It happened! Allie’s big day arrived – she turned 2 (years!!) on July 22nd! We were home from Maryland by then. Here she is, the birthday girl!
[[image:allie690a.jpg:Hello! It’s my birthday today!:center:0]]
* Mouse over the pictures for captions
Another month and more developments! She now has eleven teeth (about as many teeth as a one year old!) but this is apparently normal for kids in Vin’s family (slow to teeth). Cousin Max (from the Maryland party) is 13 months old and does not have any teeth yet. Everyone’s been saying that she looks tall for her age but since we haven’t yet had her 24-month appointment, we don’t know yet. She went around saying “Hi Baby” for a while but has recently stopped saying that. She is definitely telling us long and convoluted stories (not using any words) and mostly getting her message across. She understands fairly complex sentences (e.g., bring me your cup from the coffee table). Aside from knowing colors and animal noises, we discovered that she knows some basic shapes (e.g., circle, triangle, square). I was quite surprised when she pointed the correct shapes out while reading one of her books! She’s addicted to the following TV shows: Dinosaur Train, Phineas and Ferb, and Wonderpets. She requests the programs by pointing to the TV and singing the theme song. It’s very funny. She still dances and sings. It’s always a lot of fun to hang around with this bundle of energy!
Even though we had already had the surprise party for Allie in Maryland, we couldn’t not do something on her actual birthday, right? So here are the pictures of how Allie spent her big second birthday! I had taken the entire week off, in order to spend time with Jo so I didn’t have to work that day! Yayyyyyyyyyyy!!
[[image:allie686a.jpg:Breakfast is the most important meal of the day:center:0]]
[[image:allie687a.jpg:Good morning Auntie Jo!:center:0]]
[[image:allie688a.jpg:Kiss for Mama too:center:0]]
We all sat down together for a quick breakfast (even though Allie had mostly finished hers):
[[image:allie692a.jpg:Happy in the high chair:center:0]]
[[image:allie693a.jpg:Her “smile” sure looks like a Hulk-transformation imitation, no?:center:0]]
Here’s what the adults had for breakfast (thanks to Jo!):
[[image:allie694a.jpg:Yummy Cinnabons:center:0]]
After breakfast, we all got ready to go out for Allie’s birthday treat! Allie who was all ready had to kill time:
[[image:allie689a.jpg:Puttering about on the stage:center:0]]
[[image:allie691a.jpg:Shooting baskets:center:0]]
[[image:allie695a.jpg:Hurry up hurry up! Let’s go!:center:0]]
And so, for Allie’s second birthday, we took her to her (and Jo’s) first Major League Baseball game. We watched the Cincinnati Reds play against the Washington Nationals. Here we are at Great American Ballpark:
[[image:allie699a.jpg:Yaya looks onto the baseball diamond:center:0]]
[[image:allie697a.jpg:Yaya frowns as the Reds are getting off to an iffy start:center:0]]
[[image:allie698a.jpg:Yaya and Pursley enjoy the game:center:0]]
[[image:allie696a.jpg:Papa, Auntie Jo, Yaya and Pursley:center:0]]
It was a hot day! Everyone was sweating and uncomfortable. Our seats were great for watching the game, but it sure was unbearable unless a breeze was blowing and the breeze rarely came. So Jo and I took Allie to walk around the stadium to get some air and she found the little playground! She had a blast climbing up and playing independently, coming down the slide and everything! The thing really was for older children and for a minute I did panic as she managed to get up there (it was high! I had to look up to her from where I was standing). I was afraid she would get stuck up there and we would have trouble getting her down. However, she took it all in stride, just watching all the other children and seeing what they were doing before she participated. By the end of it she was crawling through the fun crawlspaces, coming down the slide and just having a ton of fun.
[[image:allie700a.jpg:Hey, I got up here and now a little unsure of my next steps:center:0]]
[[image:allie701a.jpg:Playing with the steering wheel and observing the other kids:center:0]]
[[image:allie703a.jpg:Helloooooo, I’m sliding heeeeere:center:0]]
[[image:allie702a.jpg:Panjat lagi (Climbing up again):center:0]]
[[image:allie724a.jpg:I’m so pleased!:center:0]]
Unfortunately it was so hot that poor Allie broke out in a heat rash.
[[image:allie704a.jpg:Rash on her back:center:0]]
We cooled her down by wetting her with water.
[[image:allie705a.jpg:Sponge bath, MLB style:center:0]]
So, we decided to leave early both because of the heat rash but also to escape the post-game traffic. And besides, the Reds were losing pretty badly anyways (to the Nationals! sheeeesh). We left after five innings. And when we got home we threw Allie in the bath to cool down and wash off any possible allergens. The rash remained for the next few days though, poor little thing.
[[image:allie706a.jpg:Freshly bathed and no longer overheated:center:0]]
[[image:allie707a.jpg:Ball-popper with Auntie Jo:center:0]]
[[image:allie708a.jpg:Is it time for cake yet?:center:0]]
Note the droplet of milk on her cheek in the picture above. She gets a little rowdy with that milk sometimes!
Here comes Allie’s second cake and Vin’s first cake (from Graeter’s, chocolate cake with vanilla ice cream and bittersweet topping – yummy!):
[[image:allie709a.jpg:Let them eat cake! Part 2:center:0]]
[[image:allie710a.jpg:Admiring her cake with lit candles:center:0]]
[[image:allie711a.jpg:Yaya, Papa and Auntie Jo:center:0]]
[[image:allie712a.jpg:Papa, Mama and Yaya:center:0]]
[[image:allie713a.jpg:Yaya blows out her candles!:center:0]]
This time Papa the almost-birthday boy helped blow out the candles.
[[image:allie714a.jpg:Yaya watches intently as Papa cuts the cake:center:0]]
[[image:allie715a.jpg:Poking her slice suspiciously with a spoon:center:0]]
So I must ask again – do you think she ate any of her cake? The answer is NO! So far, cake Number 2 this year, and she still refused to eat it. She fed Papa her slice, bit by bit. Not even a tiny morsel of cake, icing, or ice cream went into her mouth. She just categorically refused when we tried to feed her some. Oh well. I guess it’s healthy of her to refuse all that processed sugar. And besides, more for us!
Then it was time for presents:
[[image:allie716a.jpg:What’s in the bags from Auntie Jo?:center:0]]
[[image:allie717a.jpg:A Steiff bear from Auntie Jo! Looooove bear!:center:0]]
[[image:allie718a.jpg:Hello Kitty sunglasses!:center:0]]
[[image:allie719a.jpg:Wait, Mama, it doesn’t work!:center:0]]
[[image:allie720a.jpg:Ah, that’s better!:center:0]]
The grimace, again, is what you get when you say “Smiiiiiile”. 🙂 Seriously, we need Hisham to scan in one of his baby pictures so we can compare uncle to niece “smiles”.
Here she is, hanging out all cool and stuff, wearing her new sunglasses and a new orange top from Auntie Jo:
[[image:allie721a.jpg:I’m a cool cat:center:0]]
She took control of the camera for a bunch of random shots including this:
[[image:allie722a.jpg:2-year-old self portrait:center:0]]
At any rate, it was an awesome day (rash and all!). She did not complain much (although she was upset about leaving the playground at the ballpark) and had a fun day, and so did we all. It was fun to have a birthday celebration with Auntie Jo! Thanks for the new clothes, shoes, and bear! And then it was bedtime for exhausted little girls!
It’s been a fun month, and nope, the fun is not yet over. More parties to follow! See you in a few. We’ll close with this picture of Papa and Yaya:
[[image:allie723a.jpg:Deer-in-headlight Yaya with Papa:center:0]]
