Callie is 2!

It is so hard to believe, but Callie's 2nd birthday was last week!  I can't believe it's been 2 years since she was born, and almost 3 years since I got pregnant with her!  And at the same time, it's like she has always been here.  It's a weird thing, parenthood.

We decided not to do a big party, so instead we had a few little family gatherings.  A few days before her birthday, we met our cousins, the Applegates, at Sciworks in Winston.  I think about every daycare within 100 miles was there that day.  We managed to find a few quiet areas and still enjoyed our time there.  I'm so glad that Callie has cousins that live close!

(OK this picture is sort of a lie because it was taken a couple months ago.  But it was taken at Sciworks, with the same cousins we went with this time.)

The night before her birthday we spend with my family in Mt. Airy.  We went to eat Mexican food, and they brought out a sombrero, put whipped cream in Callie's face, and sang to her!  Her expression was absolutely priceless.  I was afraid she'd freak out, but she just sat there licking her lips.  For some reason she looked like a little baby again (maybe because the hat covered up her hair, which makes her look older, I think).

Sunday was her actual birthday.  We went to church, as usual.  I was glad that her birthday fell on a Sunday because going to the nursery at church is one of Callie's favorite things to do!  She loves her leaders, singing songs, and blowing bubbles.  And I love that I can leave her there happily and go to class in peace!  On Sunday her teachers gave her a birthday tiara and a couple little treats.  

Callie's Isenhour grandparents were in town from Colorado to celebrate her birthday.  We had family dinner after church, then cupcakes.  She didn't like her candles the night before so we didn't even light them this time.  Here are the cupcakes that Nana and I made.

That would be Ming Ming, Callie's favorite thing in the whole word.  She didn't really seem to even notice the cupcakes though, to my dismay, since it took a lot to get me to do anything creative.  She just picked the candies off.  Whatever, I guess.  Nana got her a singing Ming Ming doll, which has already eaten through one pack of cheap batteries.  I almost died of laughter the first night we were checking it out while Callie was in bed.  It will just be standing there talking, then all of a sudden kicks it's leg up and starts "flying" in circles with it's cape flapping in the breeze.  It is hilarious.  I hope that it will work better with some better batteries, because right now it only growls a little.

Josh's cousin Paige was in town for the weekend, and she took some pictures of Callie and of us.  She has recently gotten into photography, and I think she's a natural!

The last day of our celebrations was at our Isenhour grandparent's house.  I had told Meme I wasn't planning a party, so she pretty much threw one for that side of the family.  We had a huge family dinner, homemade ice cream, and cupcakes.  Unfortunately, Callie didn't get a nap that day, so about the time everyone came, she was ready to go home.  She was just kind of tired and not her usual peppy self.  It was still a lot of fun.

I had more cute cousin pictures to upload but for some reason I'm having a hard time, so here's this cute one of Callie waiting for everyone to get there.

I know I keep saying it, but I can't believe my baby is 2.  It's weird to look at pictures and videos of her from even just a few months ago, because she changes so fast.  She surprises us every day with new words, expressions, dances, etc.  Today she was singing her night night song and says "Night night Ming Ming, night night Tuck, night night Blue, night night Buck."  I don't know if she was trying to rhyme but we'll just pretend she was.  Another thing she has learned, that I found out today, is the smell of bacon.  She's only recently been introduced to bacon (deprived child, I know), and today I was cooking breakfast for Josh, and Callie comes rolling into the kitchen saying "Bacon?  Bacon!?"  Oops, I hadn't fixed her any... she'd already had breakfast and I figured if she didn't see it she wouldn't want it... wrong.  

Every day there's at least one moment when I am just overwhelmed with how beautiful she is.  She really is the biggest joy in our life.