Happy Birthday Lia!!

Our sweet little baby girl turned 2. Already. She's 2. Its pretty shocking! Okay, I guess not that shocking. But still. We're amazed by this sassy little thing every day. She's a happy little girl who refuses to be outdone by her brother! Her vocabulary is just as good as Max's (who is 4) and she can communicate like a 3 or 4 year old. She's got just as much energy as Max and is just a bit more care free than him.



She always wakes up happy and smiling with a "good morning!!" as soon as you pick her up. She teases Max a lot, but loves her brother unfailingly (and it's mutual). She's constantly telling us that she loves us, who she loves, why she loves them. Not a day goes by that I don't get a dozen hugs from her! She's still very much a daddy's girl. She prefers him almost exclusively. I'm pretty sure when I'm home with her she feels like she's just settling for me.

She LOVES her wrappie (her pink blanket) and will usually be found snuggled on the couch with a paci in her mouth and her wrappie right up under her nose. From the time she was a tiny baby (maybe a month old?) she has pulled her wrappie right up under her nose like that. Must be extra comforting to her!



She loves Wonder Pets, Elmo and anything pink. Her new obsession is her Hello Kitty (or as she says "Hello Kitty Cat"). She loves green beans from a can. Like seriously loves them. She can eat a whole can in one sitting and then ask for more. She's much more adventurous with food -- willing to try most things she sees Tyler or me eating. She is very independent and most times will want to do everything on her own. She's pretty sassy and will make jokes to try to make us all laugh. She usually succeeds.

This year we got to have Lia's birthday party on her actual birthday. Tyler and I decorated the house with pink and set out her presents. We wanted to have a small party for her, just the Bakers and Rockwoods and their kids (pretty much the ones she plays with most). It was perfect!







Her two big presents were the doll cradle and high chair. These two things are pretty special because they were mine when I was a kid. Both handmade and both lovely. It really special that I get to pass them down to her. I have distinct memories of playing with my baby dolls and placing them in that cradle and feeding them in that high chair.



The birthday girl of course woke up bright and happy! (The t-shirt over her jammies is to prevent her from taking her jammies off in the middle of the night and either freezing or messing with her diaper).



She went crazy over her presents! She's kind of obsessed with baby dolls, too.



We had an Elmo pinata for the kids that we ended up having to whack inside because it rained.

(Elmo ready for battle)




We sang happy birthday and opened presents. I think her favorite was the little purse Danielle gave her. She carries it pretty much everywhere.







Lunch was catered by Porkyland, delicious mexican food, and her request for birthday dinner was McDonald's. So we got happy meals and sat and ate.



It really was a great day! The party was low stress and the she just loved all the attention. Now let's slow down just a bit. I'm not ready for her to be 3!