo pinata. No one wanted to play pin the tail on the donkey and Shane just ran around with the giant potato so we just did the pinata, which everyone loved. It had strings that the kids pulled to release the magic door of candy. That was way nicer than having a bunch of 2-5 year olds hitting it with a bat! Here are a few pictures. There is only one of the kids pulling on the pinata and I look AWFUL, but I am including it anyways...
Next it was time for cake! Here are the cake pictures!
After some yummy cake, Elmo cookies, ice cream, Chocolate chip cookies (thanks Aunt Geri!!!), Mrs. Field's cookies (Thank you Cathy!!!), and fruit (Thanks Anna!!!) It was time for presents. Shane was again spoiled rotten!!! We only have a few pictures of him opening his gifts, but here they are! He loved opening his gifts and loved his Elmo blanket made by Grandma (Papa to Shane) Carolyn and his drum set from Aunt Geri and Uncle John. In the background you will see my awesome sister in law Geri (who pretty much made sure everything that needed to get done got done - she is truly the best!), Johnnie, Cy, My Amazing Aunt Joan (who has that smile on her face all of the time!), and Cathy (who is so kind and helpful - she wrote down a list of everything Shane got! I love her!)
After all of the Elmo treat bags were passed out & everyone went home, we realized I forgot to use the Elmo party hats! Dan put one on Shane after dinner and took some pictures!
OK, my little man is up from his nap and he is calling my name! Thanks for reading and loving our little man for the past 2 years! We love and appreciate you all!
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