Cragbaby Turns 2!!! (and a GIVEAWAY from Clif Kid!!!)
I know it probably sounds cliche, but I also know that every parent knows exactly what I’m talking about – it’s so hard to believe he’s already 2! Where did the time go? All those days functioning on 2 hours of sleep, the all-night nursing buffets, hours of daily chores performed wearing a snuggly baby wrapped up close to my heart – some of those days seemed to literally crawl by, yet here we are, celebrating C’s 2 year birthday…So many memories, so many firsts (and lasts), it would be easy to get kinda down about my baby growing up, except that I have a feeling the best is yet to come!
"It feels a little weird being 2..."
With that said, on this first day of spring that shares the spotlight with my son’ sbithday, today’s post is in honor of my Cragbaby, who for all intents and purposes, is no longer a crag-BABY…but I’m probably gonna keep calling him that, at least online anyway, until he refuses to tolerate it anymore…Anyway, this past weekend we had a big birthday bash for family and friends. And where else would a Cragbaby have his party – well, his first choice was at the crag, but we decided that wouldn’t be fair to the poor Mommy still stuck in a blasted ankle boot (for 6 more days…), so we went for the next best option – the climbing gym! C had a blast – for the first hour he excitedly made his rounds to all the VIP’s that he doesn’t get to see all that often. Then he realized that he had a captive audience just waiting to watch him show off his sending skills on the free-standing boulder. He did lap after lap on his old project, “Up the Down”, (V0-), that he now has completely wired and can practically send with his eyes closed. His favorite part was standing up on the platform on top of the boulder and waving at all of his adoring fans and paparazzi. He was even on his best behavior and tolerated rappeling back down with only a mild amount of whining and even a few smiles.
 A big difference from being 1 year old... |
 ...and especially from being 2 days old!!! |
These past two years have been the best ever, and I can only imagine the fun (and trouble) he’ll get into in the next two, and beyond. And since birthdays are a time to give, this seemed to be the perfect opportunity to have a giveaway of Cragbaby’s favorite cliff-side snack – Z-bars from Clif Kid! These organic goodies taste like candy bars with only a hint of good-for-you, and are chock full of vitamins and minerals to keep your little guy or gal going strong all day. So in honor of Cragbaby’s birthday, our generous friends at Clif have offered to give away a box of Clif Kid’s best selling products – C’s favorite chewy Z-bars, Fruit Snacks, and even something with a crunch! All you have to do to be eligible for the giveaway is comment on this post. I’d love to know what your favorite “Under 2 Moments” were with your little ones, or for those of you without kids (because we grown-ups regularly raid C’s snack shelf to snag our own Clif Kid bars…) what are some of your earliest outdoor memories? Best of luck – contest will run until Saturday night!
16 Responses to “Cragbaby Turns 2!!! (and a GIVEAWAY from Clif Kid!!!)”
Happy B-Day C! My little one will be 1 in 2 weeks! We took Taryn for her first bike ride Sunday and she had a blast. She talked the whole time!
Happy Birthday C-buddy! We miss you and your family but love to read about your adventures here. I feel the same way about Jackson (now 18mns), and he is almost half my height now!!! (That’s what i get for marrying a wonderfully tall man.) However, i think Jackson wants his legs to be longer so that he can reach the pedals on his big wheels. This doesn’t seem to slow him down much after the first frustrated grunt, he pads all over the yard and driveway investigating flowers (‘ow-er!’) and bugs (‘bee!’), or something sticky (‘eew!’). So fun to see the world from his perspective. Happy Birthday again, and cheer to many more!!!
Under two moments…so many to choose from. But here are a couple. When our I-man was One and 10 months, we took him hiking in the Sierras. On the way up, he contentedly rode in the backpack. We got him out at the top, near a lovely lake and he played and played. We thought he’d sleep on the way done (again in the pack). Instead, he told us he’d walk. And he did, for nearly three miles. He was so proud of himself.
Another under-2 memory is kayaking with both boys. We have flatwater kayaks that we use on a lake high in the Rockies. I’d put a boy in front of me in the cockpit and away he’d paddle — all by himself. My aunt saw us doing this and was appalled. Our course we were wearing lifejackets, but she thought it was risky. I guess that was just step one in introducing our boys’ to risk — and outdoor fun!
Congratulations to Cragbaby and his proud parents!
Fav. under 2 moment so far? (she’s only 15 months!) There’s a few. With regards to being outdoors, when we go for a hike, she sleeps the whole way in, in the carrier on Dad’s front, then wakes up for lunch and play time, then sleeps the whole way out! She’ll have to get over that some day! hehe. A funny moment? There was an event happening in our backyard and I was photographing from our upstairs bedroom window, she was being so quiet and good ‘playing’. When I was done taking pictures I found she had unrolled the toilet roll and was surrounded by toilet paper, but so chuffed with herself! Thankfully the camera was still in my hands to snap a few photos of her achievement! 🙂
Elizabeth – I love those “baby conversations” on bike/stroller rides 🙂
Laurissa – We miss you guys too! I can’t believe Jackson is already that tall!
BraveSkiMom – Both good stories – we certainly have had our fair share of “hike all by myself” moments around here too! 🙂
Candace – I’ve got a similar TP story…I left C in his room playing one time to answer the doorbell, and when I came back he was standing beside the toilet proudly and had unrolled the entire roll of TP in the potty. As soon as he saw me he proudly pointed and said, “Look Mommy, potty!”
HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO C! 🙂 Hope to see you guys soon!
The kayaking comment made me think of how pleasantly surprised we were at how much Mason enjoyed his first kayak/canoe trip (even at 10 months old!)!
But my other favorite under-2 momements include getting to see him take his first steps (with Daddy right next to me), being impressed when he started trying to count and say his ABCs, just this morning he exclaimed, “Oh yeah!” when we opened his Trunki full of toy trains, and all the unsolicited hugs!! So many fond memories – but so far it just keeps getting better and better 😀
Happy Birthday to my favorite Cragbaby EVER!
I have so many favorite under 2 moments with your Bean, I don’t think I can list them all… let’s see… every time he’s cheering for a climber, every time I watch him play with leaves FOREVER and being so happy and content with it, every time I hear him say one of the names he gave the ‘regulars’ (“butt butt” is by far the best:)… But I do have one favorite memory that stands out – we were at grabbing post crushing fast food at Chick-Fil-A and C’s little shoe fell off his foot. I grabbed it and tried to put it back on his foot but struggled to get it over his heel When I started over he smiled at me brightly and cheered “almost, almost!!” I love this memory as it perfectly describes your Bean’s sunny, balanced, positive outlook – I heart the BirthdayBean:)
Jill – Isn’t it funny how we as parents are so impressed with the simplest of accomplishments (and convinced our kid is the best and brightest at EVERYTHING 🙂
Manuela – Your Birthday Bean memory was so sweet it brought tears to my eyes 🙂 We sure do miss you and Noo Noo!
What to pick… camping for the first time at 3 weeks? (and learning to nurse and change diapers in a small tent)… first time in a canoe? (memorable not necessarily favourite by anybody)…. backcountry hut in the Rockies? too many moments 😀
I’ll have to pick as my favourite memory – hiking with friends for his first birthday at a local provincial park.
my favorite under-2 moments? Birth, for sure. Meeting him was monumental. Teaching him to cook, watching him try to climb (not as proficient as your cragbaby, but certainly enthusiastic), the first carrot cake on his 1st birthday – it was like he was discovering nirvana when he tasted that first bite. Dancing with him. Swimming….I could clearly go on and on. Happy Birthday to your CragBaby and happy Birthing day to you, Cragmama!
So many memories, hard to choose. I remember when my older daughter, Jazzi was 6 months old, we spent a few days with friends in the Adirondacks, NY at a rented house. We took her x-c skiing, she was in a baby sled behind us. She slept the whole way there, during the entire skiing time, and the whole way back too! She missed the entire experience! I also remember when she had a total meltdown in a mall when she wanted to be carried and I couldn’t because I had big packages from buying bedding. She laid on her back in the middle of the mall and screamed her head off. All the shoppers walked by and gave us looks. I tried to remain calm and said “we’ll leave when you’re done”. Eventually she calmed down and was willing to walk to the car. But she never pulled that stunt on me again!
Just this past Monday, I watched my little Jazzi, now 17, get on an airplane and leave us for a year of adventure as a foreign exchange student in Japan. I can’t believe she’ll be gone for a whole year! I miss her already. When they say the time goes fast – they are NOT kidding. It really does fly by and your little cragbaby will be a big cragman and off to college before you know it.
Happy B-Day C-Baby! Gotta keep this brief as my .5 yr old lets me read not type. Thanks for your blog, very timely as we enjoy our first few months as parents!
Sweet tromps through the woods with a baby content to just sit and watch (or sleep!) for hours!
Gosh, I have so many. A special one is when we took a trip along the Oregon coast and J-Man had so much fun playing in the ocean, playing in the sand and having a bonfire dinner right on the beach. Such memories to last a lifetime.
Favorite moment would have to be the first time we took her in the ocean. At first she didn’t like the waves. Then she was big smiles and kept sticking her hand in the water then in her mouth. Apparently the ocean water was delicious!