Birthday Girl!

This girl. You wouldn’t believe how she lights up our lives- and today we get to celebrate, because she’s turning TWO!!!

Before I had kids (and when my twins were young and the days seemed so L-O-N-G) people would always remark about how “time flies with little ones”- and I would do a little mental eye roll. It sounded like a silly thing to say- why couldn’t they just shut up and offer me a (fully caffinated) Starbucks?

But now I totally get it. It seems like just yesterday I was laboring for 23 hours to bring this girl into the world- just a minute ago that she took her first steps and said her first words. Being that she’s our last baby, and that today marks the end of her baby phase and the beginning of her journey into toddlerhood- I could get really emotional here- but I’ll save you the sap and just say it really is true- the time does seem to fly.

It makes me want to cherish each second (even the ones where she’s on the floor of the grocery store screaming about m & ms), and remember all the everyday things that seem so commonplace now but will soon change and be forgotten. Like how she calls her brother “Oli” by name (“Ai-eeeee”) but insists on calling her brother Noah just “bubba”- even though we know full well she could say it if she wanted to, and is aware of his real name. Or how she spends nearly every minute carrying around her baby dolls, wrapping them, bathing them, shushing them- something that comes built into that second X chromosome for her (my boys NEVER did that).

I’ve been hard at work on a “fancy” birthday dress that I can’t share with you yet. I love it, and it looks precious on her (seriously, it’s killing me not to share it!) but I thought she also needed a more casual birthday frock, so I whipped one up using the Brindille and Twig Raglan A line dress pattern and some polka dot embroidered French Terry from JoAnns.

I’ve been hoarding this fabric for a while- it reminds me of something I’d see at Gymboree but have trouble paying $55 for. I bought it without a specific plan in mind- so it sat in my stash, waiting for the right project to come along.

I’m glad I bought it though, because I  think the large scale was perfect for this pattern and the polka dots are quite fun- just what you need for a birthday dress! It came together very quickly, as you would expect from a raglan. The 18-24 month size is a little long in the arms and body- but I expected that, and am happy that it will fit for the rest of the season- and perhaps the next as a top (I just LOVE that about girls clothes!)

She was excited to try it on and get a balloon (and some m & ms of course!) during our photo shoot. It was quite foggy out- but I think it lends a fun background for the photos, and reminds me of how we are getting to see her little personality emerge from the fog of babyhood each day- what a delight! I’m so blessed to be her mom- and can’t wait to see what the next year brings with her!

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