Cool Baby Clothes: Terrific? Terrible? TWO!!!

My sweet baby girl turned 2 on the 2nd and it's hard to believe how fast she is growing up! There are so many amazing changes that we have witnessed in this 2nd year of her life and she really is turning into a little girl. I have a feeling that this 3rd year of her life could be one of my most challenging...as we have approached her second birthday, the temper tantrums, whining, "no"s, and "fickleness" (as I like to call it - one minute laughing, next minute crying) have increased. And being a big sister could just add to the list.

But all in all, the best word to describe Isabelle is sweet. She really is such a good little girl, and her mild-mannered personality is just adorable. Out of the house she is an angel (she tends to only behave badly when alone with mommy). She is shy enough so that she turns away when new people smile at her, but not too much to keep her from smiling back and talking to strangers with encouragement. She is not so attached that she worries or cries when being left with a new sitter, but just enough so that she holds my hand in new places and prefers to have me within her sight. She is cautious but not afraid, adventurous enough to want to try new things but not so much that she puts herself in danger. She loves to go on walks down our quiet dead-end street, but she knows to come running back to me if she spots a car (with a slight glimmer of fear in her eyes).

Isabelle is a rule-follower. She is a people pleaser, much like her mommy, and if she senses the slightest disappointment over her actions, that little bottom lip of hers slowly starts to curl and the tears begin to stream. This makes things a little tricky, since I must learn how to show her what is right and wrong without it turning into a meltdown. I will rarely yell "no" to my sensitive girl, but instead have to softly say, "let's try this instead...." The nice thing is that if she does something wrong once (like drawing with crayons on the sofa cushion) she will never do it again!

As good as she is, she is also my drama queen and can be quite intense at times. Like all toddlers, she can be easily frustrated, striving for independence but also wanting to get it done right (like buckling up in a seat or walking down stairs). Mornings are our most dramatic....I guess she's not a morning person either so I can relate. She eagerly asks for breakfast one second ("Shee-wee-ohs!!!" (cheerios)) and once it's placed in front of her, she has a long, drawn out (fake, no tears) crying fest for several minutes (at which point we ignore her) and then eventually starts eating. It's cringe-worthy.
Some things about my little 2 year old Isabelle that I don't ever want to forget:

-Of course she wants to do everything mommy does...some of her favorite activities are cleaning (washing and sweeping especially). Hopefully this will really be beneficial in a few years!

-She's mastered talking on the phone just the way mommy does it, shoulder holding it up to her ear (afterall I always must have hands free to do things while on the phone!)

-Izzy still has some tomboy in her...she still loves trucks and planes and trains. But she is turning into quite the little priss pot! She LOVES to dress up, especially wearing hats and sunglasses. She is really starting to love her doll (good timing!) and she carries purses and goes shopping. Isabelle has very feminine mannerisms too...she runs around twisting her hips in the funniest way. She never makes much of a mess, and she must have clean hands and feet always.

-Crockett gets scolded by Izzy almost as much as she does by me, but Isabelle loves her furry friend as much as the rest of us. Crockett is totally baby proof and kid friendly, despite her loud bark and hyperactivity, and she'll let Isabelle climb all over her, pull her hair, poke her eyeballs and even ride her like a pony. Izzy loves to boss her around...and as long as Crockett is getting attention she's happy.

-Isabelle is talking in full sentences, amazing us with new words everyday. It's funny to think that just 6 months ago all she was saying was "ehh?" and now she not only repeats everything we say, but she tells us things and asks us for things...and we understand her! Just yesterday she counted to 10 for the first time to my surprise...we haven't been practicing much and I didn't know she could count past 2....it just goes to show that she is always listening and taking things in (so we'd better watch out!).

-She tends to have a favorite word of the month. A few months ago it was "okay"...with the "ay" drawn out real long. Now I find myself saying "okaaayyy" all the time. Then it was "no". To everything. What a switch from "okay"! Now the latest favorite is "Look!" She wants us to see it all.

-Isabelle is great with her hands...she still loves to draw and has mastered eating with a spoon and fork. We are 99% sure that she's a lefty, which is surpising since we have no lefties in the family (although I'm not even sure it's genetic)!

Izzy LOVES:

-to dance. Just turn on some tunes, and watch that little thing twist and jump. It's quite a sight.

-to sing. Favorite songs (she knows most of the words) are Frera Jacques, Wheels on the Bus, It's Raining, It's Pouring. I've caught her singing herself to sleep a few times. So sweet.

-to read books. Favorites are Curious George, Curious George, and Curious George. Often she requests that we "ree again" after finishing. She demands books before naptime and bedtime and it's never enough. On the morning of her birthday I woke up out of a deep sleep to hear her say "ree book!" (we are staying in the same room on our beach vacation).

We've been at the beach all week with Brian's family which meant we got to celebrate 3 big birthdays...the first one was for cousin Sutton, who turned one on the 1st, then Isabelle's on the 2nd, and last was America's birthday on the 4th, of course.

After naptime we started celebrating...I brought some hats for the kids which pleased Izzy, my hat lover.

Then on to the best part...CAKE! Sunglasses and a tiara complete the birthday look.

Baskin Robbins ice cream cake to the rescue! Best $40 I've ever spent. I am on vacation, afterall! This might have been the first time I have ever ordered a cake, and I must say it was quite gratifying. Afterall, she'll have mommy's cake at her birthday party in a week.

Waiting for cake...

Whoah! This is way cooler than anything I could have made. Mickey and Minnie surfing at the beach! Perfect!

Betsy Grace is ready to dig in!

Everyone eating cake!

Chocolate with mint chocolate chip. Yum!

Party time!

Isabelle was having so much fun celebrating she really didn't even care about opening presents...I guess she didn't remember Christmas very well.

Brooks ("booksie") with his turtle hat

Caden with his shark hat

Sutton with her Froggie hat

Izzy the butterfly, starting to open presents.

Betsy Grace was great help.

Curious George...YAY!!!

Facetime with Cici and Grandaddy. The funniest thing right when we called them...she was starting to lose her cool after a wild morning of playing on the beach and an even wilder afternoon of birthday fun, so when she saw Betsy Grace with her hair pulled back in a rubber band (bow missing) she must have suddenly remembered the time we put her hair in pigtails after seeing them on BG. She started yelling "pigtails! pigtails!" and cried until Aunt Libby came to the rescue with 2 hair rubberbands. Phew! Oh, the needs of a demanding 2 year old!