A First And A Second

Grace had her first day of preschool this week. She loved it. They played with play-doh, sang and danced, and went out to the sand box to dig. What's not to like about all that? (And yes, I did stage this photo after the fact, since I'm bad and forgot to take pictures. Please don't tell me you really thought I sent my daughter off to school with spaghetti stains on her shorts!)

Also on the same day was Grant's second birthday. He is now officially a big kid whose age is no longer counted in months. No more "Baby Grant"! Wah!

He liked ripping the paper, especially since everyone was encouraging him to do it and not intervening with a quick "No, no! Let's find something else to do!"

Grant wanted to play with each toy after it was opened. He rolled this one back and forth while calling out, "Choo-choo!"

The blocks were a big hit with Grant. (Merritt also thought they were neat and ended up sneaking off with them to build a robot.)

I was frosting this cake when the Scouts arrived. They were all terribly impressed with a cake six layers high. They were also very happy to get a spoonful of cream cheese frosting.

Grant wasn't diverted from his business by all our singing...he still wanted to play Choo-choo! When I set the cake down in front of him, though, he knew just what to do and blew the candle out like he'd had 30 birthdays instead of just 2. (That was rather poetic, eh?)

This cake was so tall I had to serve it on plates. The bright colors came courtesy of Wilton food coloring...that stuff is amazing. The cake was super tasty because each layer was flavored with real fruit (from the top: raspberry, orange, lemon, lime, blueberry, and blackberry). Yum!

The ultimate conundrum...eat cake or play with new toys? How about both!
Happy Birthday Grant! You are the sunshine in my day.