Amelia's Second Birthday

On Sunday our little Snarf turned two. We kept the day very calm and didn't do anything big because it was Easter, and with everything the day before the meltdown potential was high. Amelia didn't seem to mind. She has been saying she's two for a couple of months and spent part of the day repeatedly singing "Happy Birthday" to herself.

Amelia's current favorite food is blueberries, so we started the day off with blueberry pancakes with a side of blueberries. She also kept taking the hat on and off all day. Most of the time when she put it on she looked like a unicorn. I believe that the Today Show is capturing her attention.

I had asked Amelia if she wanted cake or cupcakes for her birthday. She said "real cake" in chocolate with chocolate frosting. To cut down on the potential mess, we did go with a boxed mix, but she was very helpful. She counted out the eggs, poured in the oil and water, and helped stir. When we were done Matt taught her about licking the bowl and the beaters. She was confused at first, but then got really into it.

Later we decorated the cake together. I had put the chocolate icing on while she was napping and then broke out the tubes of icing (I will break out homemade stuff when she can appreciate it and not make the kitchen a disaster area while helping). She wanted "Happy Amelia" written on the cake, but I convinced her to add Birthday. Then we used the purple icing around the top and on the sides. After purple came sprinkles. Amelia is a veteran of sprinkles and went to town. The didn't really stick to the cake, so we had to do a little dam building to keep the sprinkles on. After it was deemed to have enough sprinkles, Amelia wanted to add the pink in any areas not already covered. I think it came out perfectly for a two year old designed birthday cake.

After Amelia's favorite dinner (chicken fingers, french fries and chocolate milk), we sang to her and tried to get her to blow out the candles. No luck with that, but she really dug into the cake. She was especially fond of the icing. Once she was cleaned off, it was time for bed because all the sugar from the weekend started a pretty vicious sugar crash. 

She goes to the doctor on the Thursday, but I don't need the doctor to tell us that she's a special child. She's incredibly smart, has an amazing memory, a great vocabulary (complete with a few words we wish she didn't know), fantastic gross and fine motor skills and is off the charts in social skills with a concern for others. While all that can make her exhausting to deal with, we couldn't be prouder or happier with her. She's got her own incredibly magnetic personality and loves to be around others. She also loves her books and has at least 25 at her bedside at all times. Twirling, dancing, singing, jumping and chasing Teddy are some of her favorite things to do and she has somehow managed to make it this far without a trip to the ER despite her complete lack of self-preservation. She starts at a new preschool in a few weeks and I have a feeling she's going to be queen of the classroom by the end of her first week there. 

We love you Amelia. You're turning into a big girl but you'll always be mommy's baby and daddy's munchkin.