Today was Kylie’s second birthday party. We had a bar-b-que at Tiffany and Kylie’s house to celebrate. We set a tent up in the backyard and put a table with the food underneath, and there were a couple of seats under there as well. The day was really hot but the fact that a lot of the family was able to make it out from NY more than made up for that.

Tiffany made two cakes, one was shaped like a castle and had Cinderella on it, and the other was shaped like Cinderella’s coach. Eventually I will have pictures of both the cakes and pictures from the rest of the day up in the year three gallery.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY KYLIE!!! As of right now (09:32 am) Kylie is two years old!!

Unfortunately Mommy has to be at work right now (although Kylie is talking to her on the phone) I am fortunate enough to be able to work from home this morning so i can watch her until Tiffany gets off work, and then she will spend the rest of the day with Mommy. We are all very excited because in a few days we will be having visitors in town for Kylie’s Birthday party; Nana, Aunt Wendy, Uncle Sonny, Aunt Brenda, Alex and Shauna will all be coming out to visit. They should arrive in town sometime on Friday and will be staying until next Tuesday, so we will be spending lots of time with the family!

The below information is from Tiffany’s Baby Center email news letter. We are both think it is great that she is in the minority of children that knows her basic colors.

Happy birthday to your 2-year-old!

Many 2-year-olds — girls especially — are ready to start potty training. If your child can pull her pants up and down, follow simple instructions, stay dry for three or four hours (a sign that her bladder muscles are developed enough to hold urine), and dislikes being in a dirty diaper, bring out the potty seat. If she’s not ready, back off and try again in a month or two.

How your toddler’s growing:

Happy birthday! Just yesterday she was a baby, and now she’s 2. Your child spent the bulk of last year developing her motor skills, like walking, running, and grabbing. This year you’ll see a lot of changes in her thinking. About now she can form images in her mind, organize categories, and arrange things in order. Her memory is also improving, and a minority of children at this age will already know their basic colors. Some can count up to five or even to 10.

How your life is changing:

You might be able to have a two- or three-sentence conversation with your toddler. She’s learning new words, getting a handle on grammar, and getting better at describing her needs, wants, and ideas. As her sense of herself as a distinct person grows, she’ll talk about herself — what she’s doing, what she likes, and what she doesn’t like.

When Kylie came over today the first thing I did was take her into my bedroom to show her her new bed, and she loved it! She was all ohs and ahs, and had a lot of fun climbing all over it. She liked that Cinderella was all over it and kept pointing to her and saying “‘rella”. I got a few pictures of her climbing on it and laying on it for the first time, and hopefully I will get those up into the gallery soon. I am so happy that she likes her bed, and her reactions to it have made it more than worth it!

So we just finished assembling a new toddler bed for Kylie, so now when she comes over tomorrow she will have a new bed to sleep in instead of her pack and play. I got her a Disney Princess toddler bed, and I actually got it from Big Lots of all places. I did get the crib mattress from Wal Mart though. It took about 90 minutes for Melissa and I to put the bed together and get it into my room. While we were putting the bed together I was also washing her new bedding, which is also Disney Princess bedding. She even has her own full size pillow now, just like in the picture. I decided to get her all the Disney Princess stuff because she is very into Cinderella right now. So now Kylie has her very own (pink) bed in Daddy’s room for when she comes over and no longer has to nap or spend the night in her pack and play. I have to admit that after the entire thing was assembled and had the bedding put on, I had a nice feeling of pride and accomplishment. I am very excited to see if Kylie likes it tomorrow when she comes over.

I got a phone call this morning from Kylie’s day care asking if I could come pick her up because they think she has pink eye. Knowing that Tiffany had not gone to work yet I called her and asked if she could come and get Kylie from school so I would not have to leave work early. So Tiffany goes and gets Kylie and tells me that it looks like her eye is infected but she has a feeling that it may be her ears, because in the past that has been an indication that Kylie has an ear infection. We were able to get Kylie an appointment to see her doctor for this afternoon and it turns out that Kylie does in fact have pink eye. It does not seem to be bothering her at all, but her eye is a little swollen, pink, and at times mucus-y. She is now on some antibiotic and should be able to go back to daycare by Monday. On a side note, the doctor’s office checked Kylie’s weight and she is now 28lb 14oz, and the doctor is very happy with her current growth.

Tiffany just called me to have Kylie tell me something, she can now say her name with the “L.” She used to say her name as Kyie, and now can say Kylie. She has been able to pronounce “L” for a while now, but in certain words the combination with other letters made it difficult. For instance she says “love” as “la”, as the “v” is still giving her an issue, but the “L” is no problem. So I guess it’s not so much that she can make the “L” sound, it’s just that she says it in her name now. I know this may seem slightly trivial, but it was actually very exciting to hear her say her name properly.

A few minutes ago my phone rang, and I could see by the caller id that it was Tiffany, judging from the time I assumed that Kylie was in bed and that Tiffany had just forgotten to tell me something earlier. Imagine my surprise when I answered my phone and it was Kylie on the other end, singing me Twinkle Twinkle Little Star! It was the cutest most adorable phone call, and I couldn’t help but smile when I heard her little voice singing to me. Every night before she goes to bed Tiffany and Kylie (or myself and Kylie if she is here) sing this song, and she has gotten pretty good with the words. I almost wish that particular phone call had gone to voice mail so I could replay it and hear it again, almost.

Kylie just might be following in Mommy’s footsteps and be on er way to be coming a diver. Today Kylie and Tiffany went swimming over at the school as they often do, and today they had company as Erica and Taylor joined them. Tiffany had gone up and did a dive off of the diving board, and after she did Taylor turned to Erica and asked if it was her turn. She jumped off and then Tiffany asked Kylie if she wanted to do it, and she did. She had help from her Uncle Chris, who dropped her off the end of the diving board to Tiffany in the water, and Kylie loved it! She did it multiple times, and enjoyed it each time. Maybe we should start getting her used to the diving board, and who knows, maybe she will follow Mommy and become a diver.

Actually slightly more than a weekend. It started last Thursday (the 17th), after work that day I went and got Kylie from day care and she spent that night and the following two with me. It was really nice having her here for that long of a time, and surprisingly I even slept well while she was here. That is surprising, because normally when she is sleeping I wake up every time she makes a noise or moves.

Friday morning I brought her to day care, and then picked her up after work. We had a lot of fun playing and reading books each night before she went to bed. I think I made the most out of the few hours I had with her on Thursday and Friday before she had to go to bed.

She let me sleep in on Saturday, and by that I mean she slept until 6:30am. Then we spent the rest of the day playing, reading, and watching some television. I tried taking her to a park that is just down the road, but she did not to walk, and so I had to carry her everywhere. Unfortunately my back could not handle to much of this, so we ended up coming back home and just playing inside.

Sunday we got up and went back to Mommy’s house, but first we met at Bob Evan’s to have breakfast and say hello to Grammie.

I think it was a very fun weekend, and I really did enjoy having Kylie around for such a long period of time. Nothing makes me as happy as being near my daughter.