Life as a Two- Year-Old

It is official, as of August first Jackie is now 2. And I think she would tell you that from her short experience (three whole days), life is grand when you are two. Don and I managed to pull together a party for her in just about a week. A small group of family and friends gathered on Saturday to help Jackie celebrate the momentous occasion. And as she was the center of many adults' attention she was quite satisfied. That and I had spent hours working on a bunny cake that she couldn't wait to eat. If you need the full saga of the bunny cake you will have to check it out on facebook (Bunny-cake Baking Debacle). 

My favorite part of the party, aside from the fantastic cake (if I do say so myself), was Jackie opening her presents. She was filled with such joy and awe. Each package deserved her full attention and trying to pry her away from it once she had opened it was nearly impossible. Jackie wanted to take each toy out of its packaging and play with it right away. Every new present brought new exclamations of "oh boy" and "wow"and "oooh." The unwrapping was fun and what was inside was even more exciting. There were a couple of toys that really stood out from the others. She received these neat blocks called Wedgits that I have to admit I have been playing with. She also received a set of chimes to play with mallets. Don has been playing with those, he especially likes the tone each one has. Jackie is so musical by nature that she has really enjoyed playing with the chimes and also with her xylophone which Grandma and Grandpa gave her. She will sit with both in front of her and give a little solo performance, clapping for herself at the conclusion of each of her songs.

After Jackie's party, the family headed over to Capron Park. It was such a nice place for her to play and there was a little rose garden where we took pictures of Jackie and Ben together. There is a little zoo at the park which we will visit another day soon. I can not wait to see her joy over the animals; I am sure she will point and exclaim each of their names for us with great excitement. 

After the park, we returned home and Jackie took a nice long nap. So nice was the nap that she did not want to go to sleep Saturday night. In fact, Jackie stayed up later than Don did. She was still so excited over all of her new toys she didn't want to fall asleep for fear they would be gone in the morning. I was finally able to convince her to head up to bed and allowed her to take her new little stuffed Olivia the pig upstairs with her. After tucking Jackie in and laying the toy next to her in bed, Jackie picked up the pig, sat it on her chest, and in the the sweetest voice said, "hello piggy."  That was how she ended her birthday.

Today was the big day we took Jackie to have her well check-up. She is growing very nicely just like Ben. Jackie is now 34" or 2' 10" tall and she weighs 26.2 lbs. That means she only outweighs Ben by 10 lbs. That isn't much and I'm guessing it won't be too long before that gap is narrowed even more. Ben is definitely half of one Jackie. And Jackie did not need any shots today, just a finger prick. She did very well during the finger prick but was very glad when it was over. No more doctor's visits for Jackie until she is three (unless she gets sick or to get the flu vaccine.)

This year promises to bring even more wonder for Jackie as she interacts with the world in new ways. I can not wait to see life as a two-year-old sees it.

~Tiffany