Holland 2nd birthday!

Our sweet baby turned two on a very busy day. First there was a YW pie fundraiser that I was in charge of. I orchestrated a bunch of teenage girls making about 115 pies. So, shocker, it was exhausting and all didn't go according to plan. After that was the big girl's dance performance, which was so so fun. Then it was time to celebrate our sweet Holly baby. Unfortunately, she didn't get a nap, so she wasn't super happy through part of her birthday. But there were happy moments. Check out these sweet smiles!

We thought playing bubbles would be a fun activity, but it turns out she was just mad she couldn't dump out the humongous bottle of bubbles. We did yogurt for her treat this year. She hated her cake for her first birthday, and she loves yogurt. She also likes to eat the runny yogurt with her fingers.

Then it was present time. Every kid loves presents. We mainly gave her toys that we had boxed up that are fun toddler toys. I feel like we have so many toys, but my girls aren't really toy people. I don't know why. Anyway, the same holds true for Holland. Maybe we just have lame toys...

 Happy birthday sweetheart! We love you so much!

Holland is at such a cute age. We love all the new words she is discovering. And she is delighted to be able to communicate, but very frustrated when we don't know what she is trying to tell us.

Some funny things about Holland are that she doesn't say her sister's names very often. For many months is was just 'did-ors' (sisters) for either one of them. Recently she has picked up on saying their names, which is still adorable.

She also likes her privacy when she goes poo. She yells bye-bye at me when I am near her and she is working on it.

She likes to say random numbers, and when counting goes "1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 9, 10!"

She is the family clown and lights up with a big cheesy grin when someone laughs at something she says or does and will then keep doing it to try to get more laughs. Her grin involves doing a huge smile, lifting her head to the sky, and squinting her eyes closed. It is adorable.  She is quite the tease.

She loves having her hair done and often asks mommy for "tails!"

Holland likes investigating her sisters' things and enjoys unloading their cabinets and desks.

Unfortunately for Ellie, she really likes chocolate and will yell at us "Choc-ate!!" when we are having treats until we give her some.

She really loves lotion and says "lotion" and "hands" when asking for some. She also likes to put it on her knees, so she says "knees!" first thing when she gets some lotion on her hand most of the time. This is one way she has been entertaining herself during sacrament meeting lately, which has its pros and cons.

She really likes playing "Ring Around the Rosie" and says "rosies!" and insists that everyone present join in the circle. We all join in because she is so cute when she asks.

Her favorite song is "Follow the Prophet" and she excitedly says "Fo-ow Pocka!" when it is time to sing. She has been trying to sing along with songs she knows a lot more lately even though she gets most of the words wrong still, which is super cute. To our chagrin, one of the first songs she knew was "Shut Up and Dance." Then after family prayer she says "Hugs!" She also loves, loves "Fee-Fi" Nephi's Courage.

She loves her teddy bear still (actually it is Eliza's) and needs it in her crib.

We are still working on colors, and every time we ask her what color something is she says blue. Her next try is usually red.

She loves listening to nursery rhymes in the car, which is good since we have lots of road trips this year.

She still doesn't like strangers but is usually friendly to moms and little girls.

We never know what to expect from her at mealtimes. Some days she will eat the taco salad, lettuce and all, but sometimes she won't eat very kid-friendly foods. She usually doesn't like meat, unless its chicken nuggets. Generally, she does like fruit and cheese a lot.

She recently discovered ice cream and will sometimes start demanding some, like at lunch time.

She does the cutest little dance right now, which looks more like a hop/gallop.

She always says "Hold you" when she wants someone to pick her up. Or when she wants to hold something, she says, "Hold you, bird," for example. (she really likes birds!)

One of my favorite things that Holland does is whisper babble to me. She comes up really close to me, gets in my face (like one or two inches away) and whispers in a most serious manner. It is hilarious and adorable.

She made up her first song yesterday. It only had one word, "Sassies" which is her word for glasses or sunglasses. It was roughly to the tune of ABC.

We sure love our little two year old. We all adore her, so she is probably a little spoiled!