The Breuers: Happy 2nd Birthday, Lola!

Our sweet Lola turned 2 on Friday, August 7. She is definitely a big girl now and no longer a baby. We feel lucky with what a great person she is turning into. She is happy, kind, sweet, and funny. She does have her toddler moments, so she isn't perfect, but for the most part she is a joy to be around. She gives great hugs and kisses and says "I love you".

Her vocabulary has grown substantially over the past few months. She knows tons of words and even speaks full sentences sometimes. She is also doing great physically - she is quite the climber and can go up and down our stairs without assistance (although she does request to be carried from time to time).

We had her two-year checkup today, and she is doing great. She weighs 30 pounds (90.92%) and is 32.75 inches tall (18.31%) - so short and stocky, but we love her that way :) I filled out a questionnaire about her abilities, and the doctor said the results show that she is advanced (of course she is). Lola did great the entire visit, until the end when the nurse pricked her finger to test for lead. She did not like that.

We have had multiple celebrations for Lola's birthday this year (next year we'll try to tone it down). First we celebrated last weekend with my parents while they were in town. On her actual birthday, her school had a little picnic for her during their snack time, and they presented her with a sweet present that her classmates had made. That evening, we went to the house of our neighbors Kalee and Mark for the Chapmans' going away party (they're moving to New York). So while the party wasn't for Lola, she got to play with several of her playgroup friends and have a nice cookout dinner.

On Saturday, we had a birthday party at our house for friends and family. We had quite the crowd! There were my and Joseph's friends, Joseph's sister and her family, and our playgroup friends. I think we had over 50 people if you count all the children. We had chalk set up in the front yard, food and toys inside, and a baby pool and water table in the backyard. The setup seemed to work well and allowed people to disperse. Lola had an absolute blast. She was just running around playing with everyone. When we sang "Happy Birthday" to her, she looked so happy, and then of course the cake brought the biggest smile to her face. She even knew to blow out the candles. After cake, we changed her into her bathing suit and took her out back to try to baby pool for the first time. She loved it! It has an inflatable bottom so it's kind of bouncy, and she just kept jumping around and falling on her bottom. Unfortunately she also feel out once and hit her head on the patio, but within a few minutes she was asking to go back in the pool. She is definitely fearless.

Sunday we had a low-key day at home. We let Lola open her presents in the evening (despite the "no gifts" request, she still got quite a few), and she loved them all. Although I think her favorite might be the Leapfrog laptop from Uncle Ben, which she calls her "iPad".

Next weekend we will have one last celebration - a small party at our house with her school friends. Our guest list for the party was so big so that I thought it best to split into two parties. And it will be nice to have a separate Nest party so that we can actually talk to the other parents and get to know them a bit better.