Happy 2 to you!

My baby is two years old today!!! How can that be?! Wasn't it just yesterday that I was sitting in the hospital fooling myself that I wouldn't need an epidural to meet my precious little girl?

Adelaide's party at Marbles kids museum is tomorrow morning, but today we sent in some cupcakes for her school party (which Ade helped add sprinkles to this morning). We are going to pick her up early and head to the pool this afternoon to celebrate. We are also setting up Ade's present, an art easel, for when she gets home today.

I will post more this weekend with the details of her party, and some updates from the past few weeks as well. I will leave you with some adorable pics of her in her pretty dress this morning:

Yes, she has OCD.

Last weekend we went to Carter's birthday party at Young's Gym. Ade had a blast. She was the youngest of the kids to follow the structured activities. One of them included a circle of cones, and the kids would run around in a circle until the music stopped, and they would freeze. Ade loved it and did a great job. Except. If a cone fell over, Ade had to break circle and reset the cone. She just could not enjoy the game if things were not exactly where they belongs. I watched in awe as she repeatedly would leave the fun to make the cones right again. I thought, "Yes, this is my child." My friend Briana comforted me, "At least you know what she will go to therapy for."

Other amazing Adelaide feats:

• On a drive to the mall this weekend, Adelaide said Bye to the Boinga song (indicating we were at our destination) when we were at the light where you turn into the mall. She is so aware of her surroundings. Who knew she could basically navigate herself to the mall?
• Ade sang Bye Bye Black Sheep to me - no, not just the first line - the WHOLE thing. I was like, okay then.
• Ade's favorite chores - watering the plants and feeding the pets, including carrying half-full cups of water from the sink to the dog bowls over and over again.
• Ade put her own pants on. She already wears the pants in the family, may as well get literal about it.

This weekend Ryan and I are headed to Savannah for 2 nights to enjoy some time to ourselves. The Guhs have headed down to watch Miss A. I do feel bad that

my child will probably run them to the point of complete exhaustion, but Ryan and I both are so thankful for a few days to be adults together. We watched Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil together last night in prep. I hope we meet crazy, wealthy Southerners. :-)

Petit fleur model

My wee little nuggie. Last summer I bought Ade clothes thinking 24 months and 2T would fit her this year. Alas. Maybe next summer :-) Krista texted me a few weeks back from H&M (why don't we have one Raleigh?!?) asking what size to get her 18-24mo, or 1-1 1/2 years. I said, get whatever is right for 26 lbs. Krista texted back, that is 12-18 mo size! I partially blame the big European babies, because another Euro company I've ordered from, MiniBoden, also required a 12-18mo for Ade. She is 18 or 24 mo size in most American brands (Old Navy, Target, Kohls, Gymboree, Carters, etc.). I have thought that we mothers need to start a social app on kids clothing sizes where we enter our children's height and weights and all the knowledge in our heads about what fits in what brands, then parents or people wishing to buy gifts could enter info and see what sizes to order. Or, EVEN BETTER, the distributors and clothing brands could use the information to make consistent size clothing!

So, I wish I could have captured the joy on Adelaide's face when I picked her up from school last week. She was SO happy to see me. She grinned the whole way home. I got her a milkshake, and gave her a present when we got home:



Last weekend we also went to get her 2 year old pictures and a new family photo at Sears. Adelaide immediately smiled as soon as the camera was pointed at her. She did every pose, and hit very shot. The photographer was amazed, and told us she sees a lot of gorgeous children, but not many can take direction so well. We actually had a hard time getting a picture of any other expression than a cheesy grin! The pics are posted on dotPhoto:

Momma home soon?

This week I am at the Rational Software Developer's conference in Orlando. Though I have been ridiculously busy (out until 1am?? pathetic to some, but WAY too late for me), I still find that I am spending the majority of my time thinking about my sweet family at home. Ryan has been an awesome Daddy and I am so proud of him. He has been so in tune with Adelaide's needs and making sure she is as happy as possible in mater absentia.


Last weekend because I knew I would be heading out for 3 long nights away (topped off with an Accounting midterm Thursday night after I get back!), we tried to have as much of a relaxing weekend as possible. Also, Ryan has been busting his own butt on a project for work and he hit his deadlines on Friday, so we both had reason to work at enjoying our ourselves. Friday afternoon we spent some time together at the pool, without chasing Ade around or going down the water slide 300 times. But Saturday we really did it up big - we took Adelaide to see Sesame Street Live! at the RBC, where we met up with the Peich family. Although you have to be horrified at how much tickets and parking to these things cost (I think we ended up being out about $130 total), the moment I saw her face light up when all of the characters came out on stage and she shouted "Elmo!" I turned to Ryan and said, "That alone was worth the money." She rocked out and danced and was so thrilled for the whole show. Everytime Elmo left the stage she would say, "Elmo come back!"

Unfortunately, the night before we had a rough experience with Adelaide feeling stuffy and not wanting to sleep. I ended up trying to take her into the guest bedroom where I stayed with her for almost 2 hours of very uncomfortable "sleep." I know Ry and I both sometimes miss having Ade in bed next to us, but after that adventure, I am know I need to just think on that as a fond memory. She flailed. FLAILED. I was shoved almost immediately to the very edge of the bed and beaten severely. Adelaide was not really comfortable herself, and after a while, she patted my back, "Mommy?" I rolled over and she commanded, "Go please." I asked her where she wanted to go? To her bed? and she said "Uh huh." I was more than happy to tuck her back in, pat her to sleep, and head back to my own bed.

Also this weekend I got a glimpse into how our division of labor will influence Adelaide's expectations as she gets older. She was playing with her dollhouse and she very nicely sat the mommy and the baby down at the table (she sat the mommy doll on the toilet pulled up to the table, but that's another story) and she said "Daddy's making dinner." The daddy doll went into the kitchen, got food from the fridge, put it in the oven, and served it to the table, and then had a seat himself.

A few other amazing Adelaide stories...
- The other day she used "your" and "my" correctly entirely on her own
- Yesterday she told Ryan the plants needed to be watered because it hadn't rained
- If the dogs are in her way, she will tell them, "Go see daddy" to get them to move
- She understands the social script for eating out - mostly. She likes to tell her order to the first waitstaff she sees, which is not always ours. "Mac-n-cheese and milk please!"

I really can NOT wait to go home. Yea, I ate a nice meal at Bongo's last night, and saw La Nouba. Tonight we head to Animal Kingdom, where they shut down the park just for IBMers, but still - I'd rather be snuggling my baby.