two years old!

our beautiful little girl turned two last week. can you believe that?! two! 

we celebrated all weekend with her and it couldn't have been better. on her birthday we visited the zoo and, despite the chilly weather, it was a great day. the girls loved feeding the little birds and probably would have been satisfied just doing that the entire time. we had a dinner of pizza, her favorite. we had a big pink cake, because every time i asked her about her birthday she would say "PINK! PINK CAKE!" and i just had to make that dream come true. (adorable: we lit the candles and she immediately blew them out, before we could even sing.)

a little about her lately:

she is in full on little girl mode. she loves dress up, jewelry, princess, dolls, ponies, etc. she's still pretty rough and tumble, though, and likes "nunuh tuhduhs" (ninja turtles) and "pewpews" (guns). she loves "pwaygrounds" and can spot one from a mile away. if we are going anywhere, she always asks to stop at the playground while we're out. she and ellie are very active. it seems like she and ellie hardly ever walk, they prefer to run/jump/climb. they basically travel by parkour. they're both very active emotionally, too. they're so dramatic right now, too. when they are upset they'll say things like "i just can't do this right now!" (poppy's version is "can do dis!") and when they are excited they both let out high-pitched squeals and jump up and down. they love getting pretend scared and will let out great screams, usually in public. needless to say we get a lot of stares (and laughs) when we go out. they use their imaginations all day long and i love to hear what they're thinking.

one of my favorite things about poppy is her silent anger. when she gets hurt, whether it's physical or emotional, she will walk around dejectedly and sometimes just flop onto the floor and close her eyes, much like this clip from arrested development. it is so hard not to laugh, especially when i know she really is hurt. she doesn't always do that, but that's what she does in public. at home she'll just belt out a long string of scream-words that don't really make sense but she sounds very upset. my other favorite thing is that sometimes she puts her hands over her mouth when she laughs, like a shy little lady. it kills me! 

and speaking of which, she definitely has her own little language and i understand most of it but not quite all. i love to hear her say the princess names: "cindawelly! mehrda! no white! punzel!"

some of her catchphrases: 

"ah love it!!" or "oh, i lyke dat." (it's that long, southern "lyyyke")

"yeah, nummy nummy!"

"uhhhhh, wussatt?" (what's that?)

"daaaaad" (i love that she is calling him just "dad" lately.)

"check it ouh" (check it out) or "fine ouh" (find out)

"'mon. follow me!"

"dat's MINE!"

"no! don't do dis!" (when i buckle her in the carseat, etc)

"yay! fwends!"

she loves when you say "i.......love.......YOU!" with her and then point at each other. she'll say it and then laugh so hard and say "again! again!" if you let her ride on your back like a horsie she will deem you her "best fwend!" and she especially loves her "unkies" (uncles) and poppop for that reason.

she has really sweet moments when she will run up and hug people tight, pat them on the back, and give them kisses (and she always goes for the lips). she still has a hard time waking up and just wants to snuggle for a while, really tight. i love that. i have such mixed feelings about her growing up. i guess i'll just take as many snuggles i can get while the getting is so, so good. :)

two years ago i was dreaming about my brown-eyed baby. she's better than i ever dreamed.  

penelope elizabeth, you're amazing. i love being your mommy.