Look Who's Two!

Here's Kenzie with some of her birthday gifts.  Sadly, we don't have any pictures of candles and cake.  We bought a new package of birthday candles with special pink ones.  I wouldn't open the package for her, but thought nothing of letting her walk around carrying it.  Unfortunately when it came time to put them in the cake we couldn't find them!  We still haven't found them.  Oh well.  We all enjoyed birthday cake, especially Kenzie so I guess that is what matters.  I didn't make a character-type of cake with frosting anyway.  Instead we had chocolate bundt cake with homemade caramel, raspberries and real whipped cream.  YUM!  I really wish I had taken a picture of it.

I think it's sort of bitter sweet to see your children grow up.  Of course you're proud of them and all of the new things that they are able to do.  Kenzie wants to buckle her car seat all by herself.  She is talking a lot more, but of course some things are hard to understand.  She mixes up different consonant sounds for different words.  We don't encourage it, but I love that she says o.k. like, "Oh-tay."

However, as I look at her pictures and how much older she looks there is a little sadness at the realization that she is no longer that sweet, happy baby.  Yes, with the arrival of the 2nd birthday she has turned a corner and the "ugly behavior" as we like to call it has increased.  Not only that, she has really begun picking on her siblings--pulling hair and biting!  Yikes!

Even with the nostalgia I feel when I think of how my children were when they were babies, I also feel relief and excitement.  I am relieved to be done with newborn things--infant carseats, burp rags, endless diapers (o.k., so Kenzie is not potty trained, but we're closer to that than we were).  I am excited about experiencing new adventures with my kids as they grow and are able to do more things.  We can actually play games without someone coming in and knocking the players over or picking up the board or cards in the middle of the game.  Camping will be easier and therefore more enjoyable.  All kinds of things like that.  I'm really grateful for my family and the new stages we are entering.