The Last Two Years...

We had a great time celebrating E's birthday with the family this weekend. E received some great new toys that will hopefully be keeping her entertained for the next few weeks. I took some time today looking at how she's changed in the past 2 years and I thought that I'd share...

Newborn E...not even an hour old...

6-month old E...sitting up but not crawling or moving about too much

E at 1 year...she wasn't walking yet...but moved around any where that she wanted

18-month E...barely talking had less than a 10 word vocabulary

My 2-year old...runs everywhere, talks constantly

Below is a snip-it of the 2-year old E...

• Loves Super Y on PBS and says "I'm a PBS kid" all the time
• Loves to help sing "EIEIO" and "BI" (Bingo or Bible...)
• Sleeps with a 2-layered fleece duck blanket that she won't give up even with the changing weather
• Favorite breakfast is pancakes...but she'll tell you 'eggs' every morning (but won't eat them)
• Loves to wear dresses and her splashin' boots (although not together)
• Eats hummus for lunch commonly and uses a cracker as her spoon
• Loves apricots and mangoes and yogurt
• Reading is a favorite pastime whether she's reading to herself or being read to...loves her library books!
• 101 Dalmatians and Little People are her favorite movies
• Being outside is her favorite activity...loves going for walks and playing at the park(s)
• 'Cross the bridge' is her favorite destination when we are on our walks
• Enjoys hunting rocks and carrying them in a bucket
• She is enamored with 'Uncle Brent' and loves being outside with G'pa
• Loves to 'swing high' at G'pa and G'ma's house
• Gets upset when the car and her 'seat' leave without her
• Still talks about "toy box, finger, pinch" although it happened almost a month ago...(first bleeding incident)

Happy Birthday, Miss E!

Our neighbor brought E an early b'day present of sidewalk chalk (among other fun 'outdoor' toys). She couldn't wait this morning to get outside and 'color' on the sidewalk with her new 'crayons'.

Intensely concentrating on that chalk. She studied it for a long time. Crayons don't leave marks on your hands...but strangely, the chalk does....hmmm.

Aren't those dandelions huge?! Although, what I really have a hard time believing is that E turned 2 today! It doesn't seem like it is possible that God has left her in our care for 2 full years. It has been a crazy, but very fun, 2 years...and E keeps getting more and more fun each day!

We had a pretty low-key day. It involved a lot of playing outside with her new 'colors', bucket and ball. She also had a great time 'watering the ground', which was really just making some mud to splash in...she hasn't lost her love of splashing. She didn't eat her special birthday dinner...(not really a surprise considering her eating habits of late)...but she inhaled the cool whip on top of the strawberries and angel food cake. Crazy girl. She ended her day watching her favorite 'Cruella-Dalmations' before bed. G'ma brought her a birthday balloon which had to go upstairs with her and it is keeping watch over her sleeping tonight. She's just so precious!!

Splashin' boots

After washing E's shoes 3 times or so, I decided that it was time to get her some rubber boots. She loves puddles and I couldn't keep her shoes clean or dry. Thursday night we found the perfect orange pair.

Her experience her first time out was hilarious. They ended up so full of water that she could hardly lift her feet. Plus, she sat down in the mud and I think she was 10x dirtier when she was finished than she ever was when she just played in her normal shoes. (but I didn't have the camera handy)

Today we went back outside to do some 'splashing'. However, our yard was much drier today. The big puddle was gone. There was still lots of mud and very shallow standing water, but it wasn't the 'fun' that it was yesterday. However, she did come in much cleaner and drier!

She loves sailing 'leaf boats'. She carries leaves to the puddle and drops them in. Its good fun.

Modeling her boots before adventuring outside...however they are pretty dirty from yesterdays escapades.