Welcome to Two

Here we are in the "Terrible Twos".  I have to say, it's not anything new, but MiniM.E. is a practiced tantrum artist; she began throwing tantrums about 6 months ago.  She's not the "Throw Myself On The Floor" kid or the "Beat My Fists Until They Bleed" kid.  She's just a screamer.  Horrific blood curdling cries complete with tears and all.  The unending screams for things I can't understand through the sobs.  Or things I can understand but just can't fix: "No Mommy! Put the banana back in the peel!!"

I love her dearly, but sometimes, the days filled of tantrums make me yearn for bedtime at 10am.

Fortunately, like all toddlers, she has an angelic side to counteract the evil-tantrum side.  And I think I've paid my Terrible-Twos-Dues because though she still cries about getting dressed every morning, and we have the occasional melt down over the wrong cup or milk instead of juice or a cracker that's broken, our days have been much smoother lately... The sweet little girl has been shining through much more often.

Like earlier this week when I went to a doctor's appointment- when I came home MiniM.E. sweetly said "Hi Mommy, how was the doctor? I'm so proud of you."  Or when she politely asks our friends, "Would you like to come to the playground too?"  Or today when Grumpy was talking about foods he liked and said he liked Hershey's Kisses, to which MiniM.E. replied, "I like hugs."  There are lots of spontaneous hugs and requests for cuddles.

Not that we don't still have "those days"... I just have to try to remember how sweet she usually is on the days I'm ready to throw in the towel before we've even finished breakfast.

Here's what we've been up to since Two.

playground with friends:

Raking a bajillion leaves:

playing in the yard:

A visit to Congress Park for the last carousel ride of the year:

A late-night hayride:

More Ellm's:

a late-night trip to the mall:

A playgroup birthday:

The playground:

Sunnyside Gardens with Baby E.:

Happy Birthday MiniM.E.

MiniM.E.'s actual birthday was yesterday.  I'm still having a hard time believing she's two.  Sometimes it seems like just yesterday she was sleeping in my arms.

And seriously, I wish I could have accomplished as much in two years of my life as MiniM.E. has in the past two years.  She learned to sit and crawl and walk and run and skip and jump.  She learned to babble and talk and speak in sentences and sing songs and count and say her ABCs.  She grew 13 inches and has 17 teeth.  She can do puzzles and make towers and trains.  She uses the potty and sleeps in a big-girl bed.  She can take off her clothes and (almost) put them on.  She just amazes me.

Happy 2nd Birthday MiniM.E.!

What A Party!

Since MiniM.E.'s birthday isn't until tomorrow, we threw a party for her yesterday.

It was a lot of preparation (I think I always bite off a bit more than I can chew), but it was a huge success and MiniM.E. LOVED IT.  She'd been talking about it all week: "and there will be lots of people, and friends, and a cake with owls and it will be purple and people will sing Happy Birthday and I will sing Happy Birthday to myself and there will be presents and toys and I can open them..."  I think it lived up to her expectations.

There was, of course, the cake (which is why I have been such a bad blogger lately).

Uncle Billy and Auntie Jen came to visit:

There was a lot to get ready for the party... decorations, games, a corn bin...

MiniM.E. was too cute.  Her favorite part of the party was when everyone sang to her.  She'd been singing "Happy Birthday" for at least a week, so I tried to get her to sing while everyone was there.  Of course, being the smarty pants she is, when I said, "Okay, go ahead and sing," she looked at me and replied, "NO! Everyone ELSE!"

loving the attention

 Eating the cake was a close second...

Possibly tied with opening presents.

It was a lot of work, but I was so happy we threw her a party when she exclaimed this morning, "I want ANOTHER birthday party!"  

Outdoors in October

Fall is by far my favorite season.  While I love apple picking and cider and apple cider donuts and foliage and pumpkins and leaves and crisp cool mornings... well, I could go on... All things I've loved about fall since I can remember, I now also love playgrounds in the fall.  Spring can be to wet and summer is too hot, but fall is a really enjoyable playground season. I have to say, I never imagined how many hours I would spend at a playground once I had a toddler, but I love to watch her have fun.

MiniM.E. kept wanting me to take her picture as she came out of the slide

swinging like a big kid!

Our new favorite place to visit in the fall is Ellm's Farm.  We have been there twice since our first visit.  I thought maybe we'd get bored the second time... or the third... but I'm pretty sure MiniM.E. could spend all day, every day there for at least a week.

on the zip line!

MooMooChooChoo!!

bounce-a-bounce 

woo! roller coaster!

 The third time we went we went on a "Flex Day" with our "preschool group" of toddlers and moms.  Just as good.  PLUS, we got free cider and donuts and a pumpkin for each of our kids!

MiniM.E. as a spider

choosing a pumpkin

What A Year!

As it gets closer to MiniM.E.'s birthday, I can't believe how much has happened this year. Or even the past couple months.  Or even just yesterday.

Since she turned one MiniM.E. is running and jumping and talking in sentences and singing songs and drawing pictures.  She's weaned and loves quinoa, avocado and broccoli.  She is potty trained and picks out her own outfits down to the underwear and socks EVERY DAY.  And now this:

I wasn't so sad about weaning because seriously, it was time.  I definitely wasn't sad about the potty training.  Is anybody sad?  But the toddler bed almost brought tears to my eyes.  My little baby is growing up.  AND can now ransack her room at night.  Definitely sad-worthy.  But oh so cute!

Two Weeks Until Two!!

And just as one cold is waning, I have come down with another.  My list of things to do to prepare for MiniM.E.'s 2nd birthday is quite extensive.  Yet I think I'll take a break... write a blog post, and who knows, maybe even take a quick nap!

We had a most exciting and spontaneous weekend where I dragged my still-dragging behind (who am I kidding, I was thrilled to go) to a beer festival while my mom watched MiniM.E.  Then Sunday my mom drove us to Albany Med to visit our neighbor who just had surgery, and we left from there to drive to CT to see my cousins 6-week old baby.  Sound crazy?  It was.  We didn't even get there until 4pm.  But some socializing, baby-holding, and a dinner out later, we'd had a good time meeting BabyL. and got back in the car to drive home.  It was a ton of driving (fortunately MiniM.E. slept through most of it), but a fun adventure.

aw...

Monday and Tuesday we went to our usual activities and my mom helped with MiniM.E. while I got stuff done around the house.

And today I am fighting cold #2 and MiniM.E. is a wreck, but we managed to make our first visit of the season to Sunnyside Gardens.

MiniM.E. was happy to be out of the house and really enjoyed the train ride, the pumpkin patch and the hayride.  We'll definitely be visiting again before the end of the season.

We even recreated this photo from last year:

they look just about as happy to be sharing a wagon as last year...