Lilly's Second Birthday

It has been almost 6 weeks since Lilly officially turned two, although it doesn't feel like it since we spent the better part of May celebrating her birthday. Between family gatherings and her birthday party, it seemed like Lilly was opening birthday presents daily and she became an expert at singing, "Happy Birthday to Wiwwy!" I think it has finally hit her that the celebrations have come to an end for this year. She has stopped asking for presents and birthday cake and the last of the balloons came down this weekend, so we're all moving forward.

It was a month-long celebration full of cakes, presents, bubbles, trips to the park, singing and dancing, and lots of balloons. I don't know what more this little two-year old would want. She has seemed to enjoy every second of being two.

Being two brings new experiences with it. New teeth (especially good for eating corn on the cob at barbecues), new vocabulary (with which to assert independence), new opinions (like only wanting to wear her yellow tutu, reminding me a lot of her godmother, who also used to express such opinions), and new knowledge (she currently points out every "L for Lilly" that she sees while we're out. They're especially prevalent on the "Left Lane Must Turn Left" signs)!

The pictures of her from her birthday and her party tell the story better than I could, so I'm going to let them do most of the talking today. The video of Lilly dancing at her birthday party sums up our little girl. Bouncy, full of energy, happy and loving TWO!

From April 11th: Lilly's Second Birthday!

Lilly loved waking up to balloons on her crib!

Watching for Dad to come home from work to celebrate!

And then, her Birthday Party, one month later.

Red and pink, because she loves Olivia the Pig.

24 months of Lilly!

"Olivia" cupcakes

Some quick legos with Claire before the party starts

Ready to sing and dance!

Dancing with Dad

Cleaning up the egg shakers

Here's the video. These are just a few of the songs Natasha, Lilly's music teacher, sang with Lilly and her friends. Pop Goes the Weasel is Lilly's favorite! Excuse all the adult legs in the video; I was trying to get the little ones dancing. And dance Lilly did--for a solid 45 minutes. She's definitely got her Dad's dancing genes :)

Opening her "princess kit" from Claire...her best buddy, complete with a purse, lipstick and a cell phone.

Rain, Rain, STOP!

Today was one of those days that went downhill fast. It started off on a high note, and by high note I mean, not raining. I woke up to go to the gym and upon seeing the lack of rain, decided to go for a walk/run outside instead. When Jim asked what Lilly and I were doing today, I told him that we were definitely going to the park on such a beautiful day. Such a beautiful day? Who was I kidding...it was foggy, overcast, humid...downright muggy...but the rain had stopped. Even Lilly noticed. Yesterday morning when she woke up, I opened her blinds and her first words were, "Ugh, Mummy...nother rainy day," and then proceeded to sing, "rain, rain, go away...rain, rain, stop." Unfortunately the incessant rain has left everything outside soaking wet, which made the park idea short lived. We met up with some friends instead and Lilly had a great morning playing with Claire. Lilly and Claire absolutely adore each other. Lately, Lilly has been carrying her princess phone (a birthday present from Claire) around the house pretending to call Liz (one of my good friends and Claire's mom). The conversation goes something like, "Hello, Lizzie, Claire coming over to play? Okay thanks. See you later. Bye." Occasionally she'll insert a, "this is Lilly Grace Clark" in there, although it comes out sounding like, "Wiwwy Gwace C-wack." As my Dad said, he's never heard our last name pronounced with two syllables before, but somehow, Lilly does it.

After lunch, I put Lilly down for her nap, with the intention of having a little nap in there myself too. And then the day took a turn for the worse. I called to sign up for my prenatal yoga class that I love going to on Tuesday nights only to find out that it has been permanently cancelled due to a teacher conflict. It wasn't the end of the world but I look forward to it so much. I took the same class when I was pregnant with Lilly and the timing is amazing. At the end of a busy day that used to be filled with teaching and coaching and being on my feet all day, and is now filled with talking, talking, and more talking, that hour and fifteen minutes of peace and quiet and relaxation where I get to think about me and this new little baby was one of my favorite parts of the week. I know there are plenty of other classes out there and I plan on finding another one but I was sad to hear it was cancelled. Oh well, on a positive note, I got an unplanned night at home--tutoring free.

A few minutes after finding out about yoga, I went to lie down when Jim called to tell me that our dentist could fit us in this afternoon. We've been trying to reschedule our missed appointments from April for awhile now and couldn't pass these up--as much as I can't stand going to the dentist. Not to mention the fact that pregnancy does a number on my mouth. It's one of those things that makes no sense to me, but apparently it's common. My gums and teeth are so sensitive when I'm pregnant, making dentist appointments that much more fun. Ugh. So, in a matter of minutes, I went from this great day with no real plans, culminating in peace and quiet to a day full of teeth and dentists and cancelled yoga classes. I've written about perspective before, and believe me, I understand this is by no means a really bad day. I know what those are. This was just a day that started off on a high note and had a few unplanned road bumps. But it's ending with a quiet night at home. And today marks 21 weeks down...19 weeks to go until the newest little Clark arrives :) Today, Liz asked Lilly if she was excited to have a baby in our house, and have her own little brother or sister, and Lilly responded with a resounding, "OH YES!"

Here are some pictures from this past weekend. It was a relaxing weekend--a much needed break after a very busy weekend last week. These are from Saturday morning, where I tried out my new lens...and it is amazing!!

My favorite!

Just doing a little jumping.

Back from a 3 hour ride...I'm sure the jumping felt great on those tired legs.