Happy Birthday TWO You!

Well, our baby girl is now a TWO year old! I'm still working on the birthday party post, but here is the official two-year post to include some of the things our little one is up to these days. She continues to amaze us with how much she has changed, and every day Josh and I feel so blessed to have her in our lives. Her love is generous, her smile is contagious, and her curiosity for the world around her is so fun to watch.

• LOVES to "help" mommy and daddy whenever possible. This particularly applies to cleaning (the same child who was once terrified of the vacuum is now obsessed with it) and cooking. Whenever I'm in the kitchen cooking, Riley will ask for her stool so she can assist. She is really good at stirring and pouring things into the pan. I have yet to get a picture of this but will hopefully get one soon.

• She is fiercly independent these days and wants to do everything on her own. We hear "Riley do it" a lot these days (brush teeth, push stroller, put on shoes, etc.).


• Really enjoys school and her new friends. The first couple of weeks were a little tough but now she is so happy to go and talks a lot about her teachers and friends. The other day when she wasn't feeling good, I asked her if she needed to stay home from school with mommy and she screamed "NO, Riley school!", so I guess my worries from this post are a mute point now.


• Miss Manners - it is so cute when she will say "thank you" and "your welcome" totally unprompted. The best was the other day when she said "Excuse me, mommy" and used it correctly! And she really knows how to turn on the charm with her "puhleeaase mommy" when she really wants something!


• Lately she will only let daddy put her to bed. As much as I do enjoy that time to get some stuff done around the house, deep down inside I can't help but feel a little sad about this. I know it's just a phase and she will soon only let mommy do it (or at least I can hope). Of course, she actually prefers mommy lately when she's been waking up in the middle of the night...funny how that works!

• Talking up a storm! It seems as if Josh and I say at least every other day how much we love this stage! Riley has changed so much over the last two years, but her verbal communication is truly the most amazing thus far. She can really communicate her needs and wants; just last week one day when she woke up she told me "Riley ear hurt"...sure enough she had an ear infection.

• Curious about everything! We hear "what's that" a lot these days.
• Gets really frustrated when the sun is in her eyes. Every morning when I buckle her up in her carseat, I put on her sunglasses and tell her to leave them on so the sun won't hurt her eyes. Without fail everyday, she takes them off before we leave the neighborhood and then screams and cries once we hit the highway and then sun is in her eyes. It usually sounds a little like this - "sun, go awaaaaaayyyy!" or "stooooop it sun!"
• On the same note, she loves to say goodnight to the moon before bedtime. Usually it's either hiding behind the clouds or not actually visible yet. Mosts mornings, however, my little sunshine is up early enough to say hello to the moon!

More posts soon to follow...