January 29

Yesterday I wrote about how we celebrated Eli's second birthday, but it only involved one extended family member. Our families would never let us skip a birthday gathering, so tonight after dinner we had everyone over for cupcakes and presents.

Caleb, Daisy and Lily were really interested in buying gifts for Eli, which made my heart so happy! But then I thought about bringing more stuff into our home, and I thought about all the toys we already have that go un-played with, and I came up with a brilliant idea. I suggested that maybe the kids could find toys around the house that Eli might like; perhaps even toys he had never played with before.

They were off and running, and after shopping the house they had lots of great gifts for Eli. They even helped themselves to gift bags and tissue paper, and wrapped everything. The whole thing was an all-around win for me, because they handled it all themselves and I didn't have to lift a finger.

I still haven't taken Eli's official 2-year pictures, but after Daisy showed him what to do, he was eager to pose for the traditional picture in front of the chalkboard.

Seriously. How cute is this child?

Oh, did you notice the felt birthday crown I made for him? He decided he didn't like it, but was willing to wear it for pictures. I love this boy. Also, he's wearing his Superman shirt because he is currently obsessed with Superman.

These are all of the "gifts" the big kids found and wrapped for Eli. 

(I promise I edited this picture. I have no idea why it is so dark and yellow.)

I asked Eli what kind of cake he wanted, and he said, "Chokkit", so I gave the boy chocolate. 

I think he was a bit overwhelmed by all of the attention.

But he did a great job blowing out his candles!

And he thoroughly enjoyed that chokkit.

(His lip!)

Yum.

It was a fun - and rowdy - evening because Ryan, Max, and Jace were here. These kids have so much fun with their cousins!

Then Eli got to open his eight million presents. Some, like the Duplos above, were actually legitimate gifts from other family members. At bedtime, Eli told me that these Legos were his favorite gift.

Do you see how Caleb, Lily, and Daisy are all crowded around Eli? They were so excited to watch him open the presents they had found for him!

Grandmother gave Eli this latch board. Daisy had the same one at her preschool, so she was excited to show him how to use it.

Emily, Billy, and boys gave Eli a cool drill and tool set, and Jace explained how things worked.

Grandpa took a break from a wild game of whole-house hide-and-seek to help Eli with his latch board.

We had so much fun celebrating our two-year-old!