Eloise's 2nd Birthday Party

On Eloise's 2nd birthday proper (July 22nd), we started the day by opening presents:

Then it was time for party prep! I had a puppy theme for our little animal/dog lover, and loved the way everything turned out:

We had a puppy adoption station set up, where kids could choose a stuffed puppy to adopt. They could then make a collar for their puppy, design a house, fill out a vet exam, and finally get their adoption certificate. It was a big hit!

We rearranged our living room to create a big open space for the kids' music show we had planned.

I recycled Eloise's 1st birthday high chair decor by peeling off the #1 and replacing it with a puppy! This will be the last birthday she's in a high chair, sniff sniff.

And of course a puppy balloon!

Our annual birthday photos together:

I weaseled my way into putting ponytails in my "MY HAIR! No touch!" girl by letting her play games on my phone while I put them in. Success! And instant adorableness:

Iyla looked adorable as well! She wanted to wear her fanciest dress for the party:

Puppy tattoos:

The call went out that Mimi and Grampy were pulling up!

Watching for Mimi and Grampy, I took advantage of a few photos:

Then the party got started!

The fabulous Mr. Walter put on a 30 minute kids' set of music. So fun!

New ride from Auntie Sheri:

Leading up to the party, whenever I'd mention to Eloise that it was almost her birthday she'd immediately say "cake! Have cake! Blow! See friends." And so, cake it was!

Cake time was followed by singing at the piano and play time:

We all had so much fun! It was a wonderful celebration of our sweet Eloise Jane.

TWO Years Old!!

Sweet Eloise Jane, yesterday you turned TWO YEARS OLD! Where has the time gone??

Words I would use to describe you at 2 include persistent, determined, stubborn, smart, sensitive, silly, expressive, fun-loving, affectionate, curious, musical, strong, and animal/insect-loving.

Here are your official 2 year old updates!

How old? 2 years old today!

How big? SO BIG! You are wearing 3-4T pull ups, fit best in 4-5T shorts and 3T tops, and wear a size 7 shoe. Officially at your 2 year old well-check you weighed in at 30 pounds (90%) and were 36 3/4 inches tall (98%). Your head circumference was 19 5/8 ((90%). Giant baby indeed!

Words? You now speak in complete sentences, and pick up new words daily! You express yourself very well, and will tell me "that was scary," or "Mama, GET OUT" or "I'm hungry." You love to sing songs, and can also count consecutively to 14. Some of your favorite expressions are "BY SELF!" and "NO!"

One of my favorite things you've said twice this month while snuggling me was "I love you Mama." Heart melting!

Another cute thing you say is "I help you" when you want help with something, instead of "help me."

You have also started making jokes! When singing songs, you'll inject the words "poo poo" or "pee pee" instead of regular lyrics to get a laugh out of us. It's pretty funny!

When we drive places you'll often start asking "here? here? here?" over and over again- your version of "are we there yet?"

Sleep? You take a 1.5-3 hour nap daily, and usually go to bed at 7:30, sleeping through to 7/7:15am. We had one crazy morning last week where you were still asleep at 9:15am! I went in 2x to check on you (and make sure you were still breathing!) before gently nudging you awake at 9:15. Then you still took an almost 4 hour nap that afternoon! Can you say "growth spurt?!"

Potty? Nothing new there! Still do #2's on the potty consistently (and tell us when you have to go) but not so much for pee.

Vision? I can tell your weak eye is definitely seeing well with your glasses! We patch 2 hours/day, and read books while patched. You will pick out and name the tiniest objects on the page. We go to the optometrist again next month for another vision check up.

Other updates:

Dreams: You had your first memorable dream this month! One week ago when you slept in so insanely late, you awoke and kept talking about a bus coming- a bus on your floor while you were sleeping. You said that you were scared and that now there is no bus. And you kept talking about this ALL DAY LONG to anyone in your orbit! It was so funny.

Hitting/pinching: This month saw you beginning something none of us are too fond of- hitting and pinching! When you are mad or frustrated you raise your right arm up, and if we aren't careful it will come down hard on us. Poor Iyla gets the brunt of it all.

For a brief spell your Papa was encouraging Iyla to hit you back (I wasn't thrilled with this but was open). A day came when you hit Iyla, she hit you back, then you hit me- and I was NOT going to hit you back, so a new plan emerged: time-outs. This equates to me giving you a warning when you hit, and if you do it again, I'll sit you down near wherever we are and tell you firmly "No Eloise, you get a time out!" Just that sends you into hysterics, and after about 30-60 seconds I'll ask if you need a hug and we move on from there.

Your hair! You almost always scream bloody murder when I wash your hair or try to brush it, so you've been rocking some seriously tangled bed head lately!

Your current weekly schedule:

M/W/F you go to a little preschool from 9-12:30 (which you LOVE!). Then on M/W afternoons your nanny Emma comes to play while I get work done.

On Tuesdays you have music class in the morning, then your nanny Veronica comes to play.

Thursdays you have swim lessons + Veronica play time again.

Here are some photos from all of our adventures this past month!

Playing in the bath tub with soap:

Hanging out at the Weatherup:

Practicing archery:

Watching a kids' Sunday morning music show:

Having fun in your music class:

 Going to weekly swim class (where you often will lovingly pat the back of the kids next to you, saying "friend!"):

Dolling it up on the 4th of July:

Breakfast out at Bouldin Creek Cafe:

First trip to the zoo!

Just after this photo was taken you shoved Iyla in the face

We love you so much sweet Eloise Jane! Happy 2nd Birthday to you!