cuter photo

Here is a cuter photo of my sister and Hector celebrating my birthday. They are a handsome couple. My sister's shirt matches our living room chair (busy) and Hector wore red in honor of my firetruck theme.

my sister's turn

On Monday, we celebrated Trinity's birthday. I wonder if most people know that I was due on her birthday. She is lucky that I didn't steal her thunder. My mom is also lucky that she doesn't have to contend with two celebrations on one day.

I waited impatiently for days and days and days for my sister's birthday. I could hardly contain my excitement. I practiced singing happy birthday. I helped my mom pick out some presents. In the end, I decided not to give my sister the Hotwheels steamroller that I selected and bought especially for her.

We had a lovely visit. I was at my clowniest; I love a new audience.

We had such a yummy dinner. For an appetizer, my mom made a seven-layer dip (which I call a "see you later dip."). For dinner, we had salad with a mustard vinaigrette, rosemary bread, mashed potatoes, and quiche. I think I have forgotten to list something. There was a lot of food; I also had my peas and carrots as I do every meal of every day.

And then came the big question: cake before presents or presents before cake. We opted to open presents first because that is just more fun and my dad was busy washing all of the dishes by hand. (Our dishwasher is broken AGAIN thanks to the bad water.)

The first photo is me helping Trinity unwrap her gifts. Even though I knew what was in each, I could not help but think/hope every package had either a car or a tractor inside, regardless of the shape. no such luck.

The cake was delicious. My sister requested an ice cream cake. wow it was amazing. My sister and I both love ice cream.

This was the best birthday this week! I am so excited for the next birthday even though I don't know when it will be or even whose birthday I am waiting for.

my future career

Last night at dinner as my parents discussed what my sister should do for a career, my mom asked me what I want to be when I grow up.

My reply: SMART.

visit with the doctor: two years

On Thursday, I visited my doctor for my two-year check up. It was no surprise that I am perfectly healthy in every way.

I weighed in at 25 pounds and 4 ounces. I am 34 inches tall. When you plot my measurements on a growth chart, you will notice that I am no longer fat. I am slim (but not unhealthy slim). I eat as much as, if not more than, my mom! I never stop moving though.

The appointment itself was mostly uneventful. I have moved beyond peeing on the scale. I have always thought that getting weighed was the scariest part of the appointment but not this time. I climbed right up on the scale, and I even followed the nurse's instructions afterward when she asked me to turn around and put my back against the wall to measure me. I slouched a bit so we had to try several times.

My doctor encouraged me to keep on nursing and he is the expert in town. Because of my nursing, I am not suffering the maladies that my peers and dear friends are. I do not have eczema, food allergies, or chronic ear infections. In fact, I have had zero ear infections.

I also happen to have the intellect and vocabulary of a three year old; this can be directly attributed to nursing and not watching television. If you have any doubts, read Brain Rules for Baby by John Medina.

My other favorite books this week, in no particular order:

Where the Wild Things Are

My Daddy Snores

Boats

Cookies: Bite-Size Life Lessons

Knuffle Bunny Free

and anything with trucks and tractors in it.

And I enjoy my Highlights magazines.

reading at the dinner table

This has been on my reading list since mid-May. There is a great photo of a Buddha statue in this issue.

I want to hug Buddha.

Bush

The only one who loves George Bush more than my dad is me. My dad somehow ended up with two copies of Bush's book.

I do not agree with Bush's politics. AT ALL. I do like that he goes to bed early every night (though when he was president, that made him seem excessively lazy) and he is famous for remembering every little detail from his entire life. I like to remember things too . . . especially my story about the fire alarm and how it was loud and Remus was scared.

There is a great photo of Bush on the back cover of the book. He is standing in his backyard drinking coffee. He has a nice smile and he looks friendly. I even go so far as to call him gorgeous.

I have a bunny named George. Tonight, I introduced my bunny to the photo on the book. They kissed.

saving the world, one drop at a time

Since it is frequently close to, and often hotter than, 100 degrees, I love playing in the water.

Sadly, since it is frequently close to, and often hotter than, 100 degrees with no chance of rain in sight and no rainfall in recent or even distant memory, it is important to conserve water. I hear horror stories of there being no water for 18 days in my neighborhood during the summer of 2006; that was a popular topic of conversation at my party. oil and water and roads. oh my. (18 days? Coincidentally, 18 is how high I can count now. I made a huge jump from 3 to double digits.)

The first photo is me dashing around the yard one evening this week while my dad sprayed me down under the guise of tending to my mom's flowers that do not stand a chance anyhow. (We are not even allowed to water them, really.)

The second photo is me playing with my new water table (thanks dad). I really appreciate having it so I can enjoy a small amount of water without feeling guilty that I am being wasteful during the drought. Plus, the water table is less scary for my dog! He doesn't really enjoy my dad chasing us with the hose but he sits by me when I play with my water table.

My dog sure is cute.

sibling rivalry

My mom gave me this tricycle for my birthday.

My sister cried. She claims that she was deprived and forced to ride a rickety tricycle that probably gave her tetanus and lead poisoning. Her tricycle sounds like it was cute though - Sesame Street with fluorescent green and yellow paint.

My tricycle is pretty snazzy.

Since I am so safety conscious, I keep telling my mom that I need a helmet. We will get one as soon as possible. And I know, I know, I should not be riding in bare feet. I am not really riding though but good habits do start early.

cake

From the minute I woke up this morning, I told my mom I was ready for my party. ready. ready. ready. READY. Mostly, I was ready for my cake. And ready for my friends to visit. More than ready for the firetruck theme. (I kept blurting out "firetruck" in my sleep every night this week.) I have been somewhat patiently (ok, not really) waiting all week long.

The first photo is my cake. yummiest cake ever. I thought it should have been ready the very day my mom ordered it and I have been asking about my cake frequently. It looks like the cupcakes have a lot of frosting (and they do but it wasn't sickeningly sweet and it had almond extract so it had a pleasant flavor) but Whole Foods did an amazing job with my cake. They even waived their usual $12 firetruck decoration fee (whatever that is) - which is good because, according to my sister, my mom singlehandedly keeps Whole Foods afloat.

The second and third photos are me sitting with Jack for the duration of the happy birthday song/blowing out the candles and while I ate my cupcake. Can you believe my luck? First off, it is so exciting that Jack even came to my party but to get to sit with him??????? best birthday ever. A big topic of my conversation this evening is Jack.

baby no more

When I wake up in the morning, I will no longer be a baby. I will be two years old!

Here is the last photo taken of me before my birthday. I am doing what I love: reading and avoiding bedtime. Somehow my parents have a hard time telling me to stop reading so it is the perfect way to weasel out of sleeping. (I suppose on the flipside, they might think that they are tricking me into a love of reading.)

I got a package in the mail from my grandmother earlier this week and I got to open it tonight. And so I have this new book about trucks and tractors. exciting.

Speaking of exciting, I am quite wound up and so ready to go to my party. My party has a firetruck theme with all of the plates and balloons and banners. everything. Trinity is picking up my firetruck cake from Whole Foods in the morning. It serves between 25 and 30 people. That sounds like just the right amount for me but I wonder what the others are going to eat for dessert.

lessons learned

What I have learned in the waning days of my second year: two cupcakes in one day is manageable but a third will make you go crazy. Trust me.

They didn't even have frosting. just plain, very delicious, homemade cupcakes.

I licked cupcake crumbs off of the bottom of my foot. I will probably never sleep again.

poops

Today I had success with my potty. Just before my nap today, I stripped down naked and was engaged in my favorite game of chase you/catch me. I am fast! I squatted down on the floor like I had to go potty and my mom asked me if I wanted to try it on my chair so I did. And, like I told her right after, "it works."

I have had my potty chair for months but hadn't been working on my training. There is no pressure.

My dad got me a pretty bouquet of flowers to celebrate my success.