Tew On Ah-Gust

This is what Norah has been saying for months when asked the question, "How old are you?"

"Tew on Ah-Gust"

We don't know exactly where she got this except that she maybe overheard us telling other people that she would be two in August when they asked. It's a pretty common question when your kid is about the size of an 18 month old and talks like she's three.

Wait. How old is she?

She'll be two in August.

The week of her birthday, which was the 5th, we started prepping her. Once her birthday came, when someone asked how old she was she could just say two! If she wanted to give a longer answer - because you know, sometimes you just want to use more words - she could say, "Two years old." She liked that and took to it rather quickly. Now she happily replies to anyone who asks her age, "TWO!" or sometimes "Two yees oat." That's my grown up girl.

She also had a blast at her parties. "Huh?" you may say to yourself, "It totally looks like she just wrote parties... as in plural. For a two year old." Well, you got me. At first it was just going to be a small affair with a few friends and all of our family. Mark's parents and brother DROVE out from California so we were definitely having the whole family up for a party. Long story short, the guest list got longer than I originally thought it would - because I can't resist an excuse to have people over - and it ended up being a better idea to split the parties up into slightly more manageable groups.

So we had around 20 family-type people up on Friday evening and 24 churchy-friend-types up on Tuesday. My AMAZING husband handled dinner for both nights. I'd say that he should be a caterer but I'd rather he have a job where he, you know, sees us every once in a while. I didn't get a ton of pictures because I was "surfing the chaos" as my friend Jill likes to say. But here are some highlights.

First Party:

Whenever we asked what she wanted for her birthday, she said, "Cupcake. And candles. I blow on 'em." We can only hope that she'll always be that low maintenance.

But, of course, she got some presents too. I only got a picture of her with the present from my parents. But believe me, there were more.

At some point I'll get some pictures of her with the play kitchen my in-laws got her. She absolutely adores that too. So much so that she tried to insist that it be in the middle of the living room forever. Um, no.

I ended up making her a tutu. I know. Since when have I been crafty? Since the only ones I could find online were $40 with shipping and since I knew that my daughter would be just as likely to tear the tulle apart as to dance in it. She was so excited about it that we didn't get a good picture because she was so busy spinning in it - a hallmark of tutu making success I'd say - but here it is, proof that I can do something crafty that turns out nice enough to document with pictures.

The colors look better in person. And next time I'd use thinner ribbon. But still, not bad for my first attempt. And I did most of it while sitting in front of the TV. That's my kind of craft!

Second Party:

I got a few more pictures of the second party. That was mostly because all of the moms present at the second party also blog and they reminded me to take pictures. Thanks guys!!

She'd gotten some practice at blowing out candles by this point. For some reason though, at both parties, she could only blow out the one on her right. We had to help her with the other one.

This is what happens when you tell a table of four girls and a boy to "Say cheese". The girls snap to and the boy looks away and keeps eating.

This is what happens when you tell the Big Kid Table to "say cheese". The boys show you the food in their mouths and the girl looks around to see if she's the only one saying cheese.

And this is what happens when you try to get eleven kids to stay still and smile for the camera.

Also this.

Then eventually this.

I wish I could have gotten a shot of all the parents standing behind me yelling "CHEESE!!!!". It would have been just as hilarious.

So thanks to everybody who came out (especially those who drove forever to get here). You all truly made Norah's birthday a party to remember. Um... both of them.