Its official: we have a 2 year-old!

Well, actually, we have had a 2 year-old for several weeks, now. Madelyn Mae turned 2 on June 19th, and we've been riding the wave ever since! :)

Our sweet baby girl is not a "baby" by any means. She is independent, stubborn, opinionated and absolutely the best thing in our lives! I can't believe how big she is, all in size, smarts and personality.

Maddie loves, loves, loves to count. She will count anything she can get her hands and eyes on to. She's even reading numbers that fly by on speed signs along the highway. It is a wonderful tool, of course for the learning aspect, but even better, we can prompt her to start counting numbers and everything else around her becomes forgotten. In other words, she could be close to (or in the middle of) having a fit, or thinking about doing something she shouldn't be doing, we ask her to count for us, and she forgets she was ever considering doing anything else but that. :) I love it.

In addition to counting, Maddie is quickly becoming a pro at recognizing her letters. She loves to say the ABC's, but hasn't quite mastered singing her ABC's. She enjoys listening to others sing it to her, but she has yet to join in. Whether she is looking at a page in a book, the back side of her shampoo bottle or the keyboard to the computer, Maddie loves to point to each letter, with about 95% accuracy!

Some of our favorite catch phrases from our favorite little girl include, "Hooray! I did it!", "Uh oh! Oh no! Oh my!" (and yes, those three are said all together), "Wowee!" and "Mmm. Yummy!" Don't be fooled - she actually says considerably more words than this, stringing words into sentences left and right. We continue to be amazed at all that comes pouring out of her little mouth each day. She really is such a little ham!

For Maddie's birthday, we had an intimate little party at our house, with my sister, Sarah, and her daughter, Ellie, who were in town for a long weekend. In addition to a day spent at Disneyland the following day, we had a fun evening celebrating our sweetie turning 2! There were streamers, presents, and chocolate birthday cake - perfect! Maddie had a great time opening her gifts, pretty sure that each gift bag was actually a purse for her to wear. :) Brant and I gave Maddie a Princess Belle dress, which was a definite success! Ellie has a Snow White dress, and the two girls had a blast dancing, running and twirling around the house in their pretty dresses.Our little princess had a great birthday and is in for a fantastic year ahead. We couldn't be more blessed!