Happy 2nd Birthday, Ronan!

We celebrated Ronan's Big 2 with a casual family pot luck party chez Bennett. Papa Jack and Grandma Linda drove up from LA to join in the festivities and we're so thankful! They did so many things to help us prepare for the party, like decorate the house, decorate the cupcakes, help assemble Ronan's basketball hoop, and entertain the little prince while Christian and I ran around making sure food, drink, and music were ready to be enjoyed by all.

And enjoy everyone did. It was a great party! There is something about pot lucks that adds such a unique flair to an already special occasion. You never really know what kind of culinary combo you'll get, and it's never the same. The Jeongs didn't disappoint! On this day, we had a big green salad, a platter of sushi, lamb lasagna, braised and slow-cooked pork, marinated mushrooms with sliced baguette, green beans, and Chinese "birthday noodles." I made vanilla cupcakes from scratch, with home-made buttercream frosting. (Forgot how fun baking was.) Ronan liked the paper Elmo cupcake holder more than the cupcake itself, but he humored us with a taste and a funny face. The party did NOT end with an allergic reaction or a trip to the ER, so we are definitely improving our birthday karma. :-)

Thanks to all our family who came by to celebrate Ronan's second year. The food and gifts and company meant a lot to us. THANK YOU!




Everyone fell in love with iMac's Photo Booth, which is Ronan's favorite program too.


YAY!!! It's my birthday!


The Bennetts: Dad, Ro, Mom, Grandma Linda, Papa Jack


Beautiful and happy grandparents!


Try these for vanilla cupcakes and buttercream frosting. Even a tired mama could whip these together!


Ahh, the food....


Action shot of everyone singing happy birthday


Ronan's not sure about this whole cupcake thing....


Jeong family fun with Photo Booth. That's Ronan's Auntie Veronica, Uncle Matt, Birthday Boy, Great-Auntie Pam, Great-Uncle Ken, and Great-Uncle Dale.


Pam, Ken, and Dale munching on cupcakes


Papa Jack and HIS baby, Christian.


Matt and Veronica amid streamers, balloons, and pics of Ronan (bien sur!)


If there is one thing that Ronan NEVER tires of, it's reading books. He's getting to the point where he wants (demands) to have books read to him during dinner, on the potty, and of course before bedtime. He can get very insistent (and whiny) in his pleas for more books. Thank goodness Grandma Kathy got him a library card. We have a lot of books in the house, but with his capricious toddler whims, his books go in and out of fancy pretty quickly. HUG was his very first library book.


Ronan and his La La, a big part of his daily life in SF and Alameda.


Wow, a yellow "Brum" car! Thanks, Grandma Linda.


Pam, Ken, Dale, Matt & Veronica laughing at something...


Ken, Veronica, and Matt getting silly


Ronan's Trike #1 - the Kettler, from Mom and Dad. (Christian put this together an hour before the party. What a great daddy!!) Have we mentioned how much Ronan loves motorcycles? He scoots this trike around the house, making fierce motorcycle sounds.


Ronan's Trike #2 - the Radio Flyer, from Grandma Kathy. Even more impressive is the fact that Grandma put this together all by herself. This trike resides at grandma's house in Alameda so Ronan can cruise the streets of Bayport in style. We love the retro styling and Ronan loves the really loud, clear bell. Thank you, Popo!


Ronan's first tricycle lesson, right before bed.


Grandma Kathy also gave him a basketball hoop, which Papa Jack helped assemble. Here is the little hoop star.


Hmm, you're probably thinking what's with these pictures? What's with the angle and the sloppy focus? Well, these were taken by Ronan the other day when he grabbed his grandma's digital camera, sat down, turned it on, "aimed," and took about 10 pictures of his surroundings. We laughed so hard because they reflect his adorable, toddler's perspective of the world.... When one is a foot and a half off the floor, the couch looks soooo long and the ceiling looks soooo way up there. Enjoy!