Two!!!

Last Wednesday Julia turned 2!  We had a full day of celebrating starting with a pancake breakfast:

And then opening a special present from Grandma Sue Sue – a snake/caterpillar made out of pom-poms (Julia’s favorite “toy”):

She got dressed in a pretty birthday outfit which was completed with the birthday crown that her teachers and friends had made for her at daycare:

We ended the day with Julia’s favorite dinner – steak and edamame – and a virtual birthday party.  Grandpa Rick and Grandma Lesley helped sing Happy Birthday over Skype before Julia dug into her cupcake.  She had helped me make the cupcakes on Tuesday and couldn’t wait to have one.

After cupcakes there were more presents from Grandma Laurie and Grandpa Boo and Aunts and Uncles and of course, Mom and Dad.  We gave her a tricycle that she has actually gotten to use outside (rather than inside like these pictures) a couple of times in the last few days as our weather has been beautiful.

At 2 Julia is a very happy little kid.  She is talking a good deal and has started stringing together 3 and 4 word sentences.  She is a little shy around new people and cautious of new things but once she’s comfortable she has a great time.  She is very active, always preferring to run rather than walk to where she is going, and has been practicing her jumping.  As evidenced in the previous post she loves swimming; she also loves being outside and going down slides.  She has started trying to use the potty and while we are not actively pushing her to potty train she consistently uses it 3 or 4 times a day which is a promising sign as far as we are concerned.  She goes through the typical toddler phases of eating/non-eating but still loves vegetables (particularly peas, edamame, cukes, and raw carrots) and fruits (especially berries of any kind and grapefruit!).  She has also started to develop a sweet tooth and loves M&Ms and jelly beans.  She also has taken a liking to Altoids mints and eats at least one a day – the spicier the kind the better!  She is still allergic to eggs, an allergy which appears to be getting worse instead of better, and while it requires being constantly mindful of what she is putting in her mouth we have adjusted and it’s not as daunting as it was at first.  Overall Julia is a wonderful, fun-loving kid and we feel very blessed to have her in our lives.