First "real" Babysitter!

Kay had her first "real" babysitter. We have left Kay plenty of times but have been fortunate to be able to leave her with grandma or friends. She loved having someone else to play with and I think she really enjoyed herself. We went out for a steak dinner with a group of our close friends. This restaurant is so much fun. Because it is so small you tailgate out front waiting your turn. There is no menu and a man brings the beef to your table and asks how thick you want your steak and how you want it cooked. This was a fun way for Craig and I to celebrate our 6 year wedding anniversary. We have trip planned later this summer to Chicago to do a celebration with just the two of us.

Kay is really getting into dressing up. She loves wearing our clothes, shoes etc. She even let me put a ponytail in her hair for the first time! Here is a picture of her wearing Craig's shirt.

Busy Little Girl...

Being two makes for a busy little girl! Kay is very much so in the "no" stage and testing the waters on where the limits are. She likes her opinion to be heard. She is very funny about how she requests things now. Craig and I used to secretly draw straws for who's turn it was to do something, but now Kay makes that job easy. She will say "milk daddy please thank you welcome". She has recently started putting a lot more two word phrases together to help ask for what she wants. She will say "mommy here" as she pats beside her for me to sit. She likes everything and everyone to be accounted for before leaving the house. She will run around and collect her shoes, purse, wallet and then start asking for "mommy", "daddy", "grandma" or whoever else happens to be at our house at that time.

She is no doubt our child. Kay is one long skinny little girl. I am having a hard time finding clothes that will stay up on her waist. I have had to special order panties because the ones in the store do not start small enough for her. I think se have a long road ahead of us for clothes challenges (good thing I am experienced at this!)

We have been enjoying some summer treats. She loves the farmers market and will sample every tomato, peach, and blueberry to pick just the right one. She always comes home covered in juice from them! She has also been enjoying various ice cream "treats". We basically call anything sweet a treat and boy does she love them. She will say "ummmm" the entire time she is eating them.

Along with her independence comes getting dressed on her own. I keep hearing her pediatrician saying "pick your battles wisely" in the back of my head. This week we have gone out of the house with her shorts on backwards (she put them on herself and was so proud I could not bring myself to tell her they were on wrong!) and with one sock. She insisted on wearing one random sock that she found laying around the house. I think our little girl will be a trend setter with fashion before we know it!

She is copying EVERYTHING we say now. She will latch onto any new word she hears and say it over and over and over again. This is exciting because her vocabulary is multiplying so fast, but we are really having to be careful what she hears!

We had our traditional sickness over every holiday this 4th of July. Kay came down with a stomach bug. We did a lot of laundry and the poor thing was really uncomfortable. We got one of my old towels out of the closet that was shaped like a bear while she was sick. Kay latched onto it and would not stop asking for "bear".

Here are some updated pictures of what our typical days look like...

Pants on backwards

Kay's friend reading her a book...

yumm...ice cream....

Kay still (barely) fits in the laundry basket! She loves to ride in it!

A gift from a friend!

Practicing with my helmet...

Taking care of my "baby"

Kay LOVES salsa!

Kay turns 2!

Wow! How is our little girl two already? We celebrated Kay's birthday with a day together as a family. We took Kay to her favorite breakfast spot so she could ride on the tractor again. Kay enjoyed opening her presents and thought it was great fun to have cards to open. We had a wedding on the evening of Kay's birthday. We decided not to take Kay because she was coming down with a cold and had spent a lot of the night before awake.

Kay is now pretty much potty trained. We have gone several weeks without an accident. She is drinking from a cup (with a few spills) and has started that wonderful phase of "no"! Her hair is starting to grow longer in the back and has adorable curls in it. She still does not have enough for a pony tail. Kay has the best belly laugh to just about cheer anyone up. She is talking like crazy and is definitely our little parrot copying everything we say. The other day she said "please, thank you, welcome" all in one sentence. She still loves her thumb and sucks it whenever she is tired or nervous. She also really loves helping Craig either put together or take apart things. Maybe we have a little engineer in the making??

Today at Kay's 2 year appointment the doctor said she thought Kay was right on track and caught up with other 2 year olds for milestones. This news was such a blessing to hear! Kay has worked really hard over the past two years and grown by leaps and bounds! Kay weighed in at 24 lbs (15%), 34.2 inches tall (60%), and head 47.5 cm (50%).

Camping with Nana & Pops

We had the pleasure of camping with Nana and Pops a few weekends ago. Kay once again loved camping. She really enjoyed walking between campsites. To continue our camping trend, within the first hour she tripped on a tree root and scrapped the side of her face (as you will see in the pictures). It rained a lot in the evenings and during nap. We thankfully stayed dry in our tent. The rain showers made for fun times splashing in the puddles. Kay learned how to throw rocks in the river with her daddy and enjoyed opening a few birthday presents. Last year we went camping the weekend before her birthday as well. It looks like we are starting a family tradition. It is so hard to believe that she was only crawling at that time!