My Baby is Two

Happy birthday, Madeline! We started the day with a yummy birthday breakfast of crepes made by Daniel.

We had planned to have a little birthday party on Tuesday night since Wednesday nights are busy with our church community group meeting. But unfortunately, Madeline is on a "nap strike" and she was crashing and burning by about 6 pm. So.... after our birthday breakfast she got to hurriedly open her birthday presents before dad left for work. We gave her a play kitchen, plastic food, and the cutest pots and pans set ever. I found it all at a kids' consignment sale a few weeks ago, and I have been so excited about giving it to her that I have dreamed about it several times. :)

She had to "taste" every single food item in the bucket, one at a time.

A little while later, she came running down the hall with some food that she had "cooked" for me, and slipped and ended up with her first busted lip. That's no fun any day, but especially not on your birthday!

We've been practicing how to show people with her fingers that she is two, and it takes all of her concentration to hold only the proper fingers up. :)

This afternoon we went to our local park to feed the ducks, but found the the ducks have apparently left for the winter. I guess we're a little behind. We fed the fish instead. We discovered that they like to eat cheerios if you crush them up first. Then we had fun playing on the playground. Madeline has just gotten to where she will slide by herself. It amazes me that she can climb to up the stairs and slide down without any help from me. She is such a big girl.

We met Daniel for dinner out tonight, and then tried again to feed ducks at a different park in downtown Nashville. We were more successful on our second try.

I'm still not used to the fact that my girl isn't a baby anymore. She is more like a big kid every day, and she constantly amazes me by all she knows and can do now. Here are a few highlights:

• She talks all the time - she uses several word sentences and even uses pronouns fairly well. She learns several new words most every day. It is so fun to watch her learn.
• She knows all her upper case ABC's and a few of the numbers.
• She can count to ten.
• She knows her colors. Well, most of the time anyway. I love that any time I point to something red she exclaims, "Red Like Elmo!" I'm pretty sure that she thinks that is actually the full name of the color.
• She loves to pretend - tea parties, baby dolls, and her new kitchen are favorites.
• Stickers, markers, and play doh are part of every single day at our house.
• She LOVES to be outside. She is completely happy for as long as we are outdoors - never whines, never even realizes that she is hungry. That's my girl.
• She is starting to learn to climb, but she isn't too focused on things like that. She is a girly girl I'm afraid. (She loves to have her nails painted.)
• We are struggling with nap time in a major way. A month ago, a day with no nap was unthinkable. Out of the blue, that has become the norm. I still make her lay down in her bed for an hour and a half or so, but she can't sleep. We have been having some long days and grumpy evenings (and a tired mommy) at our house. I am hoping and praying that this is just a spell that she will be over very soon.

I love my little girl so much, and I delight in watching her grow into the person that God made her to be.