Tot Turns Two

We celebrated The Tot's 2nd birthday today and oh my! I'm not sure that I am ready to say good-bye entirely to the babyhood stage of mothering. The Dad would argue that it's one step closer to the end of diapers. True that, but there's something irresistible about chubby babies tucked into mei-tei carriers or slings.

To celebrate, we had a little party at home for The Tot. Grandma & Grandpa Naperville came in and were joined by two families that The Tot sees most often: Allison, Becky and their respective children. It's probably not what Barbara Kingsolver had in mind with her recent book, but we ate locally: pizzas from La Villa and a wonderful chocolate carousel cake from Whole Foods Sauganash (this buttercream version was delish and comparable in price to those of Dinkel's Bakery, at $25 + $6 for the personalization on a 1/4-sheet cake). We had lemonade for the kids, beer and wine and water for the adults, and I made a simple ricotta-lemon-chive dip as an appetizer. The kids all played happily, leaving the adults to chit-chat.

The Tot wore his new "2" t-shirt from the T-Shirt Deli, which The Boy and The Girl helped me choose from the Andersonville location on our way to pick up the cake. He was in absolute heaven with the Sodor Bay Bridge that Grandma and Grandpa brought, although he first had to be distracted away from the plastic wagon of outdoor toys that Becky brought for him. The Dad and my gifts to him (Duplo Lego) are still sealed in their brown shipping box. We'll get those out on another day of this rainy week.