Happy Day, Calla!

Well, it's official: we have a two-year-old. Calla's birthday came and went without incident. A weekend visit from Jeri and Josh, 25 guests, 17 lbs of pulled pork, and a homemade layer cake (lemon) that turned out OK. The only thing that didn't go exactly as planned for our afternoon pool party was the weather - unseasonably chilly for July in southern Illinois. That's fine - we filled the baby pool so only kids had to get wet, passed out bubble bottles, and everyone was entertained.

When it was time to do the whole cake/singing thing, Calla had wandered off in the direction of the baby pool (fully dressed at this point) and was happily splashing away. At first, she was not excited about leaving the pool and was about to launch a minor tantrum, until I said the magic words: "Calla, it's time for birthday cake!"

Her face lights up. "Happy day, Calla? Happy day, Calla!!" And with that, she sprinted to the porch. She knew exactly what was going to happen since we'd watched her friends celebrate birthdays. And she was quite content to be the center of attention for a few moments while we sang to her.

And then there was the cake and ice cream. I realize now how rarely we eat dessert with Calla by how darn excited she was about the ice cream. To this day, if you ask her about her birthday, she's likely to first mention the ice cream.

Just before digging into the ice cream. Note the bedraggled, just fell into a baby pool look she's got going.

And after the ice cream. She eventually ate her cake (well, she ate somebody's cake) after most of her friends left. Ice cream came first. Smart girl.

Being two now means a new class at school (no bibs or sippy cups - thanks for your help, stain stick!), that potty training encouragement has picked up (thanks, Elmo's Potty video!), and that we're starting to think about the transition to a "big girl bed."

At her last doctor's appointment, she measured in at 36.5 inches (97th percentile) tall and 29 lbs (77th percentile). It's increasingly hard to see my baby from two years ago in her face and lanky body.

Hope everyone has a "happy day!"