The Play by Play of Avery's 2nd B-day

I was tempted to throw a party for Avery's second birthday, but decided she's too young to appreciate it. So, instead we just did some fun stuff and I was pretty good about taking pictures all day, so here goes!

First off, I mall walked with Katie and we let the kids play in the kid zone afterwards. This is when Avery was running away, meaning it was time to head home.

Then, I sat back while the kids baked a puppy cake with cupcake paws. It's so nice now that they are 2 and 4 years old. They pretty much take care of themselves and the house so I can eat bon bons and watch my soaps all day. It's what I always dreamed motherhood would be.

We waited to open gifts until Eric came home for lunch at 11am.

Avery was patient because she's not into presents yet.

Tate was much more anxious. Having recently celebrated his own and Eric's birthdays, he was ready to rip open the gifts. He kept asking if he could help Avery open them. I told him that he has to ask her. She didn't respond, but he said, "I did it!" like the deal was sealed simply because he asked. Anyway, she let him help lots.

We told Aves to take out the paper and she just swatted it a few times.

She stood back a little and let dad and Tate help until she spotted Paige, her new doll.

She's smitten with Paige, and Eric commented that this is the first time that he's felt like he has a real little girl. Up to now it's been much wrestling and growling, but feeding a new baby doll is definitely a sweet little girl thing =)

She also got a sandwich set, some wooden magnetic dress-up dolls, and "The Lion King" DVD, but she hardly noticed those (except to give Paige some cheese).

While Avery napped, Tate asked me to play dolls with him =) They come with some short shirts and a bikini that Tate insists are just "too small!" Since when does my 4 yr old know anything about modesty?! (Mr. runs-around-nude!)

Looks like Avery put the baby down before napping.

Special mid-afternoon snack of choco pudding.

I went to a "Ready for Kinder" class Tuesday night and was given this great ABC train floor puzzle that Tate adores. I like that you can see his sound-effect face here.

Pretty much the rest of the day was spent playing with the baby doll.

We also talked to Tate's special preschool teacher evaluator and speech pathologist and it turns out he doesn't need any kind of intervention-yeah! Katie, Brandon, and Audrey visited for a playdate before dad came home, too, but I'm not that good with a camera to remember to get pics ALL day.

Dad came home, and after pizza, it was cake time!!

Cake time is usually followed by bath time.

And finally, story time.

I like to think that this face means that she loves birthdays as much as her mother and is sad to see it end =0)

It was nice to have a relaxed birthday, but I was still exhausted by the end of the day. Too many bon bons. We love Avery dearly. Of course we're biased, but seriously, you meet her and you love her. In public, people comment on how cute she is. Then, they see her interact with her brother and say something like, "Oh! She's feisty!" with such shock. It's funny because it's true. But deep down there she's a sweety. Deep deep down there, but trust me. Just kidding! We're so happy to have little Avery Bear in our family!