Leah Turns Two!!!

How did she grow up so fast? It seems like a such a short time ago that she was a tiny baby and now she is a little girl. I tried out a cupcake cake or pull- apart cake this time and it was much easier to serve although my options for decorating were limited. Leah didn't mind though and we had a hard time trying to keep her hands out of the cake long enough to sing "Happy Birthday" to. Leah especially loved the singing birthday candle.
Despite her anxiousness to get a cupcake all she really did was lick the frosting off of it. Leah surely loves "I-ceam" though. She is becoming a really good talker. She speaks in little phrases or sentences now.
Mom and Dad bought Leah a sandbox for her birthday. From her Nanas and aunts and uncles she received several sand toys. Oh how she loves to go out and dig and get all messy in the sand box. Hopefully this will keep her out of my garden.

Leah is such a joy to have in our home. She is still such a sweet little girl, although her stubborn streak rears it ugly head often now as well. She is definitely 2 and knows what she wants. Leah wakes most mornings about 7:30 or 8:00. I will hear her talking or singing in her crib. When she sees me she usually says, "Hi Mommy, Look, I found you" with a big smile. She is a little slow to wake up so I usually get her a sippy of strawberry milk and let her watch a show while we wait for the other kids to wake up and then make breakfast. Leah's favorite breakfast is eggs, usually scrambled, but she also likes instant oatmeal, Cheerios, French Toast and of course strawberries.

Leah is a third child and unfortunately her stimulating morning activities usually involve helping me clean, do laundry, shop and run errands, or tag along as I do things with the older kids. Leah does like to go to the library to see the fish and listen to the stories on the computers but of course she refuses to ride in the stroller, insists on trying out every drinking fountain, and runs away several times. She does love to color and often I set her up at the table with her "colors and paper" while I do dishes, cook, or clean.

Leah absolutely loves going outside. Since the weather has finally warmed up she spends a lot of time either "jumping" on the trampoline or in her sandbox. She is also a bit of a wanderer and likes to follow her older siblings around. She also loves to pick my flowers - not so good. She likes to smell them which is so funny to watch because she wrinkles up her nose and then puffs air out of her nose instead of breathing in.

Leah also loves to sing. Her favorite songs are "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star", "I Am A Child of God", and the "ABC song". She knows almost all of the words to each of them but it is so funny because she has memorized the sounds but obviously doesn't know all of the words or letters so it gets a little mixed up. She really surprised me today though when she sang 2 lines of "Jesus of Nazareth" and all of "Happy Birthday" - complete with Tal style Cha, Cha, Cha's. Leah also loves books but will get fixated on 1 or 2 books for a time and we have to read those books every nap and bedtime over and over. She also loves "Mooovies", as she says when she climbs into our van. Her current favorites are "The Princess Frog" and "Monsters Inc." Elmo is her favorite character on Sesame Street and she hugs and kisses her little Elmo doll. She is learning to dress herself. Although she has mastered taking off her shoes and pants - especially outside - we are working on putting on our shirts and pants. "I do it," is what she always says to me.

I could wax on and on about my little Baby Love, but sufficeth to say, Leah is growing into a little girl with mounds of energy and personality. She is our little sweetie.