He's an ICK

Rhett Gregory Porter, age two ... wearing the birthday outfit we bought for him

Yes I said ICK.

Our Rhett is an Insanely Cute Kid. 

We celebrated him all last weekend because on Sunday, he turned two.

No one could ever say we don't thoroughly enjoy all of our babies.

Rhett was thrilled at the prospect of turning two

And he got the most out of his birthday, loving every nanosecond of it.

On Saturday we had his actual party. 

It was at our house and featured a menu a lot like our other summer parties: hamburgers and hot dogs done on the grill, potato salad, barbecue beans, deviled eggs, baked macaroni and cheese.

And birthday cake.

The theme for the party was motorized modes of transportation

In this case, Rhett's mother made him a cake in the shape of a great big two. Chocolate, with chocolate icing.

The theme Erica chose was transportation. That's because like most little boys, Rhett loves cars and planes and trains and so forth.

Plus, she said, it was easy.

Ever notice that all kids' birthday parties now have to have a theme?

I wish I had pictures like this of my kids but alas, I do not

It was not that way when I was a kid. In fact I don't remember any birthday parties.

Well, there was that one where I invited a bunch of kids from school and nobody came.

We moved a lot -- usually twice each school year. As a result, no one knew who I was.

(No; it wasn't because we were military. For various reasons, most involving the law, we were transients.)

I put my stash of toy cars on display

But I digress.

Now with the grandkids, when the subject of an impending birthday party arises, I always ask: What is your theme?

It's the new normal.

In keeping with said theme, Erica had gone to Hobby Lobby and bought Rhett a plain red t-shirt, then embellished it with appliques of a big two, and various vehicles to include a tractor and a taxi and an ambulance.

He sported a Birthday Boy badge

I have four die-cast pull-back cars that stay in a drawer in the TV room. There are red and yellow Chevrolets (I call them ketchup and mustard), plus a black Chevy and a black Cadillac.

Rhett runs to get them almost the moment he walks into the house.

(That's if he's not pulling on the freezer drawer to get at the mini marshmallows I keep in there just for him.)

I got the cars out this time, before he had a chance, and put them on the table as part of the decorations.

Semi-homemade: make it from the box, then add buttermilk and shredded cheese, then more cheese on top, and bake

In no time flat he had filched the cars from the Lazy Susan and was playing with them. Ah well.

Erica kept it simple with a few banners, and several cake decorations that were stuck in on sticks.

It was cute. She also had three big blocks spelling out his age.

We went out on the front porch to get shots of him with those.

The man of the hour poses with his homemade two-shaped birthday cake

Erica had been reading him a story book about a little kid having a birthday, and tying it in with his own.

As a result, Rhett was more than clued in on what the day was all about.

He was so excited and happy to pose. Priceless.

Then I got a few shots of him back inside, with his birthday cake.

Pretty snazzy ... and it tasted good too

In due time the vittles were ready so we all sat down to eat.

Rhett is a foodie and a chow hound from the word go, so he was enthusiastic about this development.

He ate every bite of what was on his plate.

We decided to go ahead and have cake and coffee, and open presents, because everyone wanted to go swimming.

Naturally there were balloons bobbing overhead

Erica gave Rhett a big slab of cake that had been left over after making the two cake.

He devoured about half of that, and then it was time for presents.

Because he very badly needed a nap.

The grandchildren mostly sleep in their pack and play apparatuses, set up in TG's and my room by their parents when they visit.

There were loads of birthday gifts and greetings

Kids sleep really well in our room. For one thing, it's quiet and for another, it's cool and, with the shades down, dim.

But first it was time for those gifts and Rhett seemed to know instinctively that this was the makings of an extra good time.

He carefully looked at all of his cards while his mother read them to him.

She encouraged him to pull the tissue paper out of the gift bags and to tear gift wrap off where necessary.

He was chuffed when this tray of food was presented to him

He got a Stanley FlowSteady Bear Cub bottle from Audrey and Dagny. They had tucked two one-dollar bills into his card, and it was obvious that he was appreciative of the cash.

They also gave him a purple plush crescent moon.

Rhett is fascinated with the moon and looks for it whenever he goes outside -- day or night.

Once he locates it, he begins pointing and saying moooon! Even if it's not visible except in his imagination.

He dug in and ate it all

TG and I also got him a Celestial Buddies moon toy. Like the purple plush moon, it has legs.

We also got him a copy of Goodnight Moon in board book format.

Aunt Stephanie and family gave him a Leap Frog 100 Animals book.

Uncle Andrew and Aunt Brittany sent a toy push lawn mower that produces bubbles as you work.

This was taken on Father's Day, at church. Rhett is known for his woebegone look.

Our friend Andrea from church had been invited to the party. She gave him a Spike the Ankylosaurus toy.

TG and I also got him a whole outfit, including suspenders and a bow tie, plus several more shirts and pairs of shorts.

There were coloring books and crayons and snack pods and all manner of other things for him to have and play with and enjoy and do.

Contemplating the many implications of turning two

That portion of the party concluded, Chad and Erica put Rhett down for a nap.

We all went outside and most of us got in the pool. Eventually Rhett woke up and joined us.

He is obsessed with jumping off the side into Chad's arms, then climbing out and doing it again.

After about fifty times, Chad was tired of that game and Rhett was encouraged to let his mother hold him as she walked around in the shallow end.

This will be nice to take on trips

Several weeks ago Audrey was at Aldi and saw an adorable bath towel that has a hood and covers the whole child and even snaps on the sides.

She got one for Rhett, and when I saw it, I sent TG to Aldi so that he could get one for me to send to Ember.

Hers is pink and blue with a whale motif, but Rhett's is a dinosaur theme.

Also I think you will like this story. A couple of weeks ago Erica was bringing Rhett over so that they could swim.

Ember Rae in her towel from Aldi. Photo courtesy Brittany Weber

Bring a sun hat for him, I said. We were texting.

Rhett will not wear sunglasses -- we have tried -- but he needs something to keep the bright hot day out of his eyes when he's in the pool. 

It's brutal this time of year.

But -- He doesn't have one, she responded.

Show me the money, honey

TG was going out. I asked him to stop by Dollar General and see if they had a child-sized sun hat for Rhett to wear in the pool.

He came home with not only a doozy of a hat, but a tale to tell.

There had been some confusion in the aisle where he found the hat -- labeled, weirdly, One Size Fits All -- which he suspected would be technically too big for Rhett, but which might work nonetheless.

A near-total lunar eclipse

But he couldn't figure out the price. Indications in the area where he found it were that it would run him either five dollars or eight dollars.

He took it to the till and asked the cashier if she could tell whether the hat was five dollars or eight dollars.

I know you're thinking, just scan it. I said as much during the story telling phase of the completed mission, once TG had come home with the hat.

Mowing the concrete around the pool appears to be serious business

He held his hand up as if to say, Wait for it.

The cashier rang up the hat. It cost one cent. As in, a penny.

One cent! That's all they wanted for that hat.

TG said well he thought he'd take it at that price. If Rhett couldn't wear it, someone could.

All evidence to the contrary, wearing this hat did not make Rhett sad

And it IS too big, but Rhett loves it and certainly will have a sun hat now for many years to come.

This hat is nice. Thick fabric and a chin strap and little vents, and it even has the snaps on the sides, if you want to change the look of your brim.

He wears it with his towel and it's pretty comical.

Handy snaps on the side. This may in fact be a fishing hat.

A note about Rhett's woebegone facial expressions. He looks miserable but he isn't. It's just Rhett. He will pull a poker face and refuse to smile even when he's having a good time.

Although Rhett overwhelmingly favors his dad, he looks a lot like his mother as a child when he does what I call his mournful face. She did the same thing as a kid.

Posing with his beloved cousin Nah-nee (Dagny) after church on his birthday

So don't worry that he wasn't enjoying himself. He was. It's just his way. The more we ask him to smile, the more he won't.

In a few months he will have a baby brother to hold and love, and we don't think he knows what's about to hit him. He won't be the only game in town any more.

But that's part of life. And siblings are a pretty great part of life.

Before Rhett gets to meet his little brother, Ember will get to meet hers.

It was an occasion marked with laughter and love

Andrew and Brittany's son is due to arrive in about five weeks.

Two more ICKs in the lineup.

Here on the home front, we'll be lining up the pack and plays in our bedroom by Thanksgiving, for afternoon naps.

I can tuck the tired mamas up in our bed at the same time if need be. It will be fine.

And that is all for now except to say: Have you any ICKs in your life? Tell me about them.

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Happy Wednesday

Comments

[Barb]

Rhett is cuteness personified. Those eyes! His gravity makes me smile. I can't believe he ate all that food. I wish my Grands were as inclined to chow down. (Well, they would have eaten that gigantic piece of cake.) I'm sorry but that hat is hilarious - especially with his serious expression. He'll be able to wear it until he's 21.

[Jennifer]

@Barb ... yes the hat is hilarious and I wish you could see him wear it in the pool. He's just swallowed up by it but it sure keeps the sun out of his eyes! Rhett begs for food all day long. It drives Erica crazy, haha! xoxo