Birthday Part 3

Yay!  I'm finally catching up on all the birthday madness of March :)  This year, we had planned to keep her birthday pretty small (after all, she doesn't really know the difference, does she?).  My idea was just to have a family dinner.  Jim agreed. 

But THEN . . . Daddy soon revealed his determination to get his girl a GIANT jumpee.  "Ok," I said, "but if we have a jumpee, we have to invite a few of her little friends to enjoy it, too!"  After that, we decided we didn't want to cook or clean.  So we added taco cart catering to the party list.   As you can see, our idea of a small and simple party quickly was raised to the level of "pretty small" and "slightly complicated." LOL.  But it was great fun!  All in all, we had our family there and just two of Abby's little buddies (and their siblings) :) 

Everyone, especially Abby, enjoyed the Nemo theme.  We decorated in orange and blue everywhere . . . orange and blue balloons, orange and blue cupcakes, orange and blue party favors, and a Nemo jumpee . . . even Abby's outfit was a perfectly planned orange tutu with the cutest blue top you have ever seen! 

Okay, that WAS the outfit I brought for her to wear.  But once she got sweaty in the jumpee and dirty with the sidewalk chalk, we opted for the Nemo play clothes :)  And that little bow in her hair just would NOT stay straight with all the jumping and running around she was doing!  She is a busy 2 year old, for sure!

Eleana is just 4 months younger than Abby and as cute as a button!  Joseph is her energetic (seriously energetic -- as all little boys should be!) big brother .  . . . for those of you out-of-town that know her, these are Anna and Freddie's munchkins.  :)

Rylee was Abby's second little friend enjoying the party (and the monster truck!).  For those of you who know Kristin, this is her daughter.  Kristin and Rob's son, Jaxon, was also there but he was bouncing so hard in the jumpee that I didn't get a good picture of him.  Rylee is also just a few months younger than Abby -- and she has GREAT hair! :) 

Abby has moved on from pie and is officially obsessed with cake.  Ugh.  I was trying to avoid this!!!!  But, I did have fun making color-coordinated cupcakes for her :)  Abby started her 2nd birthday cake eating experience on a high note:

Unfortunately, Daddy let her dive (literally -- notice the blue frosting on her forehead!) into that second cupcake . .  . and this child does not get a lot of refined sugar.  After a few minutes, it took its toll:

Seriously. I thought she was going to puke for a few minutes there!  LOL. 

The above picture is a horrible way to end your summary of the celebrations, but that really is the last snapshot I managed to get.  It was hard to keep taking pictures since it was non-stop action (fun action, of course, but still non-stop) and Abby was getting increasingly close to naptime.  After cake, we quickly went to open her presents -- and let me tell you, this was definitely a fun year for gifts!  Her most favorite was the kitchen set from Natalie :), followed closely by the pinwheel (aka "Flower" in Abby speak) from Rylee and Jax.  Once we got home and everything settled down, she fell in LOVE with the baby doll that Eleana picked out for her.  Abby rocks the baby, gives it the pacifier, and makes sure it's safe and warm.  It's too cute!  

Whew!!!  That was a lot of birthday celebrations!  And I am so happy to be caught up with my blogging :)  Even better -- next year's birthday blogs will include pictures at our NEW house. YAY!  And once again . . .

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, ABBY!!!! You are an absolute delight to everyone you meet and I can't wait to see what this next year will bring :)

Birthday Part 2: Breakfast with "Mama and Papa" and Children's Museum

We were so excited for Abby's birthday this year.  We had it all planned out: Legoland on Friday, family time on Saturday, Disneyland on Sunday and Monday.  How fabulous does that sound, right.  Full of anticipation, even Jim and I went to bed early on Thursday.   The next morning, Abby awoke . . . with a COLD! :(  Ahhhhh!  The best laid plans of mice and men. . . ugh.  This obviously brought all of our plans to a screeching halt. 

Despite her cold, however, she was still in a happy mood so we made last minute breakfast plans with Mama and Papa (aka Grandma and Grandpa).  We went to our favorite diner, where Abby was at least able to enjoy her favorite breakfast (pancakes and sausage).  While there, Abby received her first birthday present of the year:

She looooooooooooooves her babies right now and was pleased as punch with the latest addition to her "family" :)  Thank you, Grandma!!!

After breakfast, we took one look at sleepy-eyed child opted to skip the all-day Legoland trip.  (Bummer!)  We ended up heading down to the San Diego Children's Museum -- this was actually an awesome second choice!  This was Jim's first trip there, and he had a fabulous time exploring the exhibits with her.  On the other hand, I had a fabulous time because there were TWO adults on this visit.  (If you remember right, our first trip to the Museum involved me running around after Abby non-stop.  It was crazy!)  The museum was pretty empty on this particular Friday, and Abby was free to enjoy the textures, sights, and sounds at her own pace.  it was glorious!  If you're in the area and haven't been, it is a definite MUST.  

We came home from the museum just in time for a snack and naptime.  While waiting her her food, Abby relaxed for a few minutes on the couch -- while watching Finding Nemo, of course!!!

We laid pretty low throughout the weekend so Abby could get her rest, but finally ventured back out on Sunday.  Seaport Village is one of our favorite San Diego destinations -- between the boardwalk, shops, restuarants, park, weather, and people-watching, it's a perfect spot for an afternoon adventure.  (We even had our last round of family pictures there!)  Thus, we wrapped up the first weekend of birthday celebrations with perfect weather, a stroll in the park, and all around fun in the San Diego sun. 

 

FINALLY -- MARCH!!! (Birthday Part 1)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, ABBY!!!!!!!!!!!!

Yes, the month of March brought about Abby's 2nd birthday!  :)  Though we can't believe she's already 2, we are so immensely proud of our little girl.  Before I share pictures from all the celebrations, I wanted to take a moment to give you a glimpse of all her latest accomplishments and milestones:

1. Counting.  Abby LOVES to count anything and everything.  She counts her fingers, her Sesame Street friends, her snacks (i.e. 1 goldfish, 2 goldfish, etc), facial features (i.e. one eye, two eyes, one nose, etc), cars, shoes, crayons, and pretty much everything else that she sees.  She recently began counting all the way up to 20.  Even better, she now recognizes her numbers 1-20, too!  This is a source of great pride to her -- trust me.

2. Organizing.  She has always been a little one who loves to put things in their place.  As she gets older, this trait only deepens.  I frequently enter her room only to see all her crayons on the floor -- neatly placed in a row (sometimes even organized by color)!  She even goes so far as to eat cantaloupe wedges and then carefully put each rind back on her tray in an even row.  She get's really mad when they don't stand upright the way they should.  (Yes, you read that right.)  Everything has it's place: her Nemo figurines go on her chest of drawers, Mommy and Daddy have their places at the dinner table (and don't even think about sitting in one of thier seats!), her cup must sit squarely in it's holder in the car seat, etc.  She's loves order and organizing everything she possibly can. 

3. Nemo.  As you may have heard, Abby is officially obsessed with Nemo and his friends.  But most especially Nemo.  "Daddy Nemo" (aka "Daddy Fishie") is a close second, but Nemo really is her best friend lately. Don't tell Elmo though, because he will be sooooooooo hurt that he's been replaced.  Sesame Street is still her favorite TV show (we call it her morning coffee) and a great entry into the day, but Nemo is now her true delight.  As you'll see in pictures to follow, this was the theme of her birthday party. 

4. Talking.  And talking, and talking, and talking, and talking!!!!  Abby is an absolute chatter box and really does know an immense amount of words for 24 months.  She's even forming sentences that are pretty significant in length.  Let's see how many new words and phrases I can recount:

I see a red car!  Another red car!   A blue car, a black car, white, gray!!!!!!!!!!!

Truck (usually "BIG truck!")

Red gummies (her vitamins and thing close to candy that she gets.  She's addicted)

No, thank you, Mommy (her normal response to, "Is it bed time?" or "Do you want a spanking?")

I love you, Mommy/I love you, Daddy (*sigh*)

Outside, please (she, too, is sick of being cooped up in a condo!)

Mac and cheese! (her newest favorite food -- of course)

Bless you, Mommy . . . Bless you, Daddy . . . Bless you, Abby (always in succession, regardless of who actually sneezed)
Oh, yeah! (when she's dancing)
Delicious!
Disgusting . . . yuck.
More sandwich.
Friends.
Wheels! (said in a sing-song way . . . when asking for me to sing Wheels on the Bus)
A, B, C's! (and then she proceeds to sing the entire alphabet song)
Katie!  David! (my niece and nephew are her newest favorite people)
Where are you, Mommy?  Where are you, Daddy?  Where are you, Dori/Nemo?  (this is her phrase whenever she is searching for anything that is currently missing)
Daddy soon! (her interpretation of me telling her Daddy will be home soon)

5. Dress Up. Ever since Natalie bought her a TON of dress-up clothes for Christmas, Abby has been addicted.  She loves to throw the entire collection all around the room and then put every piece on her body simultaneously.  This includes 4-5 purses, high-heeled shoes, 2 necklaces, 3 bracelets, 1 ring, and a skirt or two if she can find it -- all at once!!!!  (I accidentally cut off her head in the picture below, but this actually captures her dress up glee the best)

6. Story Time.  Abby has always adored books, but now she particularly loves to sit with us and read -- the SAME book, over and over and over.  LOL.  She also will fill in the words for me if I pause (soooo smart!).  More recently, I will catch her in her room with a book, flipping the pages and "reading" to herself.  I love my little bookworm!
7. Friends.  Now that she's a little older and more interactive, play dates are just as much of a treat for her as they are for me.  :)  Before, play dates were an excuse for me to visit with my friends -- but now, Abby gets sooooo excited to see her little buddies.  Today, in fact, she literally screeched with excitement when seeing Liz and Lohi at the front door.  She then proceeded to drag Lohi into her room and show her all of her most treasured toys.  It's fun to see this new side of her interacting with the kids, playing, taking turns, sharing, and learning. 

For the sake of brevity, I will stop here . . . but not without reflecting on how amazing one year is in the life of a child.  Last year, I was excited at my new toddler's first steps, ability to feed herself, love of bouncy balls, and attempts to say "Mommy".  Look at the difference a year can make!

(Bday pictures will now be in Birthday Part 2)