Two are Two-- Birthday Adventures

I can't believe my baby girl is TWO! The time has gone by so fast.

She is such a character. She loves dancing and singing. She LOVES animals. She loves getting her nails painted and looking at pictures. She loves to swing at the park and swim in the pool. And she loves her baby sister.

She comes in my room bright and early exclaiming, "Get up! Sun up! Awake now!" Lately she has started yelling "Hello!!" to the house as she emerges from her room in the morning.

She is so sweet and tender, always giving hugs and kisses, except when they are asked for, of course. Whenever I am hurting or wince in pain, she will come over and kiss me better. It's so tender.

She is also a bargainer. She's always saying, "One more. Just one more." Especially when I sing her goodnight. She always wants "one more" song.

My favorite part of the day is when daddy gets home from work and she RUNS into his arms. Then she'll look at him with her mischevious grin and say "Run" meaning "chase me, get me." It's adorable.

She is great with her songs and sings "I am a Child of God,"  "Families can be Together Forever," "I love to see the Temple," and "Follow the Prophet," along with all of the other little kid songs we do.

For a long time she's been able to count to ten and say the ABC's. She's learned and can recongnize quite a few of her letters now. She knows all of her colors and many of her shapes.

Every day I am amazed at how much and how fast she is learning.

For her birthday we had a breakfast party in the park with Nana Kay. She brought breakfast casserole and cupcakes, apple juice and all the cute matching napkins and plates. It was so fun. The cousins and Granny were invited too.

Kay spoils all the little girls. So since it was both Annalee's and her cousin's birthdays, she also gave presents to their two sisters. All four little girls got gifts. Annalee got clothes, a new little mermaid chair, sunglasses and an art kit.

Here she is just waking up, showing us her new talent of holding two fingers up instead of one.

On her birthday we got to go to the Mesquite Groves Aquatics center in Chandler with a bunch of friends in the ward for "playgroup." It was so fun. This place has a lazy river, big slides, little kiddy slides, big pools, and a fun kiddy pool with water spouts and fountains. We ate lunch there and got some sun.

Here she is in the lazy river with her Aunt and cousins.

Eating lunch at the tables.

 She didn't like being sprayed in the face but she warmed up to the pool and splashed around after a while.

By far her favorite present though was the SWING! Daddy made her a swing for her birthday (I helped sand it a little and I painted it while he hung the ropes). It was the first thing she got to open when she woke up on her birthday. She wanted to stay out there forever. She got to swing again later that evening. She loves to swing and loves her Uncle Kirk.

 On her birthday we had a party with the Woodruffs. Granny, Papa and Uncle Kirk were here at the house, while Scott, Megan and Kimber were here virtually. Video chat is fun, but Annalee is still shy about it. With Scott and Megan she just stared at the computer like she doesn't get it, but occasionally she will respond. Once Kimber was on later, she has warmed up enough and would show each present to Kimber on the computer as she opened it.

Here she is with a new swim kickboard from Granny and Papa

She also got a purse full of goodies from Granny. Inside was nail polish, chap stick (which she LOVES), coins, a comb, a bracelet, and ticktacks. She finally realized that she could eat the ticktacks and then they didn't last long after that :)