Birthday photo dump

I knew last year that for Asher's second birthday I wanted to have a big-ish party.  Of course, as it is for any small child's birthday party, it's kind of more for the adults, the pictures and the memories.  The 2 year old himself would not have noticed if we skipped the celebration all together.  But I would have noticed!  And he might have noticed in 10 years when he saw the shindigs we've had for his siblings!

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It's a little bittersweet for me to post these today, because the last several days have probably been the hardest I've had with Asher since our first week home.  The behavior, the crying, the power struggles are at an all-time high. I'm analyzing (and probably over-analyzing) everything from the party to new experiences to new people to over-scheduling to try to figure things out, but I'll probably never pinpoint exactly what is causing what I consider to be regression in his attachment.  All the people at the party were family members he is comfortable with, so at least for the party's sake, I think he had a good time, was well-rested and didn't seem too overstimulated.  For now I'm just chalking it up to the fact that attachment progress for us seems to be three steps forward and two steps back.  And also, I'm having fun looking at the 189 photos I took at the party.  :)  I hope he enjoys looking back at them someday too, and smiling at how excited we all were to celebrate his life! 

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I didn't go all out with, for instance, a pirate ship cake or butterfly cupcakes this year.  But I did have fun doing a little research into the best way to ice a sugar cookie.  I know it doesn't look like much, but I'm a freak, b/c it was really fun for me!  I want to try again with a different shape soon.

 

 

 I didn't do EVERYTHING I saw on Pinterest for airplane parties, but I did get some fun ideas that I brazenly copied.

These are one of my all-time favorite treats: pretzel rods dipped in melted candy and topped with sprinkles.  Salty and sweet.  HELLO!

 

I also am not a huge cake fan.  But I AM a huge "sugary pumpkin muffin with cream cheese filling and struedel topping" fan.

 



 We lucked out with great weather and everyone was able to play and hang outside.  And yes, of course Asher is wearing his airplane shirt to his airplane party.  DUH!

 

I was wracking my brain to think if he'd seen anyone blow out a candle.  He was home for Sydney's birthday, but only for about a week--I don't think he remembered, b/c he seemed genuinely puzzled on what to do with the fire.

 

With enough coaching he figured it out.

 

No coaching needed on the eating part.

 

Asher is at that age of innocence where he was thrilled with the first present he opened and would have been more than happy to play with it for the rest of the night.  Instead, he was dismayed when we "took it away" so he could open more!  Pretty soon he got the hang of it...with a little help from big bro, of course.



This is a classic Asher pose.  He NEVER STOPS MOVING.  When he is walking around, he often just starts jumping in place, falling on the ground, or furiously shrugging his shoulders.  This is him in mid-shrug.

 

 I love this one too, b/c it is him in his element: MOVING!

My nephew Jack is so handsome!  Couldn't resist this one of him throwing his airplane.

 

Happy birthday, buddy!  Here's to many more parties to come!