Sullivan and I had an arts and crafts morning this past week. He usually isn’t very interested in craft type projects but lately he has shown a little more interest especially since Damon and I organized all of his arts and craft supplies in a new rolling cabinet that is readily accessible to him AT HIS level. Most of the time he simply opens the draws and takes out supplies to use in his building experiments but lately he’s been taking out the playdough and exploring the curious texture and molding capabilities. That is of course when he is not trying to eat the stuff which is about 3/4 of the time he is playing with it. He also likes to squish the play dough on mommy’s face and then on his head as you can see in the picture above. We also enjoyed some painting time and he got to wear his new Elmo art smock that Auntie Carolyn made for his second birthday. We have painted several times before and again most of the time is spent trying to eat and taste the paint or use the paint brushes for crashing and drumming on the table or head. Very little art happens on paper but Sullivan always looks quite colorful afterwards.

I was putting some decorative stones away the other day after a craft project and Sullivan began counting them. I wasn’t sure at first if he was actually counting them or just making the sounds of counting but if I would put two stones in the basket he would follow with three and four and if I stopped counting at 6 or 7 he would finish with 8, 9,10. We continued the game for some time and he was pretty consistent up to 12. Thought it was cute so took some pictures of it….then quickly after the cute counting game he proceeded to toss and chuck the stones all over the house and at Brodie which he thought was the most funny. Poor Brodie.

Damon captured some pictures of Sullivan in one of his many serious building and designing moments. Look at the concentration and focus in his face. You know I hear parents say all the time “Oh little Billy is going to grow up to be a this or that” and now I understand why they say it. Of course none of us knows what our children will grow up to be but sometimes I get glimpses of natural talents or aptitude that would suit certain professions and Sullivan sure does have a natural curiosity and aptitude for building and design. It is very common to walk into a room and discover a tower of random object stacked together in a most curious design. He stacks instruments, toys, hats,… just about anything….rarely blocks though….he likes blocks but not to build with. So for now I will chime in like the rest of the parents and say “Oh, Sullivan is going to grow up to be quite the architect or engineer”. That is if he doesn’t grow up to be a musician or a basketball player or modern dancer or a mailman or a conductor or a geologist……and on and on…..

We celebrated Sullivan’s second birthday yesterday up in Georgetown at his grandparents house. The party was from 10:30-12:30 and present to celebrate his special day was of course Mommy and Daddy, grandmommy and grandaddy Brown, Uncle Kirk and Aunt Carolyn along with cousins Ella Grace and Lila Rose, Godfather Allen Robertson, friends Oliver & Elliot Taylor and their parents Heidi and Peyton, Ben and Judge Baskin and their parents Joy and JJ, Cash Frankhauser and his parents Deb and Eric, Uncle David and Aunt Nancy, great granddad John and great granmommy Jo. The theme for this years birthday was Sullivan’s Favorite Things…a day filled with hats, and drums, and balls, and bugs, and balloons, and music, and cookies, and cake and friends. We had a tent filled with dozens of hats for them wear and all sorts of musical instruments for them play. Granddaddy Jerry had added a Tee Pee to the outside play scene a few months back that the kids enjoyed playing in. Allen brought a bubble blower and the kids of course had a blast chasing him and running in and out of the wall of bubbles. Damon had made a mp3 CD of all of Sullivan’s favorite songs that played throughout the yard while we enjoyed snacks and juice. Aunt Nancy drew a fun chalk mural on the breezeway chalk board to commemorate the day and the kids played on the playscape, in the sandbox, under the tent and all around the backyard under the trees. It was a lovely day and hard to believe that he is already two, with his big boy hair, and friends that he knows by name, and a list of favorite things.

The Brown Family creativity continued it’s tradition this weekend as Damon and I prepared for Sullivan’s 2nd birthday party. Usually Grandmommy Judy is our resident family cake maker but this year Damon stepped in and tried his hand at the family business. The theme for the party this year is Sullivan’s FAVORITE THINGS….a theme that was decided upon after having a difficult time pin pointing only ONE idea to celebrate his special day. So it was set to be a day filled with hats, and bugs, and drums, and balloons, and balls, and cookies, and cake and YES….A,B,C’s. Damon’s initial idea for the party was going to be all about A,B,C’s as Sullivan is all about letters these days. So Damon thought it would be fun to make a big A,B,C block for his cake. And that is exactly what he did as you can see with these pictures. I of course was set and ready to buy a regular store bought cake this year as I rarely have the motivation to jump in a do any sort of new cooking thing but Damon said “you only have one second birthday” so again Damon rides in and makes sure another Sullivan birthday is a one of a kind experience. Damon made a personalized small block cake for Sullivan and a larger scale version for the rest of the guests. The block had a big blue S on the top with A,B,C, and the letter O on the sides. (Sullivan points out the letter O’s all the time on signs and in books). I think Damon did a great job for a first time themed cake.