Anyway, after dropping Zach off at preschool yesterday, Drew and I went to the grocery store, where he kept changing his mind about which cart to take. Since he was going back and forth, I finally made the decision and strapped him into the cart, which he did not appreciate. So he basically pitched a fit throughout the entire grocery store. Thankfully we didn't need many things. He cleaned up his act enough at the end to get a sticker. So things were looking up. As we walked out to the car, though, I told Drew that when we got to the car, I was going to buckle him into his seat. As I suspected, that did not go well. He struggled and fought me, and I got mad. When we're in the car and I can't give him a time-out, I take his Lightning McQueen away, which is probably more powerful than a time-out, actually. So as we pulled out of Hy-Vee, Drew was screaming in anger, and I was turning the music up louder and louder. Sometimes that's the only way I can deal with him. When we got home and I opened Drew's car door, as I expected, he said, "No! Stay car!" I said, "Ok, fine. You stay in the car. I'm going inside." And I shut his door and left him strapped in his seat for about 10 minutes.
The funny thing was, as the boys were finishing up their cake, Drew started to ask for more, but Zach was ready to get down and play, so Drew very quickly changed his mind and said, "All done! Get down!" He loves to do what his big brother does, even if it means giving up a second piece of birthday cake.
After a snack, a few deep breaths, and a quick check on Facebook, I went back to get Drew, and I was able to talk him into coming inside to do some bowling. So he came in and we played and had a great time, but I knew it was short-lived. After about 45 minutes, it was time to go to the doctor, and Drew started fighting me when I was trying to get his shoes on. I was already worried about the doctor's visit, so this was not a good sign. So once again, he was mad throughout the car ride. This was one time when I actually wished the doctor's office was more than 2 minutes away- maybe then he would have calmed down. Once we were inside the doctor's office, I gave him some grapes, and that helped. However, as soon as we got back into the exam room and the nurse started talking to him, it was all over. And basically was your classic, nightmare doctor's appointment with a 2 year-old. Drew fought everything the nurse and doctor tried to do, cried, screamed, etc. The pediatrician is a friend of ours from college, and he was great and very understanding. Once he was done examining Drew, Drew did talk to him a tiny bit. I've never been so relieved to be done at one of my kids' doctor's appointments, though. Even if Zach wasn't always comfortable at the pediatrician's office, he NEVER acted like this!
So at 2 years, Drew's stats are as follows:
-35 inches tall (68th percentile)
-26 lbs. 6 oz. (31st percentile)
When Zach was 2 years old, he was 34 inches tall and 26 lbs. 10 oz., so it looks like these two are more or less on the same growth curve.
So after a couple of rough days, today Drew was a gem. Right away this morning he started to fuss about the outfit I'd picked out for him (I've never known a 2 year-old boy to care so much about his clothes!), but we talked through it and he was ok. We ran one errand this morning and he let me buckle him into his seat without a fuss. He just seemed to be dealing with things better today, and I appreciated it. Maybe we'll have more days like that in the future.
We decided to celebrate Drew's birthday tonight, a night early, because this was the only night that worked for us. So we had Mike's 2 sets of parents and our neighbors, Brad, Molly, and Cooper, over for pizza and cake tonight. It was the perfect party- just the right number of people and food, and everybody seemed to have a good time.
Drew was totally excited at the first sight of presents, so we decided to let him open one present before dinner. Zach got Drew Mack, Lightning McQueens' semi-truck. I thought that was a good idea, but then it was difficult to get Drew to stop playing with Mack to eat dinner. Eventually, with the promise of drinking from his Lightning McQueen birthday cup, I was able to get Drew to the table.
After dinner, it was time for cake. Oh, the cake. I really enjoy baking. I like the artsy part of decorating cakes, and I like the challenge of doing something I'm not real experienced at. I also like trying to make whatever my kids want for their birthday cakes. Since Drew LOVES Lightning McQueen, I decided to make him a Lightning McQueen cake. Thankfully one of the local libraries loans out cake pans, and they happened to have a Lightning McQueen pan. That made the job a thousand times easier, though it was still a challenge. Zach and I baked the cake on Tuesday and stuck it in the freezer overnight, and after dinner yesterday I got started on the frosting part. I started the process around 6:45 in the evening by first making my own frosting. I finished the cake and got the kitchen cleaned up (wow, was it a mess!) around 12:30 in the morning. So, I learned that in the future, I should mix up the frosting and all the colors a day before to save me some time. Anyway, here is the cake when it was all finished.
Drew loved the cake. He has been talking about this "Ke-Keen cake" for weeks now. I'm so glad I didn't disappoint him!
Tomorrow isn't just Drew's birthday, it's also Molly's birthday, so I made her a cake, too. I didn't get anywhere near as fancy for Molly's cake, but she was happily surprised.
After cake, Drew got to open the rest of his presents, with lots of help from Zach. Zach was probably more excited by most of the toys than Drew was. He's not stupid; he knows that we share toys in this house, so Drew's birthday presents are basically presents for him, too! And for the most part, Drew is totally fine with that, because it means Zach is playing with Drew, and that usually makes Drew pretty happy.
Here is Drew modeling the new bike helmet we got for him. Yep, it has Lightning McQueen on it, too, and it even came with Lightning McQueen knee pads.
Here are Zach, Drew, and Cooper playing with the new toys as well as a few old toys.
Thanks to all of Mike's family and Molly, Brad, and Cooper for coming to Drew's birthday party tonight. We had a great time!
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