Elizabeth Turns Two!

This darling little girl had her "Golden Birthday" this year as she turned 2 on the 2nd. I was going to do a gold theme, but the holidays plum wore me out (plus she's way too young to care). When she's old enough to know what's going on I'll try to be more enthusiastic (or just celebrate her half b-day in the summer!)

We kept it simple and went to Chick-Fil-A (I have passed my obsession on to my children, she recognizes the logo and can say it too!)

We went with Obaachan and Ojiichan (G-ma and G-pa Watabe), the Lundberg cousins and Auntie Victoria. Cupcakes were enjoyed by all!

Then we opened some presents. I love her classic reaction here!

She got a princess watch. Of course, she knows nothing about time, she just likes accessories -- wonder where she got that from? Plus, it was on clearance at Wally World (there are some advantages to having your child's b-day the week after Christmas!) Sadly, she left the watch in UT and asks about it frequently. She knows it at "Bachan's House."

You can see the watch better in this picture. She's also modeling the Cinderella dress up she got. (Also on clearance, love you Wal-Mart). I absolutely adore this little girl! She is the sweetest, cutest thing on earth!

I am going to take the time to record some things about her before she grows up and I forget it all. It may be boring to others, but I will do it for journaling purposes! She is talking a ton. She asks why all the time while cocking her head to the side and raising her eyebrows. If you ask her why she says, "Suz" (cuz) with the same cocked head and a little shrug. She's even giving reasons beyond "cuz" now. Like when asked why she woke up so early she replied. "Suz, Seson bed." Which made sense, she was on a crib strike and slept in Harrison's bed, which caused her to get up at 5:50 (more than two hours earlier than her usual time -- so I put an end to the crib strike). This morning she brought in a book that was ripped and told me "Seson boke da book." Then she threw it down and growled (a sound she frequently hears her mother make). When I asked why she was so mad she said, "Suz, Seson boke da book." (duh, Mom, didn't I just tell you that?) She doesn't do it as much, but whenever we were in the car she used to ask Mommy over and over and over again and every time I'd say "What?" and she would finally say, "Hi." It was mostly cute, just somewhat irritating! Also in the car whenever Harrison tries to talk to me she interrupts and once she gets my attention she just thinks of a random thing she knows how to say like "Daddy back hurts," or "No Wobbie's house, no beach house." She really just doesn't want Harrison to be able to say his thing and it gets him so worked up.

She adores Elmo and wants to watch him constantly. When I'm on the computer she wants "Elmo Shi-shi (the Elmo Potty Song -- shi-shi is pee pee in Japanese) from U-tube. She loves me to sing Byda (Isty Bitsy Spider) and she does a very exagerated WASH on that part. She also loves me to sing Buhdaytoyou (Happy Birthday to You). At night she loves to "wock" (rock) and always wants me to sing "Sunshine" and then "Sunshine again." (You Are My Sunshine verse one and two.) She used to always remind me to pray right after that, but now we're doing family prayer instead (I should probably do a personal prayer with her too, but it starts to feel very repetitive). At the end of our family prayers we've started doing a tradition that Nate's family did where we all put their hands in the middle and then say "Oyasumina-SAI" (goodnight in Japanese) and we put our hands up on the sai part (like a sports team would at the end of a huddle). Anyway, both kids love it and she's always wanting to do "Sai."

She is very helpful, always bringing me the phone, throwing things away, loving "we-up, we-up" (clean up, clean up everybody, everywhere). She also wants to get "weady" first thing in the morning. She used to demand to "eat" (said while pointing at her nose, her old baby sign for eat) first thing, but now she's more interested in getting ready. She loves pretty things (any and all jewelry, pretty bows, pretty flowers, pretty boots). I love it when I rock her because she often reaches up and plays with my hair says "pretty hair." She has recently started calling me Mama and it is so sweet. "Mo wada, Mama." "Help Mama" I could really go on all night.

She loves treats and knows how to pull chairs and stools over to get on the counter and then get things from off the top of the fridge. She is fairly picky and survives mainly on yogurt and cheese. She also likes mandarin oranges, pineapple, rice, nori (seaweed), pasta, bread, nuggets, pizza, oatmeal, popcorn, crackers, pretzels, ah ah nacks (Curious George fruit snacks -- ah ah from a monkey saying "ooh ooh ah ah") and OJ (she calls it that). She loves "spicy" (soda), but we only have it on special occasions. Harrison tried to talk me into having soda tonight after I called Auntie Wendy, who lives in Virginia, for her birthday, because it was a special occasion. Pretty clever, but it didn't work.

Elizabeth has been an easy child from the start. She slept through the night after a month, she slept almost all day for a lot longer than most babies (for over 4 months - it actually worried me, but the Dr. told me to be grateful). She's still a good napper, goes to bed easily, and sleeps in (Harrison has always been an EARLY riser!) She's always been good natured and happy. I rarely see her do things that are blatantly mean (unlike my other child at that age -- thankfully he grew out of that). She is definitely displaying some of the undesirable characteristics of a two year old, but I know that's an important part of developing her independence. And her cuteness totally outweighs it. I LOVE her smile. She has the most perfectly straight teeth and when she smiles her top and bottom teeth show and her eyes turn into crescent moons.

I LOVE YOU SO MUCH, ELIZABETH!

HAPPY 2nd BIRTHDAY!