My Baby Is Two Years Old!

My little tow-head is very serious about her breakfast cereal in the mornings. And she's very serious about her little baby dolls, too...as you can see by the picture above. Aurora likes to know where her "babies" are at all times. In fact, she goes into a panic attack if all of them aren't in her crib every night at bedtime (there are five or six of them, by the way). And then I must line them all up just so, three on each arm, then tuck the blanket gently in under all seven chins, six of which are plastic. It's a little silly, but terribly amusing, and it will make a really cute picture someday...if I can ever remember to bring the camera when I tuck her in at night.

Ahem. This is my way of padding out what will be a fairly short blog post...by sharing some fun facts about my youngest daughter. Aurora hit a major milestone in January--she had her second birthday! I can't believe my youngest child is two already; those years have just flown by so fast. I know that's cliche, but it's true; so much has happened since she was born! New car(s), new house, new job for Nathan, new callings, Lorelai starting school...what a whirlwind couple of years it's been.

Aurora was my most challenging baby. She never took a bottle or a binky, and didn't even like Nathan much for a little while; it had to be all Mama, all the time, which got fairly exhausting. In addition, she didn't have a sleep pattern of any kind for the first six to eight months of her life, so I was walking around in a grumpy haze much of the time. Most of this is probably due to Aurora being an incredibly determined, opinionated little girl who is more strong-willed than either of her sisters (not that Lorelai & Celeste are pushovers at all; I just think Aurora is in a class by herself).

However, all complaining aside, I was in love with Aurora right from the start. She has large, piercing blue eyes, and she is not afraid to stare anybody down with them! Her hair is so thin and wispy it almost feels like cobwebs at times...and sometimes when she sleeps on it funny, it looks a little cobwebby too! She loves the outdoors and loves running through a field barefoot with the wind in her hair, shouting at the top of her lungs (and she's pretty loud, if you haven't heard her). She adores her big sisters and tries to be like them in many ways (example: today she put on a Pull-Up on top of her pajamas, since Pull-Ups are what Celeste wears every night).

My favorite thing about Aurora (exasperating as it can be sometimes), is her relentless urge to cuddle. No matter if there is another child on my lap, Aurora will somehow manage to shove her way up the couch, past the other kid, and into my arms. Her favorite position is on my lap, arms wrapped around my neck, with her round chubby cheeks pressed up against my face. She'll often pause to shower me with kisses as well. It's very different from any behavior Lorelai and Celeste displayed (they were generally more independent as toddlers), but the older I get, the more I appreciate Aurora's cuddly nature, and the more I will miss it when she outgrows it (hopefully not for a while!).

So...happy birthday, my beautiful little daughter. Here's a few scenes from the big day! You'll notice Aurora is blurry in many of these pictures, because she doesn't hold still much these days :) 

One of her favorites toys is this "Shake And Go" Lightning McQueen toy

She also loves her new sketch pad; even if she taps it pretty hard with the stylus sometimes!

A little giddy from all the presents

 In the picture above, you can see one of the "babies" Aurora got for her birthday; this one was a mini-sized baby doll. Sounds like everyone got the message about her preferences, because Aurora got not one, not two, not three, but four separate baby dolls for her birthday...and she loves them all!

This last one is from Grandma Nash...Aurora looks mesmerized by it!