Baby Turns Two

Sweet Emeline Joy turned two on the last day of February.  We celebrated at a state park and lodge with a weekend full of hiking and swimming, family and friends...just the way we like it!  Two years with Emeline has gone by in a blink.  She learns so fast, is such a capable little lady, and always knows exactly what she wants (and when she wants it).  Nobody gives bigger hugs, or runs faster, or climbs higher or gets into more trouble than our pretty little two year old!  Her vocabulary grows by the day and it becomes increasingly obvious there is a lot going on behind those sparkling blue eyes!

Hiking

Hiking break

Breakfast Party in the Cabin

Relaxing with Dad at the Cabin

Birthday Cupcakes, featuring Farmer Jason, Elmo and Emeline herself

Coloring in the cabin with big sister

Another frosty hike!

Shamelessly wedding crashing around the fireplace in the lodge.

Family time at the lodge

Aunt Shannon & Big Sis

Family celebrating Emeline's birthday

Giggling with Great Aunt Bonnie

Grandma M time

Even the birthday girl gets sleepy.  She partied as much as she could, but eventually needed some beauty rest and her Daddy.

We had such a fun turn out for our little getaway, I wish I would have taken more pictures (I know...)  It was so great to have the a Grandpa, the Grandmas and the Aunties, Uncle Scott, a Great Aunt and our super awesome neighbors with us to celebrate.

I want to make sure I remember Emeline as she turns two.  The way she runs through the house, skidding around corners.  Her love of bath time.  Her obsession with  Farmer Jason & Signing Time right now.  The way she insists on standing through dinner, on top of her booster seat, despite every discipline tactic we've tried.  The way she calls her big sister Annie, "Nannie".  Her pacifier is her "money".  Her favorite blankie is her "banky elwee" (elephant blanket).  She adds our names to the beginning and end of every request or statement:  Mom, I want a dink, Mom.  Dad, I want Singing Time, Dad.  Nannie, gimme dat, Nannie.  She never smiles bigger than when she's been hard at work in her play kitchen, she will bring over a stack of food (usually a pizza-ham-pizza sandwich ;) and when we pretend to eat up her concoction and praise her for her cooking skills, she swings her arms around and jumps up and down grinning ear to ear, nodding her head as if she just knew we would love it.  The way she pushes her stool around the kitchen (or just climbs the handles on the shelves to help herself to the counter).  She begs "Mom, I stir Mom!", I'm pretty sure she requests eggs every morning, just so she can whisk them.  One of her favorite songs is "if you're happy and you know it", she can shout "hooray" louder than anyone.  Emeline almost always knows what she wants.  When we started "tumbling tots", she knew she wanted to jump on the trampoline.  She also knew she had no use for stretching, balance beams, bars, obstacle courses, making friends, singing songs (or rather, Emeline had no use for the first 40 minutes of the 45 minute class, visibly so).  She was however, the happiest camper the last five minutes as she blissfully jumped as high as she could on the trampoline.  Emeline endures several hours a week of boring lobby time while we wait for Annie in various activities.  Her favorite is choir night, where she invades the church nursery toys.  Her second favorite must be watching karate, she giggles in the doorway as I say "don't go in, just stay by the door".  She then puts one toe in the room and giggles at me...testing one toe at a time just to see how far she can get.  She can't start karate fast enough.  The same stubbornness that can be so trying during these toddler years, creates the best honesty.  The girls were squabbling over a toy the other day, and I asked Emeline "can't you just share?"  She told me very confidently, and with zero confusion: "Mom, no."  She crawls out of her crib regularly at an unacceptable hour, and comes to our bed, puts her nose up to my sleeping face and says, in anything but a whisper "HI MOM".  She then crawls into the bed, chattering and flopping around.  Each night when I put her to bed, she says "Mom, hold me like a baby, Mom", and of course I hold that giant "baby", like a baby.  We sit in her rocking chair and I always say "you know mommy loves you?" and she nods, "and you know daddy loves you?" and she nods (we go through the heavy hitters in the family before cutting it off).  On nights I'm in a hurry (or exhausted!) and I skip a few people, she calls me out on it, and finishes the routine herself "and mamaw loves me, and papa loves me..."

We all love you Emeline!