He's 2!

Last Saturday was Matt's 2nd birthday!

He is officially 2.  I know because the first response to EVERY question I ask is an immediate and emphatic "No"!  He's also learned that Pack N Play's only contain children who are undetermined (being 37" tall helps a little with the escape though).  He's also able to efficiently capture the cats (much to their dismay).

Friday Jamie's family came over to celebrate his birthday.

They got him the set of tools that Matt saw in a catalog and had been repeatedly asking for since before Christmas.

He was REALLY excited, and getting him to go to sleep and seperate from his tools was a little tricky.

Safety First!

We sang Happy Birthday and had some cake.  Grandpa Johnson helped Matt practice blowing out candles so that he could do it on his cake.

Happy B-Day Matt from Virnig Family on Vimeo.

Having some cake with Ann

 

Polished it off, then stole some of Jamie's.

The aftermath!

Saturday was his actual birthday and we just hung out as the family 3.  Of course the first thing that he needed to do in the morning was more working with the tools.

Matt and I went up to Maltby Cafe and picked up a giant cinnamon roll for breakfast.  Those things are massive!  Then we headed out for the park to try and work off some of that sugar.

Mole hills provide some excellent digging dirt.

A little stream across the path to wash off the dirt.

Sunday was Matt's big party at the Children's Museum.  I have to give a ton of credit to Jamie, she worked really hard to make Matt's 2nd birthday fun and memorable, and she really pulled it off, all the kids had a blast.

Playing with Balloons

Balloons are more interesting than cake and candles.

Launching ping pong balls with Uncle Ryan.

Yeah Auntie, this looks safe...

All in all it was a great weekend and most importantly Matt got to share it with his friends and family.  Thanks everybody who helped make it special for him!

Jake

Swimming with Water Wings!

Auntie Elicia has been taking Matt swimming in the hotel pool about once a week for a few months now.  Last night Auntie deemed Matt ready for Phase II of swimming, Independence.  She hooked him up with some sweet water wings and some other floaties for the pool.  Thanks Auntie!

Coincidentally I had brought the video camera to the pool!  The first part of the video is right after he got in and was getting warmed up, the end is just before we got out.  He did about an hour total in the pool, kicking like a madman the whole time.

My favorite (of course) is that when asked if he wants to go SCUBA diving he instantly switches to laying flat and doing a frog kick rather than the vertical bicycle kick.  Enjoy.


Water Wings! from Virnig Family on Vimeo.

Christmas and New Years!

Christmas eve we had dinner with the group that I've been getting together with since I was a little kid, plus a lot of extras that we've all picked up or grown over the years. Matt had a good time with everybody and would up kind of crashing, but it was good to see everyone.

Matt and Felix working on a duet.

The boys playing with trucks.

"I wonder if I'm fast enough to snatch that?"

Christmas day I was pretty lazy with the camera and didn't take many pictures, but Matt had a great time all day long.

After Christmas we took a day or two to recuperate and headed for the Cabin in Cle Elum where the Virnig/Rogers clan was waiting and two extras were headed, my Aunt Tina and Cousin Isaac.  Matt had a good time playing with everybody in the snow, sledding, throwing snowballs, and most importantly for Matt, riding snowmobiles.

What a clown.

Isaac, headed down the hill.

Need to working on steering Isaac!

Matt's ready to go!

"What's this?"

"I think I like it!"

"Yep, I like it!"

Matt's new snow outfit.

As Tina said, "The glasses make the outfit."

Exploring GranDan's bear cave.

Matt and Isaac playing in the other "bear cave", Isaac's tent/bedroom.

Going "sledding" with Auntie.  No need for a sled when you have slick pants.

Pretty sure those glasses are older than you Isaac.

For New Years we had a fire outside and made S'mores.   First thing though was to dig out the fire pit.

A perfect Matt sized shovel!

 

Auntie and Uncle warming up by the fire.

Matt and Isaac just chillin'.

Can't be New Years without noisemakers.

Non of us made it to midnight, but we had a great evening just hanging out playing games and talking.  

Hope everybody had a great Christmas and New year, and  wishing you a terrific 2011.

Pre-Christmas Stuff

Before I get to the all the Christmas and New Years stuff, a few random things from before Christmas that I didn't get around to posting.

Matt enjoys squeezing and drinking his own juice.  On this morning, Pomegranate.

Matt and I getting ready to go out "in the woods" behind our house.

Matt in full safety gear for leaf blowing.

Aunt Ann couldn't be there for Christmas, so Ann, Linda and Paul came by for a little celebration with Matt before she left.

Showing off the muscles!

Playdough is awesome!

Who's having more fun, Matt, or Jamie?

How fast do you think he got it open?

A truck you can take apart with tools!  What could be better?

Enjoying his toys with Ann.

We went to the Bellevue Botanical garden  to see the Christmas lights with the Virnig/Rogers clan.  Matt had a lot of fun looking at the lights.

Getting a boost.

Of course sometimes you still have to stop and check out the interesting rocks.

Catching a ride with Auntie.

Matt making friends and checking out the lights.

Blurry, but not too bad group photo.

Hanging with Uncle Ryan.

A candycane for the ride home, a good evening.

The Sunday before Christmas we made a gingerbread house.  It was fun, and slowly disappeared over the next week. Matt had fun both building and eating.  He got a good sugar rush going that night.

All set to get started!

Showing Auntie his toy catalog

That look says trouble.

 "One for me, One for the house, one for me...."

"Hmm.. A little more on this side I think..."

The finished product!