The Boog is 2!!!

Hold onto your hats, ladies and gentlemen, because the Boog turned 2 this weekend! He did it up in true Boog style, of course. By that I mean he threw little sidelong smiles and batted those Bambi eyes at his grandparents (my parents), and they, being the fantastic grandparents that they are, fell down at his tiny feet and partied!

The allure of the Boog turning 2 was enough to bring them across several states to witness the grand event in the first place. As far as gifts go, I'm pretty sure the Boog whispered in Grandma and Grandpa's ears when we were out there in August that he'd like a big, pretty, shiny TV like theirs, because that's what he got! Allegedly it was also for Boog's Daddy's birthday, but we all know who's going to get the most use out of it with his brightly colored cartoons (okay, Boog's daddy watches brightly colored cartoons, too...but he's pretty much a slave to his beetles these days, so there's not a lot of time for cartoon watching).

On the Boog's actual birthday, he somehow subliminally convinced me that it would be a swell idea to truck ourselves up to Dollywood for a big birthday bash! I'm thinking he heard on the playground that there's this stuff called cotton candy that's pretty much the best thing to happen to toddlers since bubbles and it could be found at Dollywood. He had just about as awesome a time as it's possible to have at an amusement park when you're 2. He thought waiting in line was for the birds (well, I mean, who doesn't?), but he stinkin' LOVED the carousel: heavy breathing (that's the Boog's noise of sensory excitement...he shares that with many adults...), smiling, laughing, incessant smacking of the carousel horse in the neck (again, this is a good thing in the Boog's world). He went on a few other rides, and had a pretty decent time, but nothing compared to the carousel...until Mommy foolishly bought some cotton candy...

Lord knows what possessed me to buy cotton candy...I'm the carrot sticks-and-hummus kind of mom. I guess I was under Boog's Big Birthday Spell as well. He greatly enjoyed it. If I could underline greatly 50 times, I would. He did not like the sensation of the unmelted cotton candy touching his lips, so he would open his mouth really wide for each bite and then smile as it melted and kick his legs and arms out like he was trying to fly away.

Boog's Big Birthday Spell also caused me to bake a 3 layer chocolate cake despite the fact that I wasn't feeling so hot and to drive across town for $15 a pound wild salmon.

Hey, it's not every day a Boog turns 2.