When Andrew turned 2, I threw the best party I have ever thrown (and I include my wedding reception on this list, which actually is not saying much other than that I have some regrets about that reception . . .). We held it in the courtyard of our apartment complex in DC, which caged all the kids perfectly. The fountain with ducks, the moonbounce my sister brought, the pizza, even the weather was perfect.
Of course, when my second child turned two, less than two weeks after my older one turned 4, I was a little bit burned out. I told myself that a family party was all he needed since he was so little, blocking out the memories of how happy 2 yr old Andrew had been to have a real party. On the way to preschool, I decided to put my guilt aside and pose Will a somewhat leading question:
"Will, do you want to have a party with kids," I began, making that idea sound sort of boring, "or should we have a party with your COUSINS?"
"Um, I want my party to be all filled up with kids," he responded definitely. I had no other choice. So two days and one ward listserve email later, Will had the party of his dreams. I even got myself together and made the Dump Truck Cake that seems to be the turning-2 tradition.
The lone birthday boy, expressing his joy in solitude, blowing on his party favor.
Had to get a close up.
I wish I had gotten better photos of the rest of the party-goers; they were all so cute. We had cake again that night with Brigham.
Looking at the photos I do have of cute Will during his party, I am struck by two things: first, he really did look happy (which reminds me that Andrew had a very rough time during that party), and second, he really is a big boy now. It happened so fast!
Will woke up Tuesday morning with his eyes sealed shut with infection. I was volunteering at the polls, so Brigham handled it. Will explained the situation to me, though. "My eyes is shut. We washed them off. We took a shower." 
Despite the ($55 prescription) eye drops, Will continued to battle the infection. He was pretty calm about waking up with eyes sealed shut, and as you can see, he looked pretty cute, too. He would simply suggest, blindly, that we take a shower.
Andrew took all these photos post-shower. Will was at least pretty cheerful about the whole thing. 
