Birthday boy

Happy birthday, Noel! It's been a dramatic year--let's see, partial amputation of fingertip, running away from a barbeque, two stitches to the forehead, pneumonia--but you made it to two anyway. Let's hope this next year proceeds much more smoothly. We love you!

This picture represents my attempt to capture Noel at the moment he turned two (8:08 am). He wasn't cooperating very well because he would rather play with a truck, so I ended up chasing him down and got this picture a couple of minutes late. We'll pretend that the clock was fast. And yes, I know he desperately needs a haircut, but you try using scissors on a screaming, moving target. We've had enough emergency room visits this year. So I put it off...and off.

To celebrate Noel's birthday, Mike took the day off, and when Dominick finished school, we went out for lunch. After Noel's nap, we made a brief visit to the zoo to take advantage of what might be the last day of warm weather. My silly boys--we couldn't interest them in seeing the animals. All they wanted to do was find the train tracks and crossings throughout the zoo. We did manage to see an elephant and some big fish at the River's Edge and catch a glimpse of two small black bears and some sea lions. Then it was back home for a few presents and dinner. Saturday will be a (very) small family party.