The Belated 2-Year-Old Update and Party Wrap-Up
Sigh. I’m growing weary of blogging. I’m so glad to have a written and photographic record of our lives — that’s really the main reason why I do it. But it often feels like a chore…another item on my “to do” list that nags me in the wee hours. I find my days are filled with simply living my life, with little time leftover to write about it. Lily’s naptimes have never been lengthy, and I usually just indulge in a little “me” time for that hour or so. And now that her bedtime has crept to 8:30 (thank you very much, daylight savings time), I basically fall on the couch, immobilized until bedtime. I glance wearily at the laptop and promise to update the blog tomorrow. Plus, now that I’m Facebooking (that’s a verb, right?), I feel like the blog is redundant. I’ve already posted all of Lily’s birthday party pics there, and it’s so much easier than formatting them for the blog.
But, it’s been weeks since I updated, and that means Lily has been two for weeks now. And oh, is she ever two. Sure, she’d been demonstrating her need for independence even before her birthday, but now there is no doubt. Even as tiny as she is (a 12-month skirt that I just bought her was falling off her today), people just know she is two by her behavior. Sometimes I have the time and patience for it. When I’m holding her hand as she steps up a curb, she will stop, turn around, and insist on doing it again “myself.” That doesn’t bother me. But the whining. And the tantrums. And the complete lack of obedience. (I’ve always disdained those leashes for kids, but now I’m starting to warm to the idea…) And darn her trick elbow, I have to be careful with all of the writhing and twisting.
But, two is also bringing so much joy and amazement. Her language development is making leaps and bounds. She uses full sentences, but they continue to lack articles and verb conjugation most of the time. In the electronics store the other day, she picked up the remote for one of the plasma tvs and told me “Show. Watch. Touple minutes.” (Most of her c’s are pronounced as t’s, so cat = tat, cup = tup, and couple = touple.) I’m also amazed at her memory. I have no idea when kids start to retain short or long term memories, but I think it’s fantastic that she can recall details of our zoo trip several days ago. Or she can tell me what we’ll see at the pet store, even though we haven’t visited there or talked about in a couple of months. And she’s categorizing things. We saw someone carrying a bunch of balloons out of the party supply store, and she said, “Balloons! Party!” I asked her what else you see at a party and she said, “Um–” (I must do this, because she says “um” all the time while thinking, sometimes accompanied by a thoughtful tapping finger on her cheek.) “Cake! Girls. Boys. Friends!” That she can tell me this, even with her limited experience of party attendance (two, maybe?), is incredible to me.
I don’t have official stats to report at the two-year mark, because we actually did her two-year doctor appointment at 23 months (due to another elbow dislocation). At that time, she was 19 lbs, 14.5 oz. (still below the 1st percentile). So I like to think she made it to 20 lbs. by her second birthday. She was 31 3/4 inches tall (around the 15th percentile, I think). Head circumference was around the 25th percentile, leading Bill to call her a lollipop, even though she looks perfectly proportionate to me. She mostly wears 18-month clothes, with a few 24-month and a few 12-month. She wears size 5 shoes.
Here are some pics from Lily’s ladybug party. I had so much fun planning and executing this party. I don’t know how many more parties I will be able to do like this, and I bet my future kid(s) may end up with a grocery store cake at Chuck E. Cheese. But that makes me all the more glad that I took the time and effort to put this party together myself.
Here’s one of me, frantically trying to get the cake decorated before guests arrive.
Bill was in charge of the party favors, which turned out so cute. And I made these hats by covering party hats in polka dot fabric, then adding the bug faces. The googly eyes became a causalty of rigorous party fun, and by the end of the day the yard was littered with detached eyes.
Here, Lily enjoys cake on Aunt Jill’s lap. And I tried to get at least one shot of the t-shirt I made before it was covered in red and black frosting. I appliqued the “2″ and embroidered “Lily-bug is…” and a little bug.
The adults had a good time, too. Plenty of pizza and beer. And the kids all wanted a part of the ladybug cake. I’m sure their parents loved the black frosting on faces and clothes.
This cake represents HOURS of work. I had to do a couple of practice runs to try out the recipe and baking time, but I didn’t actually attempt to assemble the two 16-inch layers of the flower until the day before the party. The task tested our marriage, but Bill and I managed it. I was really pleased with the result!
Not represented in these pics are Nana and Papa, Lily’s favorite boys (Ethan and Finn), and my sweet grandma, who will be 91 next month. It was a full house! Can’t wait to do it again next year.