Happy Birthday.....And a Snapshot of You at 24 Months

Dear Sophia,
I want to wish you a happy birthday! What a crazy year it has been. We've had our ups and downs. But through it all, we grew closer as a family. Life with you is never dull. You always keep us on our toes. Just when we think we have you figured out, you change.

You were born on June 18, 2008 at 3:36 p.m. You weighed in at 8lbs 4 oz. and 19.29 inches long. You were actually born on your due date since you were induced. It's hard to believe that this is what you used to look like. These are from the first few weeks of your life.
And now your this sassy, funny, smiley, and very emotional girl.

What a roller coaster ride of a year You've had strep, ear infections, swimmer's ear, RSV, bronchitis, the flu, stomach bugs, and there's probably some that I'm forgetting. It was a very tough year health-wise for both of us.

But it was also full of fun times and family. You got to reunite with your girl cousins.

You got to go to some really cool places and even on a plane. Here you are at the Forest Park Train with your family.

We went to the Botantical Gardens.

You got weaned from a bottle and have switched to completely table foods.

You're a pro at walking and running.
You got to go to the Dallas Aquarium.

You got to eat tons of sweets.

And spend plenty of time in the pool.

We got to go to actual restaurants as a family. We were too scared to do this very much when you were under a year...tooooo unpredictable.

See! I told you that you used to like red sauce and pasta. Now you are even pickier than you were under a year. This is last July. Now you won't touch pasta at all. You still love yogurt though. You love cheese, crackers, cereal and eggs. You'll eat bananas. Vegetables? What are those.

You are tough! You play hard, get hurt, cry for a second (or sometimes not at all), and keep right on going.

You aren't afraid to get dirty.

Oh and let's not forget your ER visit. You hit your head on the window sill. I'm not sure who it was more painful for you, or me having to hold you down while they stitched you up.

But even then, after the tears stopped, you were ready to play.
See, it didn't stop you from having fun.

You had your first professional hair cut, which you did really great at...no tears.

You LOVE breakfast! It's your favorite meal of the day. And remember that doll Chloe? Nana and Paw-Paw brought her back for you from one of their trips. You were actually recovering from some illness here but I can't remember right now.

Oh, and you graduated from your high chair to a booster seat. And you demand to eat with a real fork. I give you a salad fork.

You are so strong, literally and figuratively.

This was one of those fun times with family. Remember visiting the pumpkin patch and getting lost in the maze of corn?

Oh, and you can't forget college game days with daddy!

That smile....I can't get enough of that smile.

Remember, mama making you wear all those crazy pants and appliqued onesies that I made?

You were the cutest little bumble bee ever for Halloween.

Remember watching daddy carve the pumpkin? This is you watching on....

And the snow? I know you must rememeber the snow.

And who can forget learning to share...that was a tough one. But you manage to share most of the time. Just not your golf clubs.

You have the silliest expressions and reactions to things. And you get soooo excited about things. You run in place and squeal. So funny.

You love to play on playgrounds, especially the slides and swings. You're even part of a special playground playgroup.

You love cars and make them go everywhere, including on my mosaics.

Hard to believe from looking at this sweet angelic face that you're soooo strong-willed. You throw temper tantrums daily. If you don't get your way or you get frustrated you throw things. In fact, we have a phrase to describe you called "Going Hulk" meaning you stand there, shake, scream and look like at any minute you could just morph into the Incredible Hulk.

Like I said before, you make your cars go everywhere.

And you finally sat still long enough to let me make pigtails in your hair.

You love to paint and make things. You also love to color. Your favorite color is blue.

Let's see. What else did I forget?

You have to sleep with your bunny and 2 blankets.

You can recognize the #2 in print and can count to 3. When you have 2 of something, you'll say 2.

When you see a S you either start going "sssss" or you say 2.

You can name a few colors: blue, brown, yellow, pink.

You love your "shows". In fact those are the first words out of your mouth in the morning. Speaking of...you hate getting out of bed in the morning. Even though you scream for me to come get you, once I'm in there, you don't want to get out of bed. It sometimes takes 10 minutes to coax you out of bed.

You tell me when you've poo-pooed. Now if you'd only tell me before you go. You've gone potty on the toilet a few times. You wake up from naps with an empty diaper. All signs that you're ready to potty train. However, I don't know if mama's ready.

You can either be very shy or very outgoing. It just depends on how you feel.

You're favorite phrase is "What's that?". But I love to here you say "Here ya go" when you hand me stuff.

You are afraid of bugs. You cry when they come near you.

You know the difference between our Blu-Ray player and our TV remotes. How sad is that?

You somewtimes tell us "shhhh" if we're talking during your shows.

If we're in the way, you say "beep, beep".

When you see a pig, you start snorting.

24 Month Stats: We were supposed to go on Mon. but now we can't because if you're going to have any shots, you won't be able to get them because you've been sick. So we know you're weight because it was taken yesterday but we had to measure your length ourselves. Dad did it.

31 lbs 13 0z and 35 inches

Sorry this post was disjointed and kind of random, but that's just typical of how these past couples of weeks haave been.

Happy birthday to my dear, sweet, Sophia Grace, my little polish princess. We love you!