Violet's 2nd Birthday

Violet's actual 2nd birthday was last Wednesday. We had a low-key family birthday with no presents (I know, gasp!) but we did have cupcakes! Pinterest has a lot of "pins" on Earth Day (April 22nd) which inspired me to make dirt cake. I wanted to make cupcakes so I just filled the cupcake muffins 1/2 full and put the topping on top. I loved dirt cake as a child so it reminded me a little bit of my childhood. I think one of my Mom's coworkers made it for one of my birthdays one year, ~10 years old! Wow! I can't believe I can remember that! Anyways, the kids loved them! And so did I!

Yummy dirt cupcakes!

Violet "oohing"

Digging in!

Literally digging in!

Violet's actual Happy Birthday!

Violet's Developmental Update:
I don't have her fun growth parameters yet as her 2nd year well baby visit is scheduled for next week along with Tim's 9 month visit. So more to come. But I'm sure she remains teeny tiny and might tip the scales at around 23 pounds. She still fits into 18-24 month clothes. Speaking of clothes, she loves pockets! If I put shorts on her without pockets, she wants to switch them! She is a girly girl to the core. Loves all things sparkly and shiny! She will finally let me fix her hair into cute little pigtails. She can run and climb as well as Ashton and will keep up with him as much as she can. She will usually tucker out earlier than him but she tries hard to keep up all day long! What else? She loves to color, sing songs, and dance! Her favorite songs are Twinkle, Twinkle (yes, I need to get that on video), Rock-a-By-Baby, Itsy Bitsy Spider, and Old MacDonald. She sort of tries to sing her ABCs. She can (sort of) count to 10. She skips 4 and 6 but loves to finish off with 7, 8, 9, 10! And break through! She is trying to potty train herself. This Momma was not ready but Violet is telling me... literally! She will tell me "pee pee potty" which means she has already gone in her diaper or needs to go. On Day 1 of potty training (this Monday) she went on the potty all morning long. Then I put a diaper on her for nap and it was downhill from there. The next day she went every pair of panties we had, so we were done by noon. And today, I have yet to do the laundry, so we are on delay. But she has told me every time when she wants to go or has just gone and to change her diaper. Let's see... what else? She is definitely quite vocal. She copies just about everything we/I say and can frequently put together 4-6 word sentences. She is still a cuddly little girl and loves to give hugs and kisses. She has recently even started giving Tim kisses which is cute. Speaking of... she tolerates him quite well even when he is pulling her hair. She just grabs her hair and says "No babe." She is quickly perfecting her temper tantrums and if she is upset about something she will pick something up and throw it! She has also quickly learned the time-out spot and is much better than I remember Ashton being in there. She continues to be my good sleeper and will usually go to sleep around 7:30pm and up at 7:30am. She is trying to fight her naps but usually succumbs before 2pm. What else? She loves to climb and can climb anything at the park. She loves loves loves the swing in our front yard and can stay in there for as long as you will let her! She is scared of bugs but loves the play in the dirt and sand boxes! She is definitely a sweet little girl. I wonder how this will change as the years go on?!