Happy Second Birthday, Sweet Boy

Happy Second Birthday to our sweet boy! I’m sharing all the love we have for our little man today, as well as some of his favorite parts of the year!

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Seven hundred thirty days. Seventeen thousand five hundred hours. Two precious years. One beautiful boy. 

Two years ago today was the most important, life-changing day of my life. It was a long journey in the making, and we didn’t take a single moment of it for granted.

Two years later, this sweet little ninja monkey has made our lives better than ever. He’s spunky, non-stop movement, loud and rambunctious, smart, imaginative, and so gosh-darn loving. 

His kisses. His hugs. His little voice saying, “Luff ooo, mama.” The way he calls himself ‘Cay-cah.’ I can’t get enough of it.

There are hard, frustrating days when you can find both Camden and I singing Daniel Tiger’s mad song (When you feel so mad that you wanna roar, take a deep breath and count to four) to keep us from losing our ish. But more often than that, there are beautiful, lovely, giggle-filled days of exploring and playing. 

I always knew I was meant to be a mom. I knew it would be the thing that would make me me. What I didn’t know was how much I could love one little boy. How much he could change our lives. How much he could make me want to be a better person, because I want to model a better world for him. 

Happy second birthday, sweet Camden! You are so kind, so happy and so, so very loved. You are the light in our lives. 

Camden’s Favorites:

Food: noodles, sandwiches, ice cream. Honestly, Camden is a great eater. He loves to try new things, and he eats everything from sweet potato soup and goat cheese risotto to bbq chicken lasagna and avocado toast.

Books: every book ever made. This kid is a voracious reader; whenever he’s in the car seat, he reads books to himself the entire drive to wherever we are going. He loves Biscuit, Clifford, Daniel Tiger, That’s Not My, Little Blue Truck, and so many more. Baby Monkey, Private Eye is a new favorite right now. 

Shows: Daniel Tiger is his absolute favorite. He also loves Blippi (we’re working on getting him to stop watching this, because we can’t stand it. Ha.), and Thomas the Train. 

Place to Go: Camden loves to go to the library and for walks. The Children’s Museum is also a favorite. But probably his favorite places are going to Oma/Grandpa’s house and Grandma/Grandpa’s house. When we take him there, as soon as we walk in, he turns around, kisses us and then pushes us toward the door and tells us to leave. Love you too, kid. 

Toys: Always – tractors. Currently – also his kitty (Princess) and bear (Teddy) that he made at Build-a-Bear.

How We Celebrated Camden’s 2nd Birthday

Our plan was to take Camden to Build-a-Bear on his birthday. But then a couple of weeks before his birthday, they had their 30% Friends and Family Sale, so we took him early. We got some amazing deals – on Prime Day last year, I got a BaB $50 gift card for $38. Then we got 30% off the cat that he chose. The birthday bear is a pay-your-age so it only cost us $2! And since I had him signed up for the email club, he got a free sling bag to carry his bear in! The woman working at BaB was so kind and happy, and Camden had the BEST time of his life. It was so fun to watch him enjoy it so much.

We had a tractor-themed party with Camden’s friends and family, too. He played with friends and cousins, and he loved everyone singing the birthday song to him. He helped me decorate his tractor cake, and then all the kids got to hit a tractor pinata (only $17 from Party City – so worth the fun!). 

And now, today, on his actual birthday, we’re just playing at home for most of the day. We’ll take a short trip to Barnes and Noble to play at the train table and get his free cupcake (are your kids a member of the BN kids club? Birthday cupcakes or cookies are a big perk!). And then we’ll just hang out at home and have one of his current favorites – BBQ Chicken Alfredo ‘San-ya (lasagna). 

Our Favorite Adventures This Past Year

Camden’s second year of life was filled with lots of adventures and fun. Here’s a few of our favorite ones:

• Family Vacation to Wisconsin Dells
• Weekend Trip to Cincinnati
• His First Easter Egg Hunt
• 2 Trips to the St. Louis Magic House
• His First Rodeo
• Camping with Andrew’s Family
• Trips to the Apple Orchard and Pumpkin Patches
• Trick or Treating as Curious George (and Andrew as the Man in the Yellow Hat)
• Christmas Lights at the Missouri Garden Glow

I know first birthdays are a big deal, but honestly, his second birthday was so much more fun. He actually understood the concept of parties and birthdays (thank you, Daniel Tiger) and I couldn’t get enough of watching him have fun. Everything was exciting, from putting tractors on the cake to playing with the balloons!