Jane Turns 2!

I remember the excitement of throwing Millie a party for her 2nd birthday. When Abby turned 2 we had a fun family celebration with a special dinner and decorations. This year for Jane's 2nd birthday, Jane was lucky to get sprinkles on the ice cream in her waffle bowl after a dinner of leftovers (granted, it was the week before Mark got home). Poor Jane! But what we lacked in pomp, we hopefully made up with in love and attention. She loved the light-up birthday tiara (couldn't for the life of me find an ordinary birthday crown at Wal-Mart) and opening her presents.

Jane is such a delight -- full of personality and determination. She was the earliest walker of the bunch (10 months) and moved quickly from walking to running. She amazingly agile and resilient (she picks herself up after she falls saying, "I okay!"). She is also full of mischief and has a twinkling, mischievous look whenever she is doing something she knows she's not supposed to do and is waiting to get caught. She has a ready smile and a willing hug. She'll often pause what she is doing to come and give me a hug, say "Hi Mama!" and then run to resume her activity (heart-melting!).

I love when I ask her to give me a kiss on the cheek and point to my cheek, she leans in and gives me a kiss and then she says, “Other cheek” and I turn my other cheek for her to do the same thing.

Jane is a real ham and most of the time gets silly when she is the center of attention. She rolls her eyes and shakes her head and makes funny noises. Another funny thing she's started doing after brushing her teeth at night is saying, “’pit, ‘pit!” and makes a spitting sound over the sink. She has seen her sisters spit out their toothpaste and so she wants to do it, too.

Lately her greatest love has been Barbie movies. This is hilarious since she has no interest in any other TV, but almost every morning she wakes up and says, “Wanna watch Diamond Castle!”. She knows all of the songs word-for-word, and loves to dance to the music (apparently she watched it every day while Mommy was visiting Daddy in NYC). When Mark came home he brought her a Diamond Castle Barbie that plays music from the movie when you press her hand (this is the toy that I take off the shelf each time we go to Wal-Mart to keep her occupied and which, of course, she screams for every time when I leave it in the store)
and she looked like she had died and gone to heaven. After continually hearing the songs belting from the Barbie's belly for the past week, we are all wishing Diamond Castle Barbie herself would die and go to heaven.

Jane adores her big sisters and they adore her. They are both content to have just her for a playmate because she is ready and willing to do anything they want. Each night, after I put her in her crib she summons them each to her room, calling "Millie, hug!" "Abby, hug!" We just love our little Miss Jane!