Carstenator!

Carsten turned two today! He kind of looks like he's two already and he definitely acts like he's two. He also has been telling everyone he's two (while holding up one finger) for awhile. So now he actually is the age I've been thinking of him as. :-)

This was a pretty busy day for us - Mother's Day, Aria's Dedication and Carsten's birthday. So we did most of our birthday celebrating yesterday.

Waking up to birthday streamers!

And birthday breakfast.

I asked Carsten what he wanted on his birthday cake. He said, "Candy cane!" Which is what he calls all candy. And really, what is the one thing that every yellow cake with thick, chocolate butter cream frosting needs? More sugar, obviously. So a candy cane cake is what he got. :-)

You should have seen his eyes light up when he saw it. He was a fan.

A sweet thank you hug for his birthday present. :-)

Carsten loved his gifts so much that he left this one sitting in the middle of the room. He was so excited about playing with his new "choo-choo" that he wasn't even interested in opening the big one that was left. When he finally came back to it he was super excited though. He couldn't wait to get outside and ride his new scooter.

Carsten is sweet and spunky. He either wants to do things completely by himself or he very sweetly says, "Help me, please." He has great manners. He says please and thank you almost always. And he always addresses people by name. "Thank you Ty-Ty." "Help me please Daddy." "Hold me please Mommy." He loves trains, animals and balls and he loves to play outside. He is also so funny! He is constantly making us laugh. He has a great sense of humor and the world's cutest laugh. And everywhere we go people comment on his awesome hair. In fact at Menard's there's an old man who works there who comes up to us every single time we're there to tell us how much he loves his hair that sticks out everywhere.

Here are few of my favorite things. He calls animals by the sounds they make. Dogs are woof-woofs. Horses, donkeys and monkeys are hee-haws. Lions and tigers and dinosaurs are rars. Roosters are cock-a-doodle-doos. But ducks he gets right, and he talks about them a lot. When he can't or doesn't want to do something, he says, "I can't how." Every single time I give him food - a snack, a meal, anything - he takes a bite and says, "It yummy Mommy." And he prays at every meal a variation of this prayer: "Ty-Ty eat, Daddy eat, Mommy eat, Eeya eat, My eat (sometimes he repeats a few of these and sometimes he says "eat food"), Amen!

I love this boy so much. He is not just cute and fun. He is so sweet, and loving. He can be so cuddly when he wants to and he gives the sweetest hugs. He is great with his little sister, always giving her a pacifier or sharing his blankets with her. He loves it when he can get her to hold on to his finger!

I am so thankful to have this sweet boy in my life. He is such a little blessing and answer to prayer. The time is going way too fast, but I am loving his little personality and watching him grow and learn so many new things. Carsten, you are so loved! Your brother and sister adore you and Daddy and I love you more than you will ever know. Thank you for being such an amazing little boy. We thank God everyday for the amazing gift he gave us when you were born. Happy second birthday little love!