Two Years Old

George is two years old!

These are some from May that were left off the last post--a day out in Skipton

Chasing ducks

We took Julie & Debbie to the Temple Newsam Home Farm

George wouldn't smile for the camera, but he had a great time!

Cavendish Pavilion at Bolton Abbey

Barden Tower at Bolton Abbey

Close encounters with ducks

Otley Wharfebank park

Middleton Railway shed

George was thrilled--he kept pointing at the engines and saying "Train!"

Going through a tunnel

The windows get all steamed up from the outside when we go through tunnels

Tickets ready for the inspector

He's getting a bit more mischievous these days--one day when I was on the phone, he tore the box of gingerbread cookies open and grabbed a big handful! Such a greedy guts!

On the first weekend in June, we went to the Skipton Car Show

Ford Anglia, like in Harry Potter

These Morgans look really old, but it's just their style--you can actually still buy them new looking like this!

1957 Chevy

George loved it--he ran around pointing and saying "Car!"

We went on the Embsay-Bolton Abbey steam railway again

They had these great classic coaches with the individual compartments--I love these little lamps and the armrests that fold up into the seat backs!

The Triathlon route goes right down our street--we saw the Olympic medalist triathletes Alistair and Jonny Brownlee go past! A couple of days later, I saw them at the University gym's pool!

George is loving his trike--we took it out to Golden Acre Park 

Taco Bell has opened up a Leeds location in the city centre--so exciting!

George wasn't so sure about the food, but I was thrilled!

George is loving his Wow toys--they're so sturdy and I love that they don't use batteries

I took George to Roundhay Park early on a hot day, so we could avoid the mid-day sun--he had the playground to himself!

He wasn't sure about the slide...

We had another hot day for the Otley Carnival

George liked the carnival procession--his favourite part was the fire engine at the end!

We went to O'Neill's for dinner one night and George put the specials menu on his head

If he were any older, he'd get cut off for that kind of behaviour!

On Saturday, we had a couple of friends over for lunch and birthday cake! I found this design on Pinterest--it was surprisingly easy to do and tasted great with all of those crushed Oreo bits!

George loved it and wanted to grab the diggers off right away

We opened a couple of presents and saved the rest for his actual birthday. Carly and Jen gave him a great big selection of fun things--a little red wagon, beach toys, bubbles, bath crayons, play food in a basket, stickers and stamps! Richard got this awesome Pintoy wooden digger after seeing another Pintoy construction vehicle at Saturdads playgroup--all the kids wanted to play with it, so we knew it was a tried and tested favourite!

George took a break from present opening to play with it for awhile

Sarah and James sent him this awesome John Deere Buck

He loves it!

On Sunday after church we went to the Kirkstall Abbey market and the playground

George finally got the confidence up to go down the slide and he loved it--he went again and again, once he got into it!

On his actual birthday, we opened the rest of his presents on FaceTime with Aunt Kelly, Grandma and Charlie. He loved the Wow garbage truck and the construction vehicles and all of his books! After dinner, he gathered up all of his construction toys, both new and old, and played with raisins--loading them in the excavator scoops and putting them in dump trucks and tipping them out.

We had one last present from us to give him in the evening

The Melissa & Doug car transporter

He had a great haul, as you can see by how full and messy our living room is now!

He's crazy about strawberries--he calls them "strawdada" and polishes off a bowl in minutes!

I can't believe George is two! It really does feel like he was just born, and overnight he's transformed into a little boy. He seems like a proper toddler, now that he's walking (running!) and talking so much. We don't really buy into the negative attitude about "terrible twos"--yes, he's a bit more defiant these days, but it's only because he's capable of so much more than he used to be. He does get into things he shouldn't, but he also puts them back if you tell him to. He has little strops, but they're usually just from being tired or hungry or teething--and they don't last long. His mood changes from bad to good just as fast. Overall, he's a good kid and we're crazy about him. We honestly do just sit around watching him sometimes and commenting on how cute he is--classic first-time parents!