My 2 Year Old

My baby girl is 2.  She turned 2 on Sunday.  As usual, I am behind.  But, better late than never!

We didn't do anything big for her birthday.  It was just me and Jeremy and Lynnaea.  We went to church in the morning.  We took a nap right afterward.  And then we let her open presents and decorate her own cupcakes.  She loved that.  Especially after Jeremy showed her that the stuff squirting out of the frosting cans was not only edible, but loaded with sugar. 

She was one happy little girl.  And she totally blew out the candles before I could get a picture of her doing it.  She already knows what to do with candles!  So I mostly just want to post pictures of her birthday.  But I also want to say a couple things about my precious girl. 

She is so tender-hearted.  And she is already a nurturer.  When she thinks Jeremy or I are upset or not feeling well (like when Jeremy has his eyes closed and looks like he's sleeping during church), she will come over to us and lay her head on us somewhere and rub our back.  She did it to me the other day when I was in serious pain from pulling a muscle and started crying because I felt like a terrible mother to her at that moment.  She did it to Jeremy this past Sunday at church.  He told me afterward -- asked if I'd seen how she'd gone over and snuggled him.  I had.  I know it made him all gooey inside to have her go over and "nurture" him.  She will give kisses to any and all "owies."  Including her own ;). 

She loves to help.  Whether it's to help Jeremy make bread (and maybe this is because she likes to dig her fingers into the bread dough and eat it?) or to run to the potty and lift the lid every time I say "Mommy needs to go pee pee" (which, let's face it folks, is around 10 to 15 times a day these days) or to help turn on the dryer or washer or hand me clothes to fold...  Or getting my glasses and phone off my night-stand every morning (obviously she has learned my routine ;)).  And, most recently, to help unfasten her diapers (!)...  She just wants to help.  It has been such a joy to watch her grow and learn and be able to help.  And she is always so excited when she does.  I love her.

She is so smart.  I know that sounds so braggy.  I'm not saying she's a genius.  But I think she is smart.  She can count to 12 now and say most of her alphabet (sometimes she needs a little help).  She can identify a lot of her letters.  And her vocabulary is growing so fast!  I can't even list all the words she knows -- and she'll probably know more tomorrow!  She is quite observant.  Today, as we were out running errands, she kept asking about airplanes.  When the weather is nice here, as it was today, we often hear airplanes more.  Well, I kept telling her I didn't know if there were any airplanes in the sky at that moment (at least where we are).  But then, she actually spotted one!  And pointed it out to me!  And it was quite a ways off, too.

She knows lots of animals and the sounds they make.

She still loves to have books read to her.  We read every night.

We got her some flamingo footie pajamas that aren't fleece.  And are size 3T so she can grow into them (but she still wears them now ;)).

We also got her a play-doh "baking" set.  She got some home-made play-doh from her grandma and so I figured she'd have fun cutting out shapes, etc.

I got her a couple books a while back.  This one has a "magic pen" that will buzz (when you get it wrong) or make a happy beepy sound when you get it right.  It's to help her learn her colors and shapes better.  She likes pressing the pen to everything.  I love her facial expression in this picture.

We changed her clothes and laid out a tarp and brown paper for the cupcake decorating.  She actually got a little mini bear cake.  Here is where Jeremy was showing her how to squeeze out the frosting.  A few moments later, she learned it was edible and sweet.  And then she started just scraping the frosting off her cake and eating it ;).

Annoying that that came in sideways, but whatever.  I just put her name and "2" on the cupcakes.  Then we sang to her.

Not sure why, but she acted shy when we sang to her.  It was pretty cute, honestly.  She would smile and giggle and cover her little face a bit. 

Here was right after she blew out the candles.  I just wasn't fast enough to catch her mid-blow!

Yep, there she is eating frosting ;).

And here I am with my girl.  She really is a joy.  And so happy!  We are having some rough nights lately.  I think it may be due to her 2-year molars coming in (I discovered that 2 have erupted on Sunday night).  She wakes up crying and wants one of us in her room before she'll go back to sleep.  But she is still a happy girl.  She teaches me so much.  And, though I can remember what life was like before her, I can't imagine life now without her.  She is a miracle and a blessing beyond measure.  She is my joy.  How grateful I am to be her mommy.  I often feel inadequate.  But I am so grateful she is mine.

And, in other news...  Baby still hanging in there.  Went to the doctor today, but opted out of getting checked.  If I'm still pregnant on Tuesday (at 39 weeks) when I go for my next appointment, I'll go ahead and get checked just to see if there's been more progress.  In the mean-time, here's my 38-week shot:

And here's another of me and Lynnaea from today (she loves taking pictures):

This picture was right before afternoon nap.  For both of us.  Don't I look like I need one ;)?

And here are my sausage feet.  Seriously.  They are ugly.  This picture doesn't do it justice.  My blood pressure is awesome, though.  I think it's just the extra weight, the me constantly on my feet, and now the ridiculous heat.  BLAH!  They feel like ugly sausage feet as well as look it!  I don't hate being pregnant, but I will be happy to get my body back soon :).  (Go ahead and remind me I said that on the sleepless nights ;)).  I mentioned it to the doctor today and she said it's just a normal thing at this point -- especially during the summer.  So I'm not too worried.  They just look ugly and feel weird.