This was Jonathan's evening prayer the night of Abby's birthday, after she'd answered all the "how old are you?" questions with 1, 3, or 4, but never actually 2 unless prompted. His prayer made me laugh, because this is coming from the child who answered "How old are you?" on his second birthday with an adamant, "I WANT ONE!" (which translated to "I want to be ONE still, and quit arguing with me about it, darnit!"). It was months before he'd agree that he was two! However, he's now quite concerned that his sister come to grips with reality already. Reminds me of another certain oldest sibling I once knew! ;)
Her birthday started with early morning presents before the crack of dawn.
Jonathan had picked out a thoughtful lady-bug for her that lights up the room with stars, much like his beloved turtle. She loved it, and he did a good job of letting her actually unwrap the gift herself, despite his excitement :)She then discovered her present from Mommy and Daddy -- a bed tent! Well, she doesn't yet know it's for the big-girl bed we'll be transitioning to in the next few months (Goodness, that's an entirely different milestone / hurdle, and I can't say I'm ready for it!).
Abby's favorite activity at the moment is hide-and-seek or really... just hiding. She loves to be tucked snugly under a pile of couch cushions. On the other hand, her single biggest frustration is the difficulty in getting a blanket JUST RIGHT on top of herself. (This is a major understatement, but since this is her birthday post I'll leave out the stories of epic meltdowns precipitated by blanket difficulties and the fact that I've entirely forbidden anyone from having blankets on road trips to avoid exactly those sorts of moments!).
Anyways... I hoped she'd love the tent, as it'd provide a nice private little area without all the difficulties of positioning piles of pillows and blankets to achieve the perfect fortress.
The only thing her new home lacked, apparently, was a puppy companion. Pepper was quickly called in to participate. You can see her (less than) willing companion enjoying the play ;)
About then the cinnamon rolls were ready, and we started our day with a gooey treat -- yum!
As Abby's birthday fell on a Thursday, we had the morning together while Jonathan went to preschool. For some of the morning, Abby got to play with friends from church while Mommy met with my Moms in Prayer group at church. Later, she assisted me with making her cupcakes.
Making cupcakes with a (barely) 2-year-old requires one be quite flexible with things like how much of the egg makes it into the batter, how much of the batter makes it into the cupcakes, and how much raw batter makes it into the helper.
I'm really not one of those moms who easily embraces the chaos of a growing family. While I'm not the best of housekeepers by far, I'm really more comfortable in a clean home, and even the mini chaos of a toddler with a spoon full cake batter sloshing all over cupcake tins takes a moment of intentional patience on my part! Abby's really quite bright, coordinated, and enthusiastic, and had a very good idea as to how to "help" Mommy breaking eggs, pouring oil, mixing batter, and filling the tins.
In the end, the damage to the kitchen was pretty minimal ;) and we had a fun time together.
After dinner that evening we had her birthday cupcakes, but blowing out the candles required two takes. Not because she didn't get what to do -- she did! In fact, we'd only gotten through "Happy Bir..." when she went forward for a quick puff and blew out her candles before I'd uncapped the camera lens! After a good, surprised laugh, we re-grouped, re-lit, coached her to wait a tad longer, and started singing again.
This lucky tot had quite the fun week and got to celebrate her birthday again with a party with her grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousin all in attendance in Dallas just 2 days later! After a fun day at the State Fair, we had a dinner of tacos and rice and beans (Abby's favorite!), followed by a yummy pink cake (at Abby's request) made with love by her Nonnie.
One more round of candles!
I can't believe my sweet daughter is already two! Though my photo files are limited and quite a mess after a hard-drive tragedy, preventing a re-cap photo series, I'll link post the links to some of my favorite Abby photos and milestones below.
It's hard to imagine it was an entire year ago that I teared up as Abby's first birthday approached, with the common mixed emotions of motherhood, hating to see her baby moments falling behind us but knowing the best was yet to come. With Abby as my second child, I already knew that the year between age one and two is one of the most amazing, and that I could look forward to bright revelations into the heart and personality of my daughter in the year ahead.
I wasn't disappointed in the least!, and I'm again amazed at how much more I've come to know and love this sweet girl in the past twelve months. I'm blessed to be the mommy of such an affectionate, passionate little girl. I recall my parents often describing how I definitely knew what I wanted as a tot, and my daughter is no different. She is well able to visualize where she's headed, what play she has in mind, or what she wants to wear... and she has the persistence to do what's in her power to make it happen. As my own parents often reflected, I'm sure this will serve her very well over time!
Abby is impressively independent. I realize independence is quite characteristic of age two, but for our family this is quite new. She surprised her grandparents last weekend but insisting on sitting by herself, on her own bench (near them, but certainly not on anyone's lap!), at a show at the State Fair last weekend. I should have guessed. This same little one is most awfully offended when she's not offered her own seat on an airplane, and she'll be delighted to know that we are now obliged to spend a few extra hundred dollars to purchase her her very own seat on our next flight!
She prefers to put her shoes on herself (hence, I recently purchased her some Crocs to allow her to do so), put on her own pants (until she acquiesces to some help out of frustration), to climb in the car on her own (she's quite adept at scrambling up into the minivan), put on her own seatbelt (this is a bit more ambitious), and to do just about anything she sees her brother do, whether it's building a car out of Legos or setting the table.
Abby's "girliness" never ceases to amaze me. Her mother has quite a limited collection of shoes and accessories. My sister and I joked that it took me to age 25 to learn to accessorize. My daughter, on the other hand, wants to try on shoes and hats at any children's store and will move me out of the way to see herself in the mirror. She loves wearing bracelets, and likes to take her purse everywhere with her.
Abby absolutely adores her brother, is in many ways a "Daddy's girl," but also has a soft spot for her Mommy. The moment she's awake in the morning or awakes from an afternoon nap she wants to be sure that Jonathan's awake to play, too. At the moment, I get the privilege of rocking her at bedtime, patting her tummy and back, then kissing her toes and beeping her nose before we exchange "goodnight, sleep tight!" But when I dared ask, "Are you Mommy's sweet girl?" she was quick to respond, "No, Daddy's Girl!"
There is so much I adore about my precious daughter. Abby, I can't wait to spend each day of the year ahead with you!
Welcome Home, Abby!
First Photos as a Family of Four
Spring in a Sundress
First Steps
Age One
Sweet Toddler
Abby and Hats
Beach Baby
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