And this doesn't seem all that long ago either...
But enough of the reminiscing! John celebrated his 2nd birthday with a bang! It all started with these lovely ladies coming to visit a few days before his big day.
We tried to show them around our new city as best as we could since we're still learning things, but I think we all had a great time. And if no one else had fun, John had a blast getting to be the center of everyone's attention!
Thursday afternoon we opened some presents and packed the car to head to Disney!
He was much more sophisticated this year!
True joy caused by a fire truck!
And we were off! Disney or bust!
Even this sign got John excited! (and me too....)
Look at this big boy as we arrived at our hotel. Is that not cute?
Thursday night involved a quick dinner with my mom (nana), stepdad (papa jay), matt's mom (nina), and Kathy and Michelle who also made the journey with us! We stayed in the cheapo hotel on the grounds, but it was perfect and equipped with a decent food court.
Going to bed in our Mickey pjs!
And we're up and at em! Happy Birthday John!!!!! My camera was a little foggy unfortunately.
The Magic Kingdom Welcome! I suggest this to anyone taking kids to Disney for the first time. What a sweet thing and you only have to be at the park 10 minutes early to catch it.
John watching the Magic Kingdom Welcome!
Our first characted encounter! John loved meeting the characters better than anything else we did. Most kids his age are freaked out by characters, but he can't get enough of it!
Blowing Pluto kisses as we walked away.
Riding a real life train. ;) He was in heaven!
Riding dumbo! We rode most of the rides in fantasy land, and he tolerated all of them fairly well! Peter Pan seemed to scare him a little, but it was the one he talked about the most afterwards.
Front and center for It's a Small World! He seemed to be the most relaxed on it.
Getting Minnie kisses! He seemed to be pretty into the ole lady mouse.
So happy to see Micky!
Just a loving on Micky and Minnie. It was too cute.
Had to get the mouse ears after meeting Micky. He was not thrilled to have to leave so we needed a nice distraction.
We were able to catch the Move It! Shake It! Celebrate It! Parade and I'm so glad! Disney gives you a Happy Birthday pin to wear which John was so happy to wear, and everyone at the park stops to tell you Happy Birthday. During the entire parade, people in the parade would walk over and tell John Happy Birthday. Even these giants! I just couldn't help but tear up during it because I couldn't think of a better way to celebrate John at that moment.
Catching Mickey's PhilharMagic before we went back to the hotel to rest for a little bit. Can you tell this child was ready for a nap? Look at that face!
Just before dinner! Please notice that John insisted I wear the pin that said "I'm celebrating!"
A very special dinner at the Crystal Palace where we had the pleasure of dining with Winnie the Pooh and all his crew! Talk about a happy 2 year old boy!
Meeting Eeyore!
And Tigger too!
Playing peekaboo with Tigger! John kept telling him "Come sit down Tigger!" It was adorable. The characters and their guides all fell in love with John and knew him by name before the end. Tigger came back by our table a second time, and John got so happy that he literally tackled Tigger to the ground. Poor Tigger had to go back in the kitchen and sort of regroup.
Kissing Pooh!
And even Piglet too!
After dinner, we decided to brave the drizzle for the night parade! I'm so glad we did because the rain was short lived and the parade was beautiful! I did get the pleasure of wearing a Disney poncho though. What would a trip to Disney be without one?
We were going to try to stay for the fireworks, but John was sleepy and the few fireworks we saw during Dream Along with Mickey showed us that he was still as afraid of them now as he was on the fourth of July so we packed up and headed back to the hotel to crash!
I cannot say what a special day it was! We may have to make it a birthday tradition while we're so close. Who doesn't want to celebrate their birthday at the happiest place on Earth!?
Grabbing breakfast before heading back home!
John got home to see his new table and chairs that Nana and Papa Jay gave him for his birthday! He was pretty happy to share his table with his ole pal as well.
We continued to celebrate John's birthday with some pizza and cupcakes at home!
Thank you pinterest for this super easy cupcake idea!
This year's cake eating was much cleaner than last year's.
And there you have it! Our beautiful two year old boy!
I hope to do a post soon that is dedicated to what all this one is up to now that he is two and share his two year old pictures (the professional ones, not the mommy camera ones).
Thanks to everyone for making his day so special!! We love all of you!!