TWO.

Elle's birthday fell on a Friday this year so Eric and I both made sure we were off so we could have a day o' fun with our little lady.  We started the day with balloons and a new bike.  Hopefully she can get a hang of those pedals this spring.

Next we decided to take her to her first movie in a theater.  We let her choose between Madagascar Penguins and Big Hero 6, she choose Big Hero 6 because she thought the robot looked like a snowman.  We bought snacks, sat in our seats, watched the previews and about 5 minutes of the movie before Elle fell asleep in my lap. :)  For the time she was awake she did really good.  We told her over and over no talking in the theater....so whenever I would whisper something to her about a preview or if she needed a drink she would say "shhhh mommy, no talking!"

Next up we went for a quick lunch at Cheeburger Cheeburger then to the American Girl Store. :)

I think I was possibly more excited than Elle.  Elle fell in love (for the 2nd time) with the stroller they have on display.  We were dangerously close to her second nap so she was a bit of a wild cat in the store.  Touching everything and would not leave this darn strollers side!  Eric eventually hid it from her.  Elle picked out a bitty baby and a new outfit for her doll with her birthday money from Aunt Mary...Santa also picked up a few accessories while there.

Next up was the big part of our day...Truman Tiger!  Elle had been asking leading up to her birthday for Truman to come to her party, I looked into hiring him to come but between his appearance fee and travel costs I think Eric would have killed me.  It just so happened that we lucked out in a HUGE way, the Mizzou store was having a customer appreciation day with Truman appearance the day of her birthday.  I don't think I've even been excited to see that tiger in my life, but today I was an excited, nervous wreck! We got to the store a bit before Truman came out, before he walked out one of the workers said "little princess, someone is here to see you" as soon as Elle looked up and saw him she screamed "TRUMAN!!!!!"

Elle was never scared of him but a bit timid about touching him at first, she wanted Eric or I holding her to talk to him.  About 10 minutes later all shyness was gone.  She was running around the store, talking to him, touching his tale, playing catch with a football.  The girl was absolutely in love.  I will never ever forget how excited she was.  I'm not sure how we lucked out with a birthday Truman appearance but I'm so very grateful we did.

After literally dragging her out of the store after several goodbye's and Merry Christmas wished to Truman we headed to KoKoMo Joe's to meet the family for some birthday fun and dinner.  The kiddos played, Elle opened presents and rode the go carts. 

This ended a long day of birthday fun. It's so hard to believe our Eleanor is already two.  This girl means more to me than anything in the world.  I never in my wildest dreams could imagine my heart was capable of loving someone so much...she just makes life so much fun. 

Our sweet little two year old...
-has an amazing vocabulary
-she still loves her binky and her lovey
-has a habit of hiding her loveys and then forgetting where she puts them
-really tall for her age
-great eater - she loves fruit snacks, broccoli, chips and dip, brussel sprouts and grapes...but will eat just about anything
-loves her puppy dogs, especially Vito
-loves to stand on her stool in the kitchen and help with dishes
-knows to take her shoes off and put them in the shoe basket in the foyer
-wants mommy to hold her all the time
-as of her 2nd birthday was still sleeping in our bed but after Christmas we started the transition to her big girl bed
-loves Monsters Inc., Frozen, Elmo and Christmas movies
-loves to change her baby dolls diapers
-uses her hands a lot when she talks
-is in the "me do it" stage
-asks "why?" all the time.....seriously, all the time
-loves shopping at Target where we stop at Starbucks for a coffee and cakepop or going to Schnucks where she gets a cookie while I grocery shop.  Every time she says she wants a white cookie but then always picks a chocolate one with sprinkles or M&M's
-is pretty good with her colors
-can count roughly to 10, she usually replaces the number 5 with 9
-loves watching videos of Truman Tiger or the Oregon Duck with daddy on the iPad
-pink is her favorite color
-can fall asleep just about anymore as long as mommy is holding her or she's in her stroller

What an unbelievably fun two years it's been.