throw in some homemade Backyardigans party decorations (made by brother)
add a mom, dad, and brother
2 aunts, 2 uncles, and 4 cousins
mix in 4 fantastic grandparents
stir together with hamburgers and hot dogs, strawberry cupcakes,
lots of playtime, and some cool presents
and you have yourself one GREAT birthday party.
Selah turned two on Thursday. We celebrated with an afternoon at the Children's Museum, then Cici's Pizza and frozen yogurt at Feeney's. Then Jackson and Selah were off to spend the night with grandma and grandaddy. I had to work of Friday while they enjoyed some good quality grandparent time. When we brought them home on Friday we gave Selah her birthday present from mom and dad. I bought this amzaing Rose Petal Cottage from my neighbor's yard sale, and Selah fell in love with it! We let them both stay up a little bit late because they were having so much fun playing with it.
It is unbelievable how fast the last two years have passed! I'm amazed at how much she is talking now. It is nothing unusual for her to walk up to me and spout out some complex sentence! It makes me laugh every time. Plus, she ends almost everything she tells me with "mom." Not mommy...mom. "I need a waffle, mom." "I'm changing baby's diaper, mom." I don't know where she got that. She has become more assertive and stubborn now that she's old enough to know what she really wants. She is not shy about making her wishes known! True to two-year-old form she is trying some temper tantrums and crying to get her way when I initially deny her requests. I am trying my best to not fall for these tricks, although I have to admit I have caught myself on auto-pilot a few times giving in to the crying. I actually have to consciously think about not letting her win. Here's the thought process: first she asks for something I don't think she should have. For example asking for cottage cheese for snack when she had cottage cheese for lunch. I deny the request. She suddenly goes into a crying fit. I think "wow, I didn't know you had such strong feelings about it. And hey...it's not like cottage cheese is bad for you. I mean it's certainly better than a cookie. On second thought your request doesn't seem so bad." And I start giving in. Harmless, right? Until I realize that I just reinforced her tendency to over-react to not getting her way. This mom thing gets complicated sometimes.
She has also become more territorial recently. I frequently have to diffuse arguments between Jackson and her that basically boil down to simple sharing issues. Usually if I reassure her that Jackson is not trying to take her toys away from her and then suggest that she invite Jackson to play with her, she backs down and is willing to share. I'm trying to teach Jackson how to act like a 5-year-old when Selah is acting like a 2-year-old. So often he stoops to her level of arguing, I guess because it's the only way he thinks she will understand him. Overall they get along great, so hopefully we'll just ease through this little sibling sharing problem. After all, they can't get rid of each other. =)
Selah, you are a sweet, happy, beautiful little girl! I love your determination, and I think it will serve you well in life as long as you learn how to direct it in the right way. You have the best big brother to help you along the way! Happy 2nd Birthday, sweet girl!
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