So I sit here tonight with big crocodile tears..... Beau went to bed like a big boy tonight WITHOUT his paci. I didn't anticipate it being harder on me than him. He has really been into stickers lately, and wanting Goofy stickers. So today I told him we would go get some if he threw away his paci. So he liked that idea, and off to the store we went. I kept talking about how big of a boy he was, and when we got home he could play with the stickers if he threw away the paci. So that is exactly what happened. "Bye Bye paci" he said, and threw it in the trash. Tonight when we got him ready for bed, he asked for it, but I reminded him of being a big boy and getting stickers and throwing the paci away. I told him he could wear a sticker on his pj's but he wasn't in favor of that. He did get excited when I told him he could pick a car to take to bed instead. He picked one out and held it with his blankie in hand while we read, sang songs, and prayed. Before getting into bed, he went to put the car on the shelf  where the paci usually sat and said "bye bye paci" again. I let him take the car to bed and he went right to sleep. As glad as I am that we might be done with the paci, it is sooo sad he is that much bigger of a boy now:(

Here are a couple recent pictures of Beau. We went home for Mother's Day and Beau got to see great aunt Terri. He had fun showing off all his cars!
Beau is going through lots of changes! We switched him to a toddler bed a couple weeks ago, and that has been a whole new adventure! He did really well the first few days, but then figured out he could get out rather easily AND open his bedroom door all by himself. So we had about 5 nights of waking several times to play cars. One night I am pretty sure he had given up on us going out to the front room to play, so he shut our bedroom door and then headed out to play by himself. He only has books in his room, so he had to get out to get to his favorite cars. He finally is sleeping through the night again, or at least staying in his room all night! He LOVES books, so he might be up looking at them with us not knowing it:) Now he thinks he needs to be getting up at 530am to play. But at least it isn't 2am! We also are trying to get rid of his paci. I nipped the end off of one the other day and he said yucky and threw it in the trash! only 3 more to go!! He also is going to be moving up to the 2-3yr old classroom at school, after Memorial Day. That is exciting that he will be learning new things, they start potty training,  and learning more independence, but it is sad to see him getting so big soooo fast! We will be giving potty training a shot before long too! Always something new going on!

One of Beau's bday gifts was a membership to the Zoo! YAY!!! Beau loves all the animals, but the gorillas and chimpanzees must be his favorite. He is always saying "gora sound" and pounds on his chest. Then he says "chimpanzee fun fast." He is too funny! Here are a few pictures from the recent trip with daddy.

We went again today and he still likes the Chimps the best!!

 looking a little nervous!

Happy Birthday Beau!! Unfortunately Beau's 2nd birthday wasn't so happy. Beau spiked a fever friday evening, saturday was feverish, no appetite, drooly, all of which we thought was his normal teething symptoms. Sunday, he just wasn't getting any better, started getting red spots on his arms and legs, and would scream anytime he would try to eat something. Poor guy suffered through his party, and when we noticed the spots showing up on his mouth, and spreading more as the evening went on, we decided to make a trip to the ER. He had Hand-Foot-Mouth disease:( It was peace of mind for us that we were doing all we could - symptom management. It was just a viral thing that had to run it's course. Monday when I called his daycare to let them know, he had been the 4th child with it. YIKES! It was so sad. Some of the red spots had turned to blisters by the time we got to the ER, and the Dr was able to see they were in his throat too. It took 3 nurses plus Jason and I to get medicine down him. It was awful, and I feel for those parents who have to see their little ones in a hospital bed with Iv's, etc.
Anyway, Beau stayed home all week. Lots of movie watching and hanging out on the couch and within a couple days he started gaining his appetite back, and his cute little self was back!
It was so sad he couldn't even enjoy his birthday cupcake:(  He has since been able enjoy a couple though! He was quite the 2 year old during the party, screams and all, but he got some super fun gifts!! Some of them were: excavator for the sandbox, membership to zoo, water guns, car pillow, coloring books, storage truck, train set, race track, soccer ball and lots more!  Here are some pictures from the big day!

 Being outside seemed to help a little

 Nana & Mimi working hard to get a smile!

 Poor guy was NOT himself that day

 Beau showing Nana & Papa how to use the Ipad:)

 Went with a cookie pizza this year!

 Mickey Cupcakes

Fun Goofy balloon from a store in Pratt! Thanks Nana & Papa