Two Years Old

I have now been a parent for two years. It feels like I have known Chess for so much longer, though. She is awesome. I love having her in our family. She made me a mother, and she helps make me a better person everyday.

We had her party at a nearby park. The day was full of craziness. Our fridge had been making some funny noises, but we were hoping it was nothing. Ha. On the morning of the party we noticed our frozen items were no longer completely frozen. We called for someone to come out and look at it, and they did, sometime in the next four hours. Needless to say, Jared missed the party. We just couldn't afford to lose the food in our fridge. Also, Chess had been running a fever the night before, so we considered canceling. Her fever was lower and she seemed to be acting fine, though, so we still did it. Later that day we ended up at the doctor with a diagnosis of an ear infection - her first one, by the way, and her first time on antibiotics. I guess she was overdue, considering how often some kids get them.

She still had a pretty good time at the party. It was nice to spend time with family and nice of them them to help me set up and hold Lera, since Jared couldn't be there. I used the birthday linens I made for Chess's first birthday. We had a nice lunch and the kids played at the park. I tried to help Chess get ready to blow out the candles by practicing with bubbles and dandelions in the yard, but she never quite got it. She would talk about blowing them out, though. I ended up helping her and she looked really disappointed when they went out. But she got over it fast. Okay, on to the pictures.

These are a few two-year-old shots I attempted to take on my own.










the cake


the party




























Now, this is really for me and family, but anyone who wants to hear about how smart and cute Chess is, feel free to read on. Chess has always loved books and learning. She has these letters, and used to always ask us what each one was, and about three months ago, she started telling us what each one was. She knows all the capital letters almost all the time. She can also count to 15 perfectly most of the time (probably because we have 15 stairs and we count them every time we go up or down). She knows her shapes and is learning colors. She is speaking in 4-6 word sentences and is getting easier to understand. She loves to play outside, do pretend play like in her kitchen or with her babies and doll house, color with markers, and play in the kitchen sink. She does not like to climb by herself, or have stuff (like dirt, lint, food, or marker) on her hands or feet. Some of her favorite foods are grits, strawberries, pears, cheese, rice, grapes, macaroni and cheese, and French toast. She weighs 35 pounds. I know. She's tall, too, and strong. She's a wonderful big sister and helps us with Lera and gives her hugs and kisses all the time. There is so much more, but that's enough for the purposes of this blog. We love her so much.