A Farewell to Motown

Ah Detroit.  How we will miss you.  To continue Ira's birthday celebration and as a farewell to the city, we decided to check out the "North American International Auto Show."  Don't ask me why they have "North American" and "International" in the title.  I'd understand if NAIAS was a mind blowingly cool acronym or something.  

We haven't spent enough time down town, so it was fun to get a better feel for the city.

 "GM or Ford? GM or Ford?"

 The toughest prosthetic arm a girl could ask for.  

  

 "Hmm, I'll take it."

 Ira wanted to sit in every single car he saw.  I sat him in this one, and he wanted me to go hop in the drivers seat.  But by the time I got to the other side of the car, a tiny toddler girl had appeared there.  When I asked her if they were going to run away together, she flashed her big eye lashes a few times, and then gave a deliberate nod of the head. 

 We met up with the cousins there, James and Janet Quiles.  It's been fun getting to know them better.

 I don't really know anything about cars, but these cars were FANCY.  You know, concept cars with solar panels, tiny buttons to open the doors, and stereos that took up 3/4th of the inside space.

On an unrelated note...Happy Chinese New Year!  It's the perfect chance to restart your failed resolutions from non-Chinese new year.  It's the year of the dragon so I whipped this up with some random puffed rice cereal we had in our cupboard.  It was fast and easy, but puffed rice "crispie treats"  are nothing like using the good crunchy stuff.  Imagine frosting covered styrofoam.  

 Ira's dragon face.

Ira's other dragon face.

We also painted some eggs red, which was fun considering Ira's obsession with the color.  The egg symbolizes new life, and red is the color of happiness.  I'm not sure how authentic of a Chinese tradition it is, but it was just right for the little man's capabilities.

In other news, the movers come tomorrow!  We still don't know when they're delivering our stuff, but it will be at least by the 4th.  So, it's sleeping on the floor and minimal toyage till then.  Wish us luck!  

Monkeying Around

Forts are awesome. Dad can sleep while
Ira plays

Ira had a little trouble sharing with a friend we were
babysitting, until he realized there was enough to go around.

Getting creative with the snow.

I hope no one saw me eat that yellow snow...

Dad trying to imitate Ira's camera smile

Exploring music has been fun, I wish we lived near my sister
Tiffany so she could teach him.

Ira - Two Year Celebration

What a wonderful two years it has been having Ira in our lives. Many people we meet tell us to 'enjoy him like this' while he is small and sweet, but he has only become more enjoyable as he gets older. We are particularly enjoying dance parties(that we have to have every night before bed), potty training (which he is finally catching on to), and his general curiosity.

For his birthday we decided it would be fun to get up close to some fire trucks, one of his other passions as of late.

We visited the Ypsilanti Fire department with some friends
including his cousin Janet (above)

He had his usual, silent, awe struck child enthusiasm as he soaked
in the experience.

He got to turn the lights on and off

His favorite was sitting in the back of the cab. He didn't want to get out.
We had to convince the fire Captain that he was really enjoying himself
despite his experssion.

His friends that came along. I love that he wore his (fire) boots and
is standing to attention here.

Sharon made an awesome fire truck cake for him. It was a surprise.

The happy two year old (thanks for the shirt Camille),
we got him a little train whistle that he loves.

Ira showing his dance moves off to cousin Janet.