Gavi is 2!

I can't believe our little baby is two! I asked Brad when I had to stop calling her a baby and he said that time had passed. Then I asked my friends who have two kids and they said their youngest one will always be a baby. No offense Brad, but I like their answer better.

After much consideration, I wouldn't let something like a worldwide pandemic hold me back from throwing a party! So here is the spread and decorations we had for Gavi's Ladybug and Bumblebee party!  Yes, there were only a handful of people here but a party is a party.  We had bumblebee cookies with pretzel wings, ladybug cheese, ladybug strawberries, bumblebee cups, and the cutest cake (the last of which I didn't make).




Gavi was really excited about her spread!  
  

  

Even Brad was excited about the decorations


Our guests came and had a bee-rific time!


Gavi liked the idea of her cake but not the candles:

So we helped her blow them out:


Guess what...she loved the cake!  Look at this happy little 2-year old face:


Contemplating which snack she should enjoy next:


Here are our party guests.  We are few in number but we make up for it in excitement, enthusiasm, energy and love!








We had our family join us from all over the country (probably you, dear reader! thank you!)  The one good thing about covid and being quarantined is that we are all much more willing and able to hop onto a video call - for any reason - a birthday, or just to say hi.  All generations know how to use zoom and we are so lucky that so many people jumped on the call to sing Happy Birthday to Gavi!


Checking out her party guests

The behind the scenes set-up, so you could see Gavi eating her cake up-close and personal

Leo enjoyed eating a bee off of Gavi's cake:


Play time!




Gavi is in love with Pout Pout fish, and BOTH of her aunts and uncles got her Pout Pout fish stuffies!  Can you tell how much she loves them?  Yes, both of them are now her faithful companions in all naps.  That brings her in-bed stuffie count to 6ish regulars, with others being added to the mix occasionally (Thumper the bunny, Flopsie the dog, Petunia the penguin, Elmo, Big Pout Pout Fish, Little Pout Pout Fish)


And she got her very own sleeping bag with an attached puppy pillow!  Look how excited she was:


Here she is the next day, still loving her gifts:


Enjoying one of her favorite activities, reading, with BiBi and Zee




Brad and I got her a scooter!  AND we let her ride it around the house!  I think she was riding laps around the house for about 20-30 minutes, non-stop:


And we got Leo this weight so he can work out with us in the basement but Gavi wanted to show off her guns too:

And it isn't a successful children's party without a grandpa falling asleep, is it?  Here is Zee, after a long afternoon of photography, playing, and cake:

Things Gavi is into these days:

• stuffies!  holding multiple at the same time and telling us "twooo!" or "threeee!", giving them super tight hugs, stroking their heads, giving them kisses on their faces and sharing her water bottle or snacks with them
• Pout Pout fish - all day, every day.  She has 2 pout pout fish stuffies (thanks aunts and uncles!), 2 books, and a bunch of from the library too
• going for walks and refusing to ride in the stroller, then I take her out of the stroller and she refuses to walk in the correct direction and also refuses to get back in the stroller
• getting bundled up for walks - loves her hat with a huge pom pom, and has a love/hate relationship with mittens
• baths
• being held "up! up!" by mom
• telling this story: "waa waa, up, mom" which either means "i was crying and mom picked my up!" or "I was crying because mom wouldn't pick me up".  Either way, she knows how to put together a multi-part story
• starting to throw mini tantrums, so that's fun
• taking her socks off to show her toes

So that's what Gavi the big girl is up to!  She had her 2-year doctor's appointment (where she wore her big girl mask (mostly)) and she's doing great.  We couldn't be more proud of her!  Maybe this year will bring her more hair and less angst...but I'm not counting on it.  We love you, Gavi!