He's officially a toddler

Pictures from the weekend that centred around Tavish's second birthday party.

If you click on them, they will look even bigger.

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This and the one before it were taken Saturday afternoon because the boys needed to get out of the house - so we went to play in the shrinking snow fort in the front yard.  It was a little above freezing on Saturday, so, really, a gorgeous day to be outside in a fleece jacket!

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Having flown around the neighbourhood in his jet-propelled rubber boots, Declan comes in for a three-point landing.  Tavish, bored with flying, plays with his ball.

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Melty, drain spout, spring-is-here (we hope), kind of shot.

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The morning of the birthday. 

Amy sent the invitations out for people to be here by 10.30 AM, which, given the age of the crowd, was a good idea.  Catch the kids when they're awake and chipper, and before most nap times.  Here, Tav is sitting on Grumpy's lap - one of his favourite spots.

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The construction-themed birthday cake.  It could also have been called the Big-Ass cake, both for its relative size as well as its contributions to the variety of posteriors that partook of its sugary goodness.

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Dex helps Tav with the candles.

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I think Tavish got to blow out the last candle.

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Uncle Buster, Grumpy and Dex guard the kitchen while the rest of the party-goers repair to the living room.

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Present time!

Amy said, NO PRESENTS right in the invitations.  Nobody listened.  Nobody ever does!  WTF!?

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Dex enjoys one of Tavish's new books (about dragons) with Grumpy.

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Gimme some sugar, Baby!

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The Mega Bloks were a big hit.  Amy had to wear the helmet or she wasn't allowed to play.

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Just before bed time, and the wee boy (not baby) is pretty well spent.  Looks pretty dapper in his blue terry cloth bathrobe, too.

Comments

[Mark]

Great visual wrap-up. But, is it a three-point landing when he used two feet?

Love the shot of Tavish with the candle smoke floating between him and the camera.

Speaking of candles... I can't believe I've never seen those neat spring-shaped candles. Where did you get those?

Tell Amy her helmet puts her squarely in Shannon territory; my wife loves to make a hat or helmet out of whatever will slip over her head. I have a shot of her with a huge leaf of lettuce on her head like a skull cap.

Our biggest chance of snow is tonight, after a high of almost 80 F on Saturday, but we're expecting less than an inch and it won't stick on the roads and probably not much on the grass.

[marian]

Gorgeous photos! Tavish looks so huge in your banner. The black icing on the cake is a little scary, though. We're still expecting to dip below zero this week, at least at night, but there's definitely that delusional hope of spring in the air.

[Moksha Gren]

I love the picture of Dex's face looming behind the cake. Magical.

Folks always bring presents when the invites say no presents because they know that the other people are going to bring presents...and they don't want to be the only schmuck who followed the rules. Also...it's fun to give a 2-year-old noise makers and then flee through the southwest corridor.

Tav looks very suave in his bathrobe. You need to get him one of those pipe-shaped bubble blowers so he can perfect the look.

Oh, is that Dex by your feet in the top pic, or am I misinterpretting the refelction?

As with Mark, spring was in full force here over the weekend. We hit 70 on Saturday and 80 yesterday. On the menu for today is freezing rain and snow tomorrow. [shakes fist as sky] "Make up your mind, dammit!!!"

[Simon]

Mark,

I don't know if you can make a three-point landing on two feet, but I'll ignore that for now and stick with my initial claim. As for the candles, we get most of our party supplies (whenever we need some) at the local dollar store. It's snowing here again now as I type this (8.25 AM), so winter doesn't want to release her hold on us just yet.

Marian,

It was really dark blue icing on the cake, so not quite as intimidating in person. Though, to be frank, it did run through Tavish pretty quickly and we were... uh, changing him quite a bit yesterday.

Moksha,

That looks like Dex behind the flaming cake, doesn't it? Actually, that was Declan's little buddy Jagger (yes, as in Mick) who's about a year younger. They do look stunningly similar though.

About the top pic: you mean the reflection in Tavish's eyes? No, that was just me hunkering and snapping. (I would have said 'squatting', but when it's a hunk squatting it's called hunkering.) Good luck with your spring arriving. I'd like our weather to make up more of its mind, too, but I know better than to think spring will be anything more than a wily creature for a few weeks yet.

[Tasha]

A very happy birthday to Tavish. I agree with Amy, btw. WHen people say NO PRESENTS, they actually mean it!

[fv]

Would you please tell your kids to stop their consarn growing up business? It's makin' me downright cranky.

Now get off my lawn!

[Dave]

That first picture Simon, is an absolute A+.

Thanks for sharing the party with us... looks like everyone had a great time!

[Moksha Gren]

Now that you mention it, I can see that it's not Dex...but that's creepy. Freakin' dobblegangers...always hanging around, eating all your cake.

[Émilie B]

I've seen some people refer to their last-born as their "baby" for the better part of their youth, but the way those 'babies' grow up to be, it's true you're better off phasing the word out and adopting appropriate age referencing.

It's too bad though: Tav was such a cute baby. ;)

Happy birthday to him! I'm amazed how you manage to get such great event shots all the time. It defies the usual logic, but... quality from quantity?

[Jenn]

Man, do I love your pics. Happy happy birthday to the little guy. You two sure know how to churn out the next generation of Canadian studs.