Kennedy Turns 2!

What a difference a year makes.

Little Miss Kennedy is now a sassy, opinionated, sweet, articulate little girl. Her birthday weekend was filled with all of her favorite things and almost all of her favorite people.

I had told her that when everyone got here, we would go to Pullen Park to ride the train. So upon waking up from her nap on Friday, I told her that Grammy, Uncle Justin and Aunt Missy had arrived to join Aunt Ally, MiMi, Grandaddy and I...and she  informed me that we were to depart immediately for the train. "I ride choo-choo train RIGHT NOW!" And who can deny a birthday girl!?

There is also a carousel at Pullen Park, which Kennedy LOVES.

Best game on the carousel? Spotting favorite people who chose not to ride so that you can wave to them.

Once she even let Mommy ride with her....happily for half the ride....and then she would have liked me to get down. Now. Which was a problem. 

Two grandma's? Is there anything more fun?

The next morning (Saturday) was her birthday. She was super excited to tell everyone she is now TWO. When she tells you that she is two she holds up five fingers...

She started her day by playing ball and hide and seek with Grammy on the porch.

And then the festivities began.

Presents first! This is one very loved little girl. We all enjoyed watching her unwrap and then play with each one of the toys before she was willing to consider moving on to the next. 

Grandaddy cooked hot dogs and hamburgers for lunch and MiMi made fruit salad. MiMi and Mommy had made the birthday cake and cupcakes in the days leading up to the big birthday and everything was delicious.

When we were done with lunch, it was time for birthday cake. K was super excited about the idea of the song and blowing out the candles, but when we first started, she was a little nervous about the whole thing.

Then she really got the hang of it and we had to blow out the candles about 5 times before we were done with the candles.

Birthdays make everyone feel a little festive...even the most skeptical of participants couldn't help but join in....

The ears really bring out the brotherly resemblance, don't you think?

The afternoon was filled with bubbles and playing games and playing with our new toys.

I think she had fun...don't you?

This beautiful girl is 36 inches tall (98%), 30.6 pounds (92%) and her head circumference is off the percentile charts. She is speaking in complete sentences and has an opinion about everything she encounters. She loves people in her "inner circle" and distrusts people she doesn't know very well. Every once in awhile she surprises us with a desire to strike up conversations with strangers, as long as they don't get too close. She loves to read books, is obsessed with singing songs that have hand motions or dances to them, and dislikes very few foods. She loves to snuggle at night, and can count to 12 consistently (then it's 12, 14, 14, 14....). She can sing her ABC's and identify all of her uppercase letters. She occasionally shocks me by knowing what sound a letter makes. She can "read" Brown Bear, Brown Bear to us by herself. She believes strongly that there are plenty of occasions that still require a binky and that milk should be consumed warm and from a bottle, thank you very much. She carries her baby or babies (after an additional one had to be acquired when we forgot THE baby in J-ville one time...) everywhere we go and sleeps with them for naps and at night. She is excited to be a big sister. And she is SO. SO. Loved.