The Birthday Girl!

Leah is Two years old today! We did it- survived the first two years!
But really we have a very happy two year old on our hands. Leah spends 80% of her time dancing and singing around the house these days. It is a very fun and happy time.

A few things I want to remember;

Leah is VERY excited about Christmas this year. She loves all the lights, music and decorations. Good timing too, I was getting really tired of listening to George in the car! For the last few months, all Leah has wanted to listen to in the car was either Curious George audiobooks or her star CD. I am VERY grateful her focus has changed to Christmas music. Lets just hope I can make it through 4 weeks of it!

Grandma Mary and Papa Joel. Grandma Mary and Papa Joel. Grandma Mary and Papa Joel. I must hear her ask about going to see Grandma Mary and Papa Joel at least 10 times a day. This has just started since we returned form our vacation. It was a long one and the longest Leah has gone without seeing them so I think she just can't get enough right now. She will even ask Dave and I to leave when she is with them to have them all to herself! I will admit, it's REALLY nice!

A new love for cooking has developed. Leah will play with her play kitchen and pretend to cook but also really loves to sit up on the counter and help prepare ANYTHING. This should be a fun year for Christmas cookies!

 Leah is starting to pick up so many things in other conversations and on the radio that I don't even really hear. It takes me a while to figure out where she is getting these from. The other day we were driving in the car listening to Christmas music and the advertisements that come with them. She suddenly said "mom you choose wisely". WHAT?  I repeated it to her to make sure I heard correctly and yup. Hmmm. Then I remembered a commercial on the radio a few minutes before talking about "choosing wisely". WILD.
My favorite part of Leah's language now is when she gets so frustrated she stars mixing English and Portuguese. I know I should be feeling bad for her but it's so funny and cute!

We broke down and let Leah have her first real dose of TV on our trip. Well mostly on the flights. Even still they are doing something right because the two shows we let her watch (Elmo and Toy Story) are always on her mind. Sometimes I think they are the most memorable part of her trip! Every store we go into she wants to "look for Woody". We have been home almost two weeks now and I don't think this is wearing off any time soon. No plans to let her watch more TV in the near future but I did break down and get her a Woody for her birthday. Bad Mom! Bad Mom!

One shot is of Leah making a "STAR" birthday cake(at her request). The other is her first birthday gift of the day. I let her dump the "baby straws". The forbidden "baby straws".

And last, a few 2-year favorites:
Stars
Moon
Books(still)
Letters
Numbers
All animals and insects
Family
Helping Dad do anything
The beach
Music
Dancing while Dad plays the guitar
Claire, the cat
Pretending to be a star
Snuggling with Mom

Dancing with Dad.

Dave and Leah have many songs they made up and sing all day. It's very cute. They never sing any real songs together because Dave is incapable of learning lyrics. So all the songs they make up say the same thing over and over. You may ask yourself how he is a musician then? I have no idea. The good news is Leah has a great memory for lyrics and has started singing many songs on her own after only hearing them a time or two. Now Dave just needs to learn the music to go with them. Perfect!

Still hard to get pants on her!

My Sunshine.

Guitar practice

This is how Leah's lessons go as of late. Poor Dave.

More Island

Junkaroo practice.

Okay, it's not a costume but this is about as much as we can get Leah to wear right now. She is going to have quite a shock tomorrow when she has to put on CLOTHES! I think I can count on one hand the amount of times she has been dressed since we got here.

More Beach!

These will keep coming for 5 more days. Only 5 left! I can't believe of our 17 day vacation we only have 5 left!!!!!! I am starting to relax a bit more around Leah being in the ocean. The waves have been so mellow and she is REALLY having great time now!

Lizard Friend

Buried

Leah can't get enough of being buried in the sand.

Cleaning up the cob webs. We all do our part here at the beach house.

ABC's with a view

This is how Leah"'helps" Dave sweep up!

First Beach

Baby Kate.

We found out about a week before we left for the Island.... It's a girl!!!! Wow Dave is going to be stuck with a house full of girls. I know he will do great. Also, as with Leah, Dave and I have both really liked the name Kate since about a week after we found out I was pregnant. We never have found a boy name we both like so there you go! I think I am  19 weeks now? Time flies! She will be half way here before we get back from our trip. The movements are getting much stronger, not only kicks and punches but I can really feel her stretching out in there already. Fun! Leah calls her Baby Kate now, cute! I will get a beach belly shot while I am here to add to this post!

Swimming

Leah is starting to get frustrated that we have to hold her while she is in the ocean. The mother in me can just see the water swallowing her up. I can't help it. It happens you know. Anyway, we are negotiating how much to let go right now. My stand is NEVER! Okay, maybe where it is only up to her knees.

Toes.

Our best vacation EVER!

Here are a few shots so far. Many more to come I am sure.
Leah had a hard time adjusting at first but is doing GREAT now. She kept asking to go home for the first few days and was super cranky at times. I think she just needed to eat, sleep and poop but would not do any of it! Now that she has settled in, she is really enjoying herself. She has loved the beach from day one though, as you can see! And her favorite things to do here? Well go lizard hunting of course. And be completely naked in the sand and ocean! She also enjoys opening every cupboard in the house and saying either " Gretchen's stuff" or " Kif's stuff" followed by "don't touch!" So cute. "Driving" the golf cart is also super fun! Only one week left, so sad how fast time goes.