The birthday. Version 2.0

The birthday boy. Can't believe how big he looks here.

This is also known as "the weekend my house turned into a makeshift Sesame Street set."

Jim likes to joke that I started planning Scott's 2nd birthday the day after he turned one. This isn't true. I actually got a super late start this year (so much so that I had to email invitations to many folks via a jpeg/PDF.)

Oops.

The invitation...party brought to you by the Letter S and the Number 2.

But it is true that I've known for quite some time that Scott would have an Elmo-themed party. We debated choo-choo's and Mickey Mouse for a bit, but the truth is, there is nothing else that has captured his imagination this year quite like the little red muppet.

He won't go to bed without his Elmo stuffed animal, he carries it to the breakfast table, reads about him in books and watches him on TV. Next year, he'll probably be SO OVER Elmo...but for right now, he loves the guy, and I wanted to capture that with his party.

In true Richardson-Rough fashion, Scott's birthday celebration lasted four days. We don't do single-day parties in hour household. Oh no...we throw "events" that span weeks.

So it began on Friday, September 7 with a little soiree at daycare. Daddy, mommy and Grandma Kathy (who flew into town for Party 2.0) surprised Scott at school with a big batch of custom-baked Elmo cupcakes.

Seriously, how cute are these?

Scott, of course, was dressed in his custom-made Elmo 2nd birthday T-shirt. He didn't touch the cupcake, but enjoyed eating the Oreo and every bit of frosting off the top.

Going straight for the frosting. Mommy also makes a mental note at this moment that Scott needs a haircut before his birthday.

In four days of celebration, this is the ONLY picture of the three of us that was taken. Nice.

Saturday morning was the actual party day. Grandma Kathy and Daddy took Scott and got him out of the house for the morning, while my mom (aka Grandma Holly) and I decorated the place.

The party was part store-bought Sesame Street, part custom- theme that I um "borrowed" from another birthday party/blog I read about online. It was much work. But I love the way it turned out. Decorations were mostly simple - balloons galore and this awesome six-foot-high Elmo mural, which we have yet to take down.

Some of the 25 balloons that adorned our living room.

The mural/wall hanging. Scott loves it. It's still on display.

Scott came running into the house before his nap and saw it and the other decorations and stopped so suddenly with a "whoaaah!" that you could practically hear the skid marks on the floor. Priceless.

Once the party started, we had games and activities for the kids (12 total - all but one under the age of 5 - yikes!) that included Elmo's most favorite Sesame Street friends. There was Big Bird's Bubble Station, Oscar's Trash Can Toss and Ernie's Rubber Ducky Pond, where kids got to pick a duckie out of a bowl.

Said Duckie either had a 1, 2 or 3 emblazoned on the bottom. Each number corresponded to a little prize - a crazy straw, a Sesame Street blow out, or a Sesame Street tattoo. As luck would have it, both Scott and his cousin, Miss Peyton, drew number 3, so they each got to pick a tattoo. Scott chose Elmo (shocking) and Peyton Abby Cadaby. Not sure how long Peyton's lasted, but Scott was still sporting the remnants of that red Elmo tattoo a week later.

Ernie's Rubber Ducky pond...with stuffed Ernie.

Peyton emptying Oscar's Trash Can. 

Bubbles, bubbles and more bubbles!

Scott mesmerized by his new Elmo tattoo.

Because the kids were so little, we only played one "official" game - Pin the Nose on Elmo. Most of the little ones were excited to play, and Scott's little friend Mateo won by default after our two oldest participants (who nailed Elmo's nose perfectly within half a second) were disqualified by their mother.

Scott refused to wear the blindfold, but proudly stuck his Elmo nose on the board mid-way on the muppet's stomach. (We clearly still have some work to do on the location of "body parts.")

Logan plays Pin the Nose on Elmo.

Peyton's turn!

Scott's turn. He refused to use the blindfold.

No matter. He's proud of himself!

Food for the party was simple - Elmo's favorite food is pizza, so that was the main course. Anyone who has ever heard the Elmo theme song knows the "Elmo loves his goldfish" line, so I played off that with little snack cups filled with goldfish crackers. We wanted to have something healthy, so we also threw in "Eat Your Veggie" snack containers with ranch dip for the guests.

Goldfish snacks.

Elmo loves pizza...my mom made the crayon card holders.

Happy Birthday Elmo (in hat) says, "Eat your veggies!"

Dessert was a custom made Elmo cup-cake cake with vanilla and chocolate cupcakes.

C isn't just for cookies. It's also for Scott's 2nd birthday cake!

The cupcake cake. The kids all requested "chocolate cupcakes...and part of Elmo's face."

Scott was so out of his mind excited and overwhelmed with all the activity that we weren't able to get him to eat a single thing during the party. He just kept running in circles....though he apparently did sit down long enough to take a very important phone call. (He's in demand that way.)

"Hello? Yes, its my birthday. I am very busy and important."

Truth is, what he really wanted to do was get to the gifts. Tank has been OB-SESSED with baseball lately and Mateo and his mommy and daddy bought him a blue MLB bat that was sticking out of one of the gift bags. He couldn't wait to open it.

Check out the loot!

Clutching the bat, and giving a new, giant stuffed Elmo a big kiss.

I have no idea what gift we were opening here, but the expression on Scott's face is just too perfect.

He also got a Little Tikes T-ball set from cousin Peyton, Aunt Kristy and Uncle Martin, and he now insists on whacking white plastic balls through the middle of our living room every afternoon when he comes home from daycare.

Scott's friends and family were seriously generous: other prized presents included a metal/steel Tonka truck from his Uncle Robbie and the entire Thomas the Train Take 'N Play collection from Grandma and Grandpa.

He also got an enormous Little Tikes tool bench from his Nahnee, his great-grandma.

Scott has spent hours playing with each of these items in the days after his party.

Baseball!

What every kid needs for a perfect birthday party...a Tonka truck and a beer.

Daddy stayed up late to set up the tool bench, then showed Scott how to use it.

Jedi tool master!

Playing with one of our many choo-choo sets.

Oh - and have I mentioned that this extravaganza of an event was TWO days before his actual birthday?

On Sunday -- still not his birthday, mind you -- he got to go to grandma and grandpa's for dinner and open MORE presents. And then, on Monday (finally, his actually birthday) grandma picked him up early from daycare and took him to Imagination Avenue, an indoor play venue in Phoenix.

Then, that night, Mommy and Daddy took him out for a birthday dinner and sundae at Applebees.

It wasn't until Tuesday, September 11 that we actually declared an end to the "Scott Rough 2nd Birthday Celebration," at which point mommy collapsed and has only just now recovered enough to write this blog.

As cousin Peyton told my sister last weekend when they came over to watch football, "Mommy, it is NOT Scott's birthday anymore."

"Happy Birthday Scott...now let's move on."

Until next year, kiddos.