Happy Second Birthday G!

G turned two this past week, and we've had a grand time celebrating. The weekend before was her small birthday party. My parents and sister came into town, but there weren't any friends because we were trying to limit the germs brought into the house, for J's sake. But then he was baptized the next day...so it didn't even matter because she caught a cold anyways. Life goes on.

Her party was Caillou themed, though I would have preferred a Daniel Tiger theme, they aren't selling anything DT themed until 2014, so maybe next year. Caillou is a big name around our house, even though he can be a bit whiny for my taste. The cake turned out pretty good, despite me running out of no taste red dye. It was chocolate with raspberry filling and buttercream icing.

 

She got a special Caillou Mylar balloon, with three yellow balloons. We got her a special backpack with Caillou people (some that I used to decorate her cake), Caillou stickers and alphabet book, and a Caillou shirt from Etsy. My sister got her some awesome toys from the devil's store (you know, TRU)--foam abc mats, building blocks (The old school wood kind), and foam pieces for the bath (and money!). My parents got her adorable clothes and fun books.

My husband's cousin and wife got her a Caillou Jack in the Box! Some of our friends got her an adorable outfit with fun tutu style skirt that I plan to use for her two year photos; and my bff got her a St. Patrick book (pretty much our family patron saint).

My in-laws got her a fun bubble blowing lawn mower and sand/water table...noisy and messy....grandparent style ;-)

Thank you to everyone!

On her real birthday, there was about a foot of snow on the ground! My husband worked from home, so she was able to play out in it some--including building Bob the snowman and making her first snow angel. She got to drink her first hot cocoa--complete with marshmallows--which she loved.

 

I sang her happy birthday songs all day, including right when I got her up. She loved that :-) I made her chocolate chip (half whole wheat) pancakes with raspberries, and she helped of course. She got some left over ice cream cake (From J's baptism), and pretty much anything she wanted within reason. She did have a time out on her birthday, which was sad, but discipline must be consistent. Oh, and bonus, she went #2 on the potty! Woot!

Here are a few facts about G as a two year old:

Weight - 25.3 pounds

Height - 34.5 inches

Teeth - all but the back molars

Sleep - bed time around 8:30 pm, awake around 7:30 am, nap around 1:30 for about 1.5 hours

Favorite foods - Golden Grahams, any type of berry, juice box, quality mac & cheese or spaghetti, deli ham, chicken nuggets, peas

Favorite games - anything 'gymnastics' related (she'll get a mommy & me style class in May or June), like doing rolls, assisted hand stands, yoga moves, flips on dad, etc... She also likes building towers, playing school, playing babies, or cooking. She loves chase and pushing her stroller.

 

G is VERY assertive, like her momma, so I can't be mad about it, though it is very frustrating at times. She's generally a good big sister, and is loving when she wants to be. She's typically helpful and knows where everything's place is at. She uses the potty a few times a week, and sits on it daily (but often with no success). I know she'd be potty trained if I didn't have J to look after too.

She's developmentally advanced in all areas aside from speaking. I do not plan to put her in therapy; she's getting there at her own pace. She's known her colors since 18 months, followed multi-step directions since about 13 months, has been a great colorer since 15 months, and has self-fed for over a year. She knows A, B, C, D, E/F (confusion), G, I/J/T/L (confusion), M, O, P, S. We work on the alphabet daily. She can tell a few lower case letters correctly too. She knows 1 and 2...which is super fun, and we try to work on more but it's not happening yet. She knows the big shapes, and on her M&D puzzle, she knows trapezoid, diamond, pentagon; but I doubt that she'd know them away from that context. I've also tried to do shades of colors, but I think that's pretty advanced, and it generally gets lumped together under "red," "blue," etc... Her fine motor skills are unbelievable and she's got some great gross motor skills too....her doctor comminted on her ab strength and thinks she'd really benefit from gymnastics... as long as she doesn't get too tall, I'm all for that but my husband has his reservations since it's dangerous :-)

We do fun projects and try to limit TV exposure but that's tough some days. She watches DT every day, and knows he's on at 10 o clock, it's hilarious to watch her jump up and down and run around when she discovers it's 10 o clock. Hopefully the weather gets warmer ASAP because we've loved the few days we can get out for walks.

A few little quirks about her-- she has to wear her slippers inside, but lately we've had some success with just socks (it's been a battle, though, if her slippers get wet from accidents and they have to sit our drying, just tempting her that she can't wear them). G pretty much likes two - three drinks at meal time. I know that's something I could break, but I don't mind...so whatev. She's fine with one, but enjoys choices :-) I think that's good for her. She gets freaked out if you tell her something is hot...which is good, safety wise, but sad that she wouldn't blow out her candles on her cake! My husband told her that her cake was HOT, so she wouldn't try to grab the candles...and then she got all depressed/sad about it...It was pitiful and slightly embarassing- haha.

She still loves paying at the store, helping carry bags and put away groceries, loading/unloading packages, opening/getting the mail, and all big kid type things--including helping with chores still. She hasn't really gotten any new ones, still just helping with the dishwasher, dusting, swiffering, helping with the trash, putting out recycling that's safe, etc...

Clearly you can tell she's adorable, and I'm obviously very proud of her. I hope that she can tell how much we love her, and I know she's got such a bright future ahead of her. Can't wait to see what the next year brings, because this past one was developmentally HUGE and we all experienced so much together! Love you bitty girl!!

My sister made this instagram; 1 month/2 years