Happy 2nd Birthday, Rachel!

Rachel blows out her candles at her party on Sunday

I'm still in disbelief....no way is my baby two years old! It's so cliche, but it really doesn't seem like two years has gone by since Rachel was born! I guess we've been having so much fun with her, that the time just flies by! On Sunday (7/19), we had her birthday party. The whole family came to celebrate (Grammy, Gaga, Nana, Papa, Stacey, Uncle Bob, Aunt Keri, Bobby and Allison, and Paul and Dorothy). The theme was butterflies, because Rachel seems to like butterflies and I thought I could do a lot of cute things with that theme (but mainly because we didn't want to repeat Megan's 2nd birthday theme, Dora, which is probably Rachel's favorite besides Sesame Street, which was her theme last year!) We had butterfly decorations, butterfly dinnerware, butterfly food (yes, even sandwiches, pizzas, pasta, and cheese slices were butterfly shaped!), and of course a butterfly cake. The guests wore pipe-cleaner/headband "antennae" and the kids got to wear butterfly wings. It was funny because Megan was more into the festivities than Rachel was, really. The one thing that really got Rachel excited at this party was cake. After we ate lunch, we had planned to take a break from eating and open presents. But Rachel had her mind set on cake, and not even the promise of presents could deter her from her goal. She loudly protested, "Cake, cake, cake!" and was starting to cry when I tried to get her down from her high chair. Sensing a two-year-old sized fit coming on, we decided to go ahead and serve the cake, and save presents for last. That way she'd actually enjoy and pay attention to her presents once the time came (which she did). We were surprised at how much more adept Rachel has become at opening presents, even since Christmas. She barely needed us to get the paper started before she'd start ripping away. The hardest part was keeping Megan at bay. Ever the helpful big sister, Megan was eager---all TOO eager---to lend a hand unwrapping. To which Rachel would yell, "I do it!" Gotta love it! One other funny thing is that when we ask her how old she is, she loves to smile devilishly and say, "Freee!" (three). When pressed further, she will concede that she is "Twoooo!" Even a two year old wants to grow up fast!

Our big two year old on her birthday

On Tuesday, which was Rachel's actual birthday, Bill took the day off (what a nice Daddy!), and we spent the morning at Meijer Gardens, visiting the Farm Gardens, playing with the boats in the Great Lakes, listening to storytime, and even playing birthday-themed games (since it's the Children's Gardens' 5th birthday this summer). We had lunch at Noodles & Co., which almost turned into a disaster when Rachel found out they did not have "peanuhbuttuh" on the menu. Her cries of, "Peanuhbuttuh! Peanuhbuttuh! Peanuhbuttuh!" got louder and louder, and we thought she might throw the mac and cheese on the ground. But she did end up giving in and eating it, once she realized no peanut butter was in sight. We really had a fun day. We capped the night off with dinner out (two meals in one day! Wow!) at Sundance Grill, where Rachel got to have pancakes (or, more accurately, the whipped cream from on top of the pancakes). And at home, of course, cake! (Actually, flower-shaped cupcakes.) What a fun day!

I love this picture of them, taken at Meijer Gardens on Tuesday
(if only I could get past the ugly shoes!)

Lastly I just want to make a quick note about what Rachel is like at two years old. She can be the sweetest little thing in the whole world, giving us that impish/devilish grin and the twinkle in her eyes that's been there from very early on. She is fond of saying, out of the blue with no prompting, "I wuv oo much, Mama/Daddy." She gives great kisses (when she wants to! She can be stingy, especially if Mama is the one asking for kisses), and hugs too (she likes to "pat" us on the back while she's hugging). She is so smart! She always wants to know, "Oh you doin, Mama?" (what are you doing?) or "Oh you eatin, Mama?" (what are you eating?) when I'm trying to sneak a snack, or chewing gum. She has very many multiple word sentences, some of the most frequent of which are, "No, Megan!" and "I do it!" She will tell me, "Sit down, Mama" when she wants me to sit at the table, or on the rocker next to her. She understands EVERYTHING we say. If Megan is playing with her and leaves the room, Rachel will call her back insistently by yelling, "Megan! Megan!" She definitely holds her own with her big sister, yet she is so tolerant too....no one can believe that Rachel tolerates Megan's overly effusive hugs, kisses, and near strangulations without hauling off and whacking her, but it hasn't happened yet!

Rachel walks around most of the time with a mischievous glint in her eye. "What can I get into next?" She is so strong-willed, determined, stubborn, and independent....just this morning, I was talking to a neighbor a few houses down from ours. Rachel decided she was done there and began walking down the sidewalk toward home. When I called to her to stop, she looked right at me, but kept right on walking. She was almost home by the time I caught up to her. She wants to do everything herself. Don't try to hold her hand if she doesn't want you to! She loves to read to herself, sitting on the couch or chair. In fact, she often will protest if I come and try to sit next to her while she's reading ("No, Mama!"). She can be very fickle about which parent she wants, especially in the morning. Sometimes it's Mama and sometimes it's Daddy, and the other one better not even try to come close and pick her up! She's also going through a major cling-to-Mama phase if there are a lot of people around. She loves bath time, baby dolls, books, and whatever Megan has at the moment. We already feel like we've witnessed some terrible two tantrums.....get her out of the crib after a nap before she's ready and watch out! She'll scream and cry and try to climb back into the crib. (I wonder how much longer the crib will contain her before she figures out how to climb out.) She still is EXTREMELY selective about what she eats! Vegetables? What are those? Even her favorites can be rejected at times (although I've yet to see her reject "peanuhbuttuh"). I'm hoping her willingness to try new foods will grow as she does.

This is just an attempt at a snapshot of Rachel at two years old...who knows what changes the next year will bring, and I want to remember her as she is right now....my cute, sweet, funny, smart, stubborn, independent little girl! Happy Birthday, Rachel!