Beautiful 2

This little lady turned 2 today! Happy Birthday, beautiful Bereket! On the coattails of her biggest brother's birthday on Tuesday, she was so prepared for all the attention and fun today. She knew just what was going to happen and that she was the special one today. 

Before I barrage you with a zillion photos of today, I want to share a little snapshot of Bereket at 2: 

• Such a talker! She is speaking fluently, and can express a myriad of emotions with words and expressions. She seldom has tantrums anymore (yay!) and instead says, "I don't want to play with you anymore, ___________!!" For fun, I'm going to include this little video of her saying this a couple nights ago. Listen closely at the beginning because she's YELLING behind the door and had been doing so for at least a minute before I could grab the camera. Sorry, it was dark--bedtime around here.

• Girly in a way that surprises me still. She is ALL GIRL. I never imagined encouraging others to buy her tutus, princess dresses and dolls. But, this is what she LOVES. She loves "pink!!!" and "nail polish" and "sparkles!!", "party dresses!" and "shoes!!!!!!" All those exclamations are because I hear her high pitched voice squealing those words as I write them. She loves her baby dolls and takes them for walks, feeds them, cuddles with them, etc. She is a nurturer. She is a girl in the truest sense, and I love that about her. I love it especially because it is so different from my boys (and me!) and is uniquely her. In case you missed it on facebook, here is a video Mark took yesterday after she asked if we could get new nail polish, which I obliged. 

• She is emotive! She is fun, fun, fun and loves to party. She also feels things deeply and expresses her feelings so freely and can articulate them so well. You never have to wonder what Miss B is thinking. She wears her heart on her sleeve. Gone are the days of withdrawn/quiet/anxious Bereket. She is confident and joyful. She is also so loving and affectionate. She kisses Mark and me several times a day, gives hugs all the time, tells us she loves us often and enjoys cuddling. 

On to today! We spent her birthday doing things Bereket likes. Mark took the day off (I already had today off) and we started the morning off with a dance party ala kid-style, followed by a mother-daughter trip out to our favorite neighborhood bakery for her favorite berry croissant. She picked out her cake mix from the store and was so proud of the little Mickey Mouse balloon I bought her. She wanted to wear a new tutu from Grandma Jean, and her "polka dots" from Etta and rain boots, so her outfit was all self-selected (for the record, folks). We spent the morning at a park a few blocks away from our house and enjoyed just hanging out as a family. With how busy things have been lately, this was a huge treat for all of us. We climbed and played. We didn't want to leave, but Ashen was already late for school so we ate a quick lunch and took him to school. Torin and I made her requested pink cupcakes while she napped. Dinner was her favorite (pizza!) and she couldn't wait for her cupcakes. She received at least five phone calls today and soaked each one up. She received some books and a doll today. She named her doll "Hanna" after herself and they are sleeping soundly together after quickly becoming best friends this evening. Hanna is even wearing a matching purple sleep cap :-) 

For those of you who don't personally know our Bereket Hanna, these pictures capture her quite well. She is bright, kind, loving, curious, empathetic, sharing and absolutely breath-taking. We are so blessed to wake each day with this girl. I love you, baby!