the big day (or, two kids turn two)

Yesterday, Wyn and I woke up to find some splendid new markers waiting for us in the kitchen. Well, what do you know. It turns out that February 25th is our birthday! Kind of a surprise to us, if you want to know the truth. But everyone else seemed to know about it because we got all kinds of cool gifts, and some of our favorite folks even came over to help us celebrate.


Little did we know that while we ate our breakfast and got dressed, there were two very big presents lurking downstairs...


"Truck! Truck! Truck! Truck! Truck! Truck! Truck! Truck!"
"Not quite, Zak. It's a bicycle. Can you say bicycle?"
"TRUCK!"


Wyn's reaction wasn't quite as boisterous, but he must've really dug those handlebars because he wouldn't let go of them for anything. As of 9:30 a.m., it looked like we were a bit too short to ride our new trucks/bicycles, but that notion was shattered later in the day. (Note: this may be the first use of foreshadowing in our blog. Aren't our literary skills maturing right before your eyes?)


Soon thereafter some of our peeps showed up to play with us. Wooo! As you can see here, Uncle Stephan sure knows how to toss around a two-year-old. He must've had some practice.


After lunch, Cousin Sam tapped into the mysterious powers of this "magic wand." First he turned our daddy into a monkey, then a bear. Later he made a cupcake disappear!


Our friend Hunter also demonstrated his magic wand technique for his mom and dad, a.k.a. Colleen and Terry.


Ohhhhhh! So that's why Mommy's been trying to teach us how to blow all week. With Aunt Marjorie's help, I ended up doing a pretty good puff/blow combination on my birthday candles. Wyn just let Mom do the work for him.


My brother gobbled down that cupcake like nobody's business. Me, I only liked the cakey part.


Our new pal Joshua hasn't yet reached the legal age for cupcake consumption, so he just hung out with his daddy Jay, of Jay and Mary Beth fame. Thanks to all our friends who celebrated with us. Our new books are awesome!


I decided to have another go at my truck/bicycle after naptime. And lo and behold, I was able to sit on it and push myself all around the house, backwards and forewards, with Mom or Dad holding on mostly as a precaution. (Wyn hung back and watched my progress.) It's possible that my legs grew during the day, but I think just wearing shoes really made a difference. By summertime, my brother and I are going to be zipping around like a couple of professionals! A huge thank-you to Grandpa Launnie and Grandma Pat, Grandma and Grandpa Lipsey, Grandma Betty and Grandpa Paul, and Great Grandma Linn for the two most incredible presents two 2-year-olds could ask for! Thank you so very, very, very, very much!!!


For our birthday dinner, Mom and Dad took us to our favorite restaurant of late, Russell's Barbeque. We may be the only 2-year-olds on earth who love, love, love barbeque sauce. We dip our hamburgers in it, and our french fries, and our fruit, and more and more often our fingers. Yum, yum. Must be that Kansas City heritage coming through!

What an awesome, incredible birthday. Thank you to everyone for all of our great presents and cards. We'll be making lots of masterpieces with our neat new art supplies, so stay tuned.

the morning after (or, two ways to crash)

What, how many cars do you sleep with? As if to prove we are that much closer to being teenagers, Wyn slept 'til almost 10 a.m.



As Wyn snored on, I was able to practice my build-and-destroy skills in peace. These stackable crayons Aunt Katherine sent us totally rock! Thank you K.T.!

these shoes aren't made for walkin'

toddler smackdown 2006!

Last Sunday, Sunday, Sunday, heavyweights Wynston "The Wolf" Lipsey and Zakary "Zak Attack" Lipsey got rrrrready to rrrrrrumble in the wrestling capital of the world: Oak Park, Illinois! The mat was colorful, the opponents evenly matched, the audience wild with anticipation!


What an upset! The Wolf dominates the match with an unprecedented and unrelenting full-body slam hold! Meanwhile, Mr. Frog has fainted dead away at the sight of all this mayhem!


Will this be the end of the Lipsey brothers' legendary rivalry??!!?? Only time will tell!

all ears

Despite Daddy's vigorous objections, Mom recently bought us these rabbit ears at Target. He needn't have worried; we refuse to wear the silly things on our heads. Instead, Wynston is utilizing them as fine neckwear. Much more dignified, don't you think?

two little sweethearts

Happy Valentine's Day to all our friends and family!

Love,
Wyn (left) and Zak (right)

three valentine dudes

Cousin Sam and Uncle Stephan came over this morning and helped us celebrate Valentine's Day as real men should. No chocolates, no flowers, no girls (Mom doesn't count as a girl). Just floaty balloons, trucks, cars, tractors, trains, balls and blocks. Sweeeeeeeeeet.

coming clean

We're taking this cleaning-up-after-ourselves thing to a whole new level. Wyn and I actually fought over who got to wipe the table with the wet paper towel until Mom went to the sink and made another one. But the best part of my busboy impersonation was yet to come:


Mmmmm, tasty.

(And if that's not enough for you, click here for a bonus plate-licking image.)

friendly confines

We did this all by ourselves! And you'll be glad to know that we now like all our cube chairs equally: red, blue, yellow and green. Phew.

not-so-friendly confines

Mom: "Hey Zak, can Mommy help you get out of there?"
Zak: "No."
Seven minutes pass...
Mom: "Now can Mommy help you?"
Zak: "NO."

DEVELOPMENTAL NOTE: Apparently it's quite common for a toddler's favorite word to be no, and Zak is no exception. For example: he'll make sure Mom or Dad is watching, then touch the stove and say no, no, no while shaking his head semi-violently. Other favorite words for both Zak and Wyn right now are cracker, cookie, cereal bar, banana, grapes, toast, cheese, (notice a pattern?), socks, uh-oh, up, down, okay, hi, bye, moon, Elmo, Ernie, as well as all-time faves truck and car. We estimate that they use about 75 words now. The boys still speak their "twin language" much of the time, but they are adding new English words almost every day!

table for two

Remember this table and chair set? It made a brief appearance last July before Wyn and I started climbing on the table, causing Mom and Dad to put the whole thing into storage. Well, it's finally back (stained to match the big people dining set), and we're putting it to good and proper use. We use it for coloring every day, and we've eaten all our meals here for the last three days. We even set the table with our empty plates and carry them back to the kitchen when we're finished. How's that for table manners?

cupholders

Mom's pretty sure Daddy taught us this trick, but we aren't saying.

high five

face five