Two

At Fionn's 1st birthday extravaganza last year, my mom made a wise prediction.  "I will be curious to see what y'all do for his 2nd birthday," she said, watching me race around the kitchen, refilling platters of food for our 40-some-odd guests as sweat beaded on my brow.  "I bet it won't be nearly such a fuss."  

I think at the time I probably huffed a bit and made some sort of snarky comment to the effect of "Oh, we love throwing big parties.  I think we'll do this every year."  I'm not sure how my mom responded.  To be honest, the dialogue probably ended there since I'm pretty sure I didn't have more than 2 back-and-forth exchanges with anyone (including my poor, neglected son) during the entire party.  It was definitely a little nutso.

Well, fast forward 366 days (thanks to Leap Year), and my mom was (as usual) absolutely right.  No big parties for us this year.  Instead, we celebrated our son in a very low-key fashion.  And you know what?  It was really fantastic.  Nothing against the big party concept, of course.  I'm sure we have another big birthday party for Fionn in our future (hello, moonbounce rental!).  But for this year...it was just what we needed.

The best part of nixing the Big Party for this year?  Instead of spending the majority of the day doing party prep, Conor and I were able to treat our boy to a most special morning.  When asked weeks ago what he wanted to do on his birthday, Fionny replied without a pause, "Me ride bus.  Me ride train."  When asked where he wanted to go on the train and bus, Fionn continued with confidence.  "Zoo."  And when questioned further about what he wanted to see at the zoo, our boy said with a smile and a bit of an excited bounce, "Ooh-ooh-ee-ee!"  (That's "monkey" for those of you at home who might not speak toddler.)

So there you have it.  Our boy's dream day.  And it was all completely feasible.  Glad he didn't ask for a ride in a rocket ship.  That might've been a little harder to deliver.

As soon as we were dressed and ready to go after breakfast, we set out on our morning adventure.  We strolled down to the metro station to catch the bus to the zoo, but...Oh no!  Just as we were walking up to the station, our bus was pulling away.  I ran after the bus (yes, I was that person), but it was to no avail.  Sigh.  The next bus wasn't scheduled to come for another 40 minutes, so we asked our Birthday Boy if it would be okay to take the train to the zoo.  "Oh, yeah!" Fionn said with a huge smile.  Gotta love myself some easygoing toddler (BTW, this is not a regular occurrence).  Anyway, here is a pic of Fionn on the metro train.  He was very careful to hold on to the rail at all times.  Safety first, safety first.

Once we got to the zoo, Fionn wasted no time hitting his favorite attraction.  The monkeys, you ask?  No, no, that was later.  Giraffes?  Elephants?  Maybe the lions?  Nope, nope, and nope.  Here's a picture to help you along in your guessing game.

That's right.  Our boy is in LOVE with the Spray Zones which are located throughout the zoo.  He could run around in them all day if we let him.  Cold mist on a hot and steamy day?  What's not to love?  Conor and I both did some quality control on that mist, and lemme tell you, it is a beautiful, beautiful thing. 

Next we headed to the Ape House.  The zoo schedule told us that the orangutans were supposed to be doing their morning ropes course through the zoo at just around 11 am.  So we positioned ourselves in a shady spot and waited.  And waited.  And waited some more.  Fionn started to get impatient.  Our pretzel reserves were growing thin.  We were about to have to take action.  Perhaps even abort mission.  When suddenly...from up above...we saw this!

One after another, the 3 orangutans made their way across the ropes course.  It was very, very cool.  To be honest, I think Conor and I were a little more impressed than Fionn.  By this time, our kiddo already had his eye on his ride home.  "Me ride bus!"  Yep, Conor and I were beginning to think that the whole zoo thing was just a rouse to get onto some public transportation. 

On our way out of the zoo, we stopped by to see the lions, and this was a little more impressive to Fionn.  I think he liked how the lions looked like his two cats -- only much, much bigger.  Sure enough, when we asked Fionn later what he enjoyed most about the zoo, he replied without hesitation, "Lie-uns."  Sorry, monkeys.  You have been officially replaced.

We stayed true to our word and boarded a bus for our trip home.  It was a long, tedious trip.  Reminded me why I don't take the bus...ever.  Three stops just for the hospital!  Geez Louise!  But Fionn had no problem with this whatsoever.  More stops?  Bring 'em on!  He loves to watch the doors open and close.

Once again, holding on very tightly to the rail.  Maybe there's hope for my daredevil child yet.

After nap time, we welcomed Fionn's two best friends and their families over for a very casual BBQ in the backyard.  The 3 boys frolicked in the sprinkler while we grown-ups huddled under the shade of the umbrella.  So very hot.  So very humid.  Conor cooked up some delicious burgers and corn, and we had a wonderful meal.

And when it came time...we brought out the train-shaped birthday cookies for our kiddo.  That's right, we decided to nix a cake and did cookies instead.  My thinking was this.  Our boy loves cookies.  That much is clear.  In addition, I had an itch to use the train cookie molds I recently bought at the train museum in California.  And finally, train cookies meshed pretty darn well with our transportation theme for the day.  Here is our birthday boy blowing out his candles. 

I have to say that I love that both of Fionn's birthday pictures thus far involve him wearing no shirt while he blows out his candles.  For both birthdays, our kid has gotten completely soaked and completely filthy prior to the big Happy Birthday song.  For both, we have just rolled with it.  Here is a flashback from last year when we at least tried to cover up his filth with that cute bib. 

Anyway, back to this year's party.  You'll be glad to know that the train cookies were a hit.  Enjoyed by all.  Here is adorable Zach with his five o'clock icing shadow.

After cookies, it was time to open presents.  Fionn scored some wonderful gifts from his friends.  Cars, a counting cookie jar game, and a Play Dough kit.  Here is Fionny tearing into his first present as his noise maker hangs out of his mouth like a cigar.  Very Humphrey Bogart.  Here's looking at you, kid.

In conclusion, yesterday was a fantastic day for Fionny...and for us. Very relaxed and casual.  Absolutely perfect. 

And now we have a 2-year-old.  Seriously, how did that happen?  I just don't get it. 

Something else I don't get?  How our trip to Aruba is suddenly THIS FRIDAY!  Aaaah!  So much to do before we go.  I will look forward to updating the blog upon our return.