Reaghan is 2!

Reaghan turned 2 on Saturday. Thats right people, its been 2 years since I wrote this, and this, and this! Just a few days before her birthday she was in the bathroom with me as I was fixing my hair and doing my makeup. I could see her in the mirror behind me playing and talking to herself and I just kept thinking "wow, how did this happen? How do I have a 2 year old?" This little person has become such a beautiful, consuming part of my life and I couldn't imagine living without her now! Sometimes it just catches me off guard and I have to stop and ponder these precious moments and musings in my heart.

We had a fun day on Saturday celebrating our toddler. We woke her up with hot and ready now donuts (she loves donuts!) from Krispy Kreme and a balloon to toss in her crib as we sang happy birthday to her. She thought the balloon was great and probably would've been content with that as her present all day long.

momma also got a special frappe treat. Hey - its technically my "birth" day too right?

My sister in law is a professor at Old Dominion University and told us about this Curious George day that their bookstore was doing on Reaghan's birthday so after we ate our donuts we headed there to listen to book readings of Curious George, get Curious George "tattoos" (I know, it was a wild 2nd birthday *wink*), and play with Curious George stickers. :)

Reaghan's cousin Brooklyn came too and after the readings were over we went out to lunch with Mark's family. Reaghan had a huge plate of eggs and pancakes from the eatery we went too. Donuts and Pancakes in one day?! Score! 

All of their high chairs were being used so she got to sit in a booster seat and she loved it. She really looked like a big girl!

We came home after lunch so she could take a nice birthday nap! While she was napping Mark and I put up some of the decorations for the Curious George birthday party that she was having the next day. We figured we had the decorations, why not let her enjoy them for a couple of days? She was excited to see George on the table cloth when when she got up from her nap.

We let her open the presents from mommy and daddy after her nap too. Reaghan has such a reserved personality that I had been a little worried about how she would handle opening presents in front of people at her party so I wanted to practice opening gifts and talk about saying thank you to people at her party the next day. (Thankfully she was the absolute sweetest at her party!) Plus, its fun to be able to open presents on your actual birthday! 

We got her an art easel from IKEA that has a chalkboard side, dry erase side and paper roll attachment. She loves drawing and coloring. We also got her a little tricycle! Her feet can't reach the pedals yet but she's super cute pushing herself around the house with her feet. And then we got her a couple of Curious George books. 

I love this picture of her posing with her presents.

We went out a little later to pick up the balloons for her party, run to the dollar tree to grab some table cloths where she got to pick out one more toy of choice (she chose a baby doll) and then came home for a relaxing evening. She couldn't get enough of her balloon though and wanted to play catch and "soccer" until bed time. I want to remember the way she carried her balloon around asking "ready mom? ready?" before she tossed it up in the air to me. I wish there was a way to bottle up that little voice and keep it forever. Oh yea! They're called video camera's! ; ) 

Reaghan love, on your second birthday you are silly. sassy. exercising your independence. learning obedience. reserved. hesitant to try new things and experiences at first. still a picky eater. shy around people you don't know. learning to speak back when spoken too. a goofball around your family. sweet to your doll babies. sweet to real babies. love to sing. love to dance. can carry on an actual conversation. love to play daddy's drums. mommy's big helper at home. love to color and do crafts. love to "read" books to yourself. love to play outside on the play set. love to play with Piper. learning to drink out of a big girl cup. not interested in going potty on the potty. still using a paci at nap time and bed time. a great sleeper and afternoon napper.  and a fun shopping buddy who thinks clothes and shoes are so "toot". You can sing your ABC's, count to 14, recognize some letters of the alphabet. recognize your colors. sing whole songs by memory. sing your blessings before you eat. You can almost put your pants on all by yourself but shirts are still tough. swing on a big kid swing. climb stairs (most of the time) by yourself.  Your favorite songs are "Miss Polly had a Dolly", "Baby Beluga", and this years VBS songs. You and daddy's special thing is going to the library while I'm at work. He loves to take you there. I love to watch you play with your toys and talk to yourself. Your imagination grows every week and I need to remind myself to stop and take time to make pretend food with you in your kitchen a little more. We love you so much and you are going to be the best big sister!