2 years, 2 months

How can it be that 2 years and 2 months have gone by since my sweet Cason came into this world and changed my life forever?  I haven't been as good lately about writing down the funny, cute, silly, bizarre things that he does and am starting to regret it.  So, here's a short post about him at 26 months...

• Loves movies! There were a couple of weeks that he and I were both sick off and on and we ended up watching movies to pass the time and keep us on the couch :).  Since then he can't get enough.  His favorite right now is Toy Story (I love it too!).  He loves Buzz Lightyear and runs around the house with his arms out, jumping off of things saying "Finity and Beyon."  It's pretty adorable.  We also have braved the big screen twice and taken him to Brave and Ice Age.  He did so great and sat through the entire show without incident. 
• Instead of saying he doesn't want to do something he says he can't want to.  "I can't want to go to bed... I can't want to come inside... I can't want to eat dinner."  I find it pretty adorable!
• He's getting more and more independent everyday and I think we are starting to see some of the terrible two's.  I've thought so in the past, but am pretty sure this time.  Luckily, his fits never last long and he is easily redirected to something else. 
• Has started playing my old ukulele and calls it his guitar.  He loves to play guitar along with his daddy and sing and make up songs. 
• Gives a pouty face and rolls his eyes anytime he doesn't agree with something.  It's pretty dramatic and comical at the same time. 
• He loves playing his ABC game and is getting good at recognizing some of the letters.  His favorite book (which also happens to be one of my favorites) is the alphabet book Chicka Chicka Boom Boom.  He recites it with me and I often find him saying "chicka chicka boom boom" when something exciting happens.  He also loves to sing the ABC's. 
• Insists on climbing in the car and buckling his seatbelt all by himself.  Sometimes this is great and sometimes it really prolongs our leaving time. 
• His favorite foods are pasta, pizza, hamburgers, chocolate milk, and corn dogs.  We're going through a rough eating stage right now that I'm hoping he gets out of soon. 
• At bedtime he always begs for "one more song, one more kiss, and one more hug."  I find it adorable and usually give in.... at least the first time he asks.  He went through a rough patch with sleeping as well, but has recently gotten over it and luckily is back to our amazing sleeper. 
• He loves to play with friends.  Typically when they come over or we get together he ignores them most of the time and plays independently, but he always asks to play and asks for them by name.  His best friend right now is his cousin Cydney and they actually do play together well.
• H is getting quite the imagination.  He is always bringing me pretend chocolate milk or cake to eat and loves to pretend that his toys are something else.  A favorite is to find sticks and pretend that they are squirt guns.  He also pretends that he is Buzz Lightyear or a monster often and hides from other monsters or buggies.  I love this stage in his development.  He surprises me with something new everyday. 
• When he doesn't want Jeff and I to talk or doesn't like what we are saying to him he says "stop saying about it" or "no talking about it." 

Snowcones and Fireworks

I have the 24th of July holiday off every year, which I love!  Unfortunately, Jeff always has to work, but I enjoy the time that I get to spend one on one with my baby boy.  This year we decided to invite some family over the night before to celebrate with snowcones and fireworks.  We have a snowcone machine that we don't use very often, so it is fun to pull it out on special occasions.  We bought a bunch of fireworks at the grocery store and Jeff entertained us for about an hour lighting them off.  Both of our families came to watch the show and we also had a dozen or so neighbor kids gather around for the excitement.  It was a fun night and Cason took advantage of the opportunity to stay up way past his bed time.  Every night since, he has asked if we can do fireworks again.  He loved it!  I'm hoping we can make it a tradition!

4th of July

Our 4th of July was pretty low key this year.  We started the morning off having breakfast at Jeff's grandma's house.  Afterward, while Jeff and my dad were golfing, I took Cason to Nisson Park with my mom and nieces.  It is a fun park with a little stream running through it.  The kiddos wore their swimming suits and had a blast playing in the water.  We then went back to grandma's house for a bbq later in the afternoon before heading to my parent's house for more food and swimming.  After an internal debate about staying up late for the city fire works show we did head over to the Sun Bowl to watch.  Cason absolutely loved the fireworks last year, so I was surprised that he got a little scared.  He covered his face with his blanket through most of the show and kept saying "I done, we're done."  I think he did enjoy some of the moments that he took the blanket away and watched because he talked about fireworks for days afterword.  It must have just been the loud noises that were scary.  It was a great show and, although I was tired the next morning at work, I was glad we went.

Lagoon :)

Cason was able to experience Lagoon for the first time last month and loved it!  Unfortunately Jeff wasn't able to make it, so Case and I tagged along with the rest of my family.  I wish that Jeff could have been there and we definitely missed him.  Cason was so fun to take on all of the rides.  Halfway through the first day he braved riding the kiddie rides on his own.  It was a proud moment for me.  He was so cute to watch from the side and had the biggest smile on his face all day.  When he didn't want to ride one of the rides (I assume because it looked too big or too scary) he would say "no, I too big."  There was one ride that we attempted to take him on that he didn't meet the height requirement.  When he asked if he could "pease" go on it I had to tell him that he was too little.  He emphatically responded "I not too little, I not."  It was adorable!  I love to experience things like this with him and I 've said it before, but he just makes everything so much more fun.  There was one ride in particular that he loved called Odysea.  It was one of the bigger rides and I was able to ride with him.  As soon as the lap bar closed he started crying and saying "I done, I done."  However, once the ride started he laughed the entire time.  When it was time to get off he said "again, again."  We went back a second day and had just as much fun.  It was great to have all six cousins together and good to see my niece, Dilyn, which we don't get to see very often.  I'm hoping that we can go back again soon and take Jeff with us!

Giles Family Reunion 2012

Two weekends ago we headed up American Fork Canyon for the annual Giles Family Reunion.  We always have such a fun time at the reunion and I look forward every year to seeing a lot of my extended family.  This year my uncle Joe and aunt Shauna were in charge of hosting and came up with a cute Dr. Seuss theme for the weekend.  The canyon was beautiful and the weekend didn't disappoint.  Cason loved walking down to the river that was right across the street from our campsite.  We also had fun relaxing in the wilderness, playing at the lake, and hiking Cascade Springs.  As usual, the weekend ended way to soon and we had to say our goodbye's till next year.  Thanks everyone for a great time!

There was something a bit different about the reunion this year.  Two days before we left I had the brilliant idea to buy a tent trailer :).  I say brilliant, because I was not anticipating how much work it would take to get things ready in those two days and created so much more work for myself.  We had talked about getting one before and I just happened to come across it on Craigslist that day.  We got an AMAZING deal and it works perfectly for our needs.  It survived it's maiden voyage to the reunion beautifully and we all slept great!  It should be a lot of fun for us in the future.

I usually take millions of pictures at every event we go to.  For some reason, this time, I did not.  This is all that I have :(.