Happy Birthday, Elena Grace!

It's hard to believe my girl is two!  We had a great day on her birthday.  It was definitely a day to remember for her!  Two weeks later, and she still talks about it all the time.  "My happy birthday to you."  :)


When she woke up, her Mimi was here.  Michelle had gotten in late on Friday night.  Elena was so happy to see her!  We had pancakes and bacon for breakfast, some of her favorite foods.  She got a few presents - from Mimi, a babydoll with a carseat and a singing, blow-out-candle birthday cupcake box.  From Mommy, she got a birthday crown.  She didn't like to wear the new "hat" very much, but we got her to cheese for a few cellphone pictures.  Once by bribing her with candy.  :)

 She didn't take a nap.  It was all too exciting, no doubt.  After she got up, she watched some Veggies to mellow out. 

Then it was time for Ruthie, Emmett and Jacki to come over for cake!  She loved her VeggieTales cake, and blew out the candle on her little cupcake because Mommy couldn't find the candles (boo!).  Her presents were very exciting, too - fairy wings from Mommy, a crayon roll, a coloring book and her cute "two" shirt from April and Jack, bracelets from Ruthie, and her play kitchen with accessories from Mimi.  She and Ruthie had a lot of fun playing with the new toys!

Later while she Skyped with Grammy and Pop-pop she opened up her gifts from them - Bearenstein Bears books and VeggieTales books.  She was so excited to see her Veggies!

She wrapped up the day with a long bath, and she slept very well that night!  haha.  I'm so glad we had Michelle for the rest of the week, or else she would have had a big crash after such a fun-filled, Elena-centered day.  :)

Elena has changed so much in these past few months!  Her talking is the biggest thing that's changed.  She can hold a conversation now, though not always very well.  :)  Her words are so clear, other people besides Mommy can finally understand!  It's fun for Andrew and me to hear what's going on in her little head.  She narrates her day with her thoughts and what she's doing.  The way she says some words and phrases are just too adorable, like instead of open she says "ope."  Or, when she wakes up, she comes to the gate and says, "Mommy, awake!" with such a sweet lilt to the word "awake."  When she hears a noise, she says, "What's that I hear?"  Right now she is saying "hello" with a big round "oh" sound at the end, and she just started saying, "hello, there."  She loves to pretend to talk on the phone, and she loves to say hi to people she sees when we're out.  It's great to be able to understand her so well!

Since she cannot be contained in her pack n play anymore, naps have become a challenge.  She will sometimes just not nap, even though I make her stay in her room for two hours. Or sometimes she will fall asleep at the two hour mark, which makes for a strange (short) rest of the day.  She still sleeps well at night, and she still wakes up happy, which is such a blessing!

Right now, Andrew has been getting up with her in the morning and giving her breakfast.  He's also been giving her a bath and putting her down for the night.  We can keep to her schedule better that way, since Olivia is still not consistent with the times she needs to nurse.  That and the times Andrew talks to her and helps her out when I am putting Olivia down during the day has also had the benefit of helping Elena get more attached to Andrew.  She loves visiting Daddy's office, and she doesn't want him to leave when he goes out to scout.  It's so sweet.

Her physical skills have been developing by leaps and bounds.  She can jump off the ground with two feet, finally!  She can put beads on a string, and she can stack blocks extremely well.  Her coloring is more confident, and she also likes to paint.  She has learned how to roll playdough or sticky tac between her hands to make a snake.  She is quite a climber!  Since she's not too experienced, I still get nervous, but she is always surprising me. 

Elena is learning so fast!  She is starting to sing along with her bedtime songs and songs like "The Itsy Bitsy Spider" and the ABCs.  She likes to count, though when she does it alone it usually goes three, six, seven.  The other day she counted six, seven, eight, nine.  She can recognize a few letters, and she can spot her name in a group of words.  She knows all her colors and most of her shapes.  She can do puzzles very well now (when she pays attention to them), and she even did one without pictures in the base!

Elena is still a picky eater.  She doesn't like food combinations.  Even two of her favorite foods - eggs and cheese - if I melt cheese on her eggs, she freaks out and won't eat the eggs until I pick all the cheese off.  She won't eat peanut butter and jelly, but she loves sandwich bread and butter or peanut butter on a spoon.  She finally has started eating chicken, with the introduction of chicken nuggets.  She still loves bananas, (she has called them "mani" for months, but has finally graduated to "manna") and most fruits.  Strawberries are a favorite - she ate them plain or with yogurt almost every day during the summer.  She likes eating apples whole, though I usually slice them up because she can't eat a whole apple by herself.  In the mornings she eats cereal and milk - Kix or Corn Chex.  I guess she's a corn-in-the-morning girl.  :)  Another favorite food is "chips and butter" which is bagel chips and cream cheese.  Andrew started her on it.  She loves dipping them herself, and she also loves sticking her fingers right in the cream cheese, haha.  She eats veggies really well, especially broccoli, green beans and peas cooked, and raw cucumbers.  She likes the taste of raw carrots, but she usually chews them up and spits them out.  She has a sweet tooth, for "fruitsies" - fruit snacks - and treats.  She gets tic-tacs, jelly beans, a part of a piece of gum or one M&M for a treat when she does her chore - putting the clean silverware away.  :)

Elena seems to be ready to potty train, at least sometime soon.  It won't be soon enough for Daddy, who is ready to have her potty trained!  She loves watching the Elmo's Potty Time DVD that she stole from Andrew's office. 

She has all her teeth (one set of molars) except for one eye tooth, which is almost there.  She has broken her eye teeth only in the last couple of months after going without teething for so long!

Some of the naughty things she does the most often - she likes to pull my makeup off the bathroom counter and apply it.  She is very good at mascara, which attests to how many times she has done this.  She likes to pull stuff out of the junk drawer (though this is getting better).  She doesn't usually come when I call her when we are outside.  She likes to go behind the big shade that goes over our glass doors.  She loves to dump soap (though this is getting better too).   Lately she has been climbing on top of the bathroom counter and her dresser!  She is always finding a new way to make a mess or get into something she shouldn't.  She has such a creative mind!  ;)  But she is responsive to correction, even if it takes quite a few times of training and discipline!

We are so blessed to have a happy, sensitive girl.  She is quite a character, and we love getting to know her a little more every day.  :)