2 years old!

My little baby turned 2!

I honestly can't believe this sweet, fun, little girl who is so full of life is mine. I feel like I hit the jackpot getting to be her mom.

We had special birthday pancakes the morning of her birthday. She loved blowing out her candle and we may have done it a few times. 

 The night of her birthday we took her to Red Robin.

 And they brought her a special birthday treat.

 It was so exciting!

 And she fully enjoyed it!

The following day was her Mickey Mouse party. So fun! This year she had an opinion about her party. For weeks leading up to it she told me she wanted a party with cake, balloons and party hats.

She got ridiculously spoiled (like usual). The party was after church and poor Ella had to get woken up from her nap so the first little bit she was in a daze.

 But she quickly recovered and dove right into her presents.

We had a great dinner with everyone from both of our families there (except Uncle Spencer and Uncle Carl who were still in California). Ella was able to blow out her candle several more times, which we captured on video but apparently skipped getting any pictures of. It was a great time and we appreciate all the love and support from everyone in celebrating our little girl.

Okay now for a little self-indulgent bragging about my special little girl. Because of course as her mom I think she's the greatest little thing ever. 

There are so many things about Ella I want to bottle up and keep forever. I want to freeze time. I love this age so much. She is so funny and so sweet. She's my little buddy and I truly enjoy spending my days with her.

A couple more things about my little 2 year old:

• She is so smart (at least I think so). She has known all of her colors for months now even the tricky ones like orange and grey. 
• She can count to 11. After 11 she just starts over at 7 and goes through 11 again and repeats until she's done counting. 
• She's almost all the way potty trained! Heck yeah! And she is the one who lead the way. She wanted to and was excited about getting panties. I didn't even offer her rewards or anything. We aren't completely there but I do feel fairly comfortable taking her out and about wearing panties. *update* I should have said she is completely potty trained. Since writing this she hasn't had a single accident! 
• She has the cutest little manners. She's great at saying "please," "thank you," "you're welcome," and "no thank you." It kills me every time she says it and it basically allows her to get whatever she wants. Which is probably why she's so good at saying them. There's nothing like asking your 2 year old if she's ready for lunch and having her respond "no thank you mom."  
• She loves to sing all of her songs. I am hesitant to teach her anymore because her bedtime routine is currently brush teeth, read a book, say prayers and then sing (in order) "If You're Happy and You Know It", "Popcorn Popping", "Itsy Bitsy Spider", "Patty Cake", "Wheels on the Bus", "5 Little Monkies" and "I am a Child of God". I usually cheat though and condense most of the songs, because seriously that is a lot of songs to sing every night. And don't even think about trying to skip one. She knows. 
• She is so caring. And if she sees anyone who is sad she is the first to go over and give a hug or a little back pat. If she thinks Danny or I are sad or hurt she gives us lots of hugs and asks if we're okay. Even if the tears are coming because I'm laughing too hard or cutting onions. She is such a sweetheart.
• She is awesome at sharing. She is always willing to share her snacks with whatever kids are around and is pretty good at sharing toys too. She sings the little tune to herself "you can take a turn and then I'll get it back." Thank you Daniel Tiger! 
• She is still tiny. At her 2 year old appointment she was off the chart little in weight and 50% for height. The doctor wasn't worried though. She's super active, happy and ahead developmentally so it's not like she's malnourished. I'm pretty sure she won't complain about being tall and thin later in life.
• She still hasn't thrown a true tantrum *knock on wood*. Sure she gets upset like anyone else but she is usually easy to talk down. One of our tactics is to have her say good bye to things when we're done playing or it's time to leave. She's great at pointing at various objects and assuring them that she'll be right back. She even tells her coloring books not to blow away. Another thing we do is give her two choices that give us the same outcome but give her a little sense of control in her world. i.e. Do you want to walk or be carried to the car? Do you want to tip toe or crawl to bed? (Don't ask.) I know I've been spoiled so far so hopefully I'm not in for a rude awakening.

In a nutshell, we love this girl!