Elise turns 2!!

I can't believe my baby is 2!!! It just keeps going faster and faster. Oh my heck. The ways in which we love this girl, knows no bounds. She's all the boys' favorite. For example, The other day the box of stuffed animals had been dumped out. While I was having Mikey clean, I asked him to pick up the animals. He whined a little about them being dumped out and asked who had done it. I said, "Joey or Elise." Mikey said, "if it was Joey I am SO mad at him!" I said, "but not if it was Elise?" Mikey said, "no." I said, "why? Because Elise is so cute?" Mikey said, "yeah." I said, "but Joey is so cute!" Mikey said, "no, he's not." (Poor Joey. He IS, in fact, adorable. But 8-year-old Mikey and 6-year-old Luke, are a little too close to him to realize it ;)

As another example, after driving some place, Joey and Elise both need to be unbuckled and it is Mikey and Luke's responsibility when they are in the car. They both cry when they are NOT the one who gets to unbuckle Elise, and both whine when they have to unbuckle Joey. Again, poor Joe. He is beyond funny and charming. But that post is for another day. :)

Lately, this little lady LOVES Minnie Mouse, princesses, fairies and all other little girly things. She loves chocolate milk, "juices", "cheeses" (also known as Cheez-its), and fishies. It's almost all she eats and drinks. She never eats real food! But she's two. She's not the first 2-year-old to abstain from eating. :) She doesn't really answer questions. She just repeats what you say. For example, "do you want milk or juice?" "Yeah, milk, juices." It's a little difficult, but then she does this little shoulder wiggle and dance every time she responds and it's just the cutest thing ever. 

She is quite the talker. Again, like so many toddlers, she does not like going to sleep and always yells "no tired! No tired!" whenever we try to put her down. Another favorite of mine is that she does this "hahaha!" evil villain laugh, and then says, "never!" I don't know where she got it, but it's hilarious.

But my all time favorite thing right now is that she and Joey just love the heck out of each other. They play all day every day unless Joey is at school or Elise is asleep. Joey is pretty much always coming up with these elaborate stories about lava, or water-covered floors, or treasure hunts, or being pets, or being babies or whatever and Elise just laughs and runs around after him, not really following the plot much, but loving it anyway. She cries every time I drop him off at school and asks for him all day long. She is crazy about him and I love watching them together. 

So now I display all her cuteness (in no particular order):

She wakes up so happy and darling :)

Her hair is spectacular in the mornings. She sleeps HARD on the back of her head to create the best rat's nest ever! This was a pretty good morning of bed-head.

But she's getting pretty good about letting me brush it out and do what I need to.

Oh man, does she love cuddling with dad :)

Always the big helper! :) (This was my birthday)

Just an awesome picture of her sleeping.

See what I mean? She'll cuddle with dad even when he's asleep.

She's learning to undress herself, in whatever means necessary. This is how we found her when getting her up from her nap. She had pulled her shirt down over her shoulders to her waist.

She is just Joey's little shadow. It is so cute to watch. She wants to do whatever he does and they both just love each other. I love watching them all day!

Birthday morning princess!

Such a pretty birthday girl!

The boys can all get on board with some princess stuff if it includes eating cupcakes ;)

She LOVES shoes. She'll put on anyone's shoes that are lying around. But she especially likes mama's heels.

Although she rarely eats, the chances increase if she can go outside. If she steps out and sees the kiddie table outside, she immediately starts in about "lunch! lunch!" That doesn't mean she'll eat lots, but she'll nibble on it just to be able to sit at the table. 

And finally my labor of love for her birthday: the cake 

But we brought it to the family party since there is a much greater appreciation for the fairy aspect. You know, my house: 1 girl, all cousins in town: 7 girls. Much more appreciation. :)

Happy Birthday, Elise!!! We love you to the moon and back!