Violet is Two!

Violet has been telling us for weeks now that she is going to be two on her birthday.  She also loves counting to two and says things like, "One, two babies!" or, "One, two shoes!"  Even better, "One, two chocolates!"  She would live off of chocolate I think if she could.  Below is the wrapper from a chocolate she ate at her new Aunt Beth's wedding shower.  As if getting a foil wrapper that says "Stay up until the sun rises" isn't enough, she got "One, two wrappers" that said the exact same thing.  

Our cutie loves to play with her baby dolls but loves even more to play with her sisters' dolls.  Here she is below, in clockwise order from the top left: "drawing", holding Lucy's baby dolls, licking chocolate frosting off of the floor on Lucy's birthday, and setting up play with her sisters' Barbies in the kitchen while I cook.

Here is my silly girl caught licking the Himalayan Salt Lamp in the living room.  Most times I catch her licking her finger, then swiping the lamp with the wet finger, and then licking her wet, salty finger.  This time she didn't have time for such dainty salt licking.

As I write this post, it is occurring to me that perhaps Violet has a deficiency in magnesium and salt?  Hence all of the chocolate eating and salt licking?  Or she just takes after me, as I do love chocolate and pink Himalayan salt.  Here she is below getting her hair cut for the very first time by Will's cousin.  She was so proud to have her hair cut just like her older sisters and me!

Violet woke up on her birthday, and thanks to her sisters setting the example in the previous three weeks, she sat up in bed and said, "ViVi presents?"  So we got ready for the day and headed downstairs to open up presents.

This was the birthday that all of Violet's dreams came true.  She finally got her own baby doll and doll carrier to match the ones Lucy and Emma have that she has been coveting.  She refers to this new baby as her "daughter" and when I asked what the baby's name was, without hesitation she told me "Ella" - which happens to be the name of one of her sister's dolls that Violet always wants to play with.  She also got her own piggy bank, her own "big-eyed" stuffed animal, her own apple tree to earn apples on just like her big sisters, and her own Barbie storage box, complete with Barbies handed down from Lucy and Emma.  Now she has all of her own stuff, and hopefully the fighting will lessen.  I can dream at least.

After Violet opened her presents we headed to the local cider mill and had donuts, cider and sausage that we had fried up before we left - all of which was Violet's own request.  As we were eating our breakfast at a nearby picnic table, I saw my parents and sister walking into the cider mill and waved them over.  They may frequent the cider mill even more than we do, and we all exchanged sheepish grins as we acknowledged that perhaps we should form a support group for people like us.  The weather was overcast and looked like it was about to rain so the fact that we were the only people at the cider mill that day was already a testament to our love for cider and donuts.  As if to prove our need for help, a forklift drove past us, carrying a heavy load of Frying Oil and 50 pound bags of Sugar.  Knowing that donuts aren't health food is one thing, but seeing the ingredients truck by you on a giant fork lift are as close to a health intervention as you can get.  In all our years at the cider mill, we had never actually seen the ingredients.  And just when we thought our reality check couldn't get worse, another fork lift trotted by us carrying a load of giant bags of Cake Mix.  My sister's horrified reaction sums up our rude awakening so perfectly - "You mean they aren't made from scratch?"

After our picnic breakfast we said good bye to my parents and sister and headed down the trail for a nice, spring hike.  Violet walked most of the way by herself but by the end requested for "daddy's shoulders" and then eventually her stroller.

We came home and Will set about the business of turning Violet's carseat forward facing.  She finally meets all of the recommendations for weight, height and age.  By switching Violet's carseat from rear-facing to forward facing we had to rearrange Lucy and Emma's seats as well.  The back seat of our sedan is like a master level Tetris game but our incentive to win this round is to buy more time before we need to buy a bigger car.  Will worked it all out, and now Emma is in the middle seat and Lucy and Violet are on either side.  We went for a joy ride once all of the seats were back in and the uncovered food crumbs and cheerios were vacuumed up.  Violet was beside herself with happiness at all of the new sights.  Lucy however was cranky because she did not like being moved from the middle seat to the door seat.  She has since come around to the idea but now Will and I are having doubts as the pecking order has been proved once again, showing that Emma is NOT a head chicken by any means and is now being harassed by BOTH sisters.

 We passed by our friends' house on our joy ride, and luck was on our side when we saw them playing outside.  After a quick hello and Violet showing off her new seat arrangement, we headed home.  Violet played for the rest of the day with her new baby doll, also known as her daughter, Ella.

We measured Violet on the growth chart and she clocked in at exactly one inch taller than Lucy was at age 2, and two inches taller than Emma was at age 2.  Yup, Emma has neither size nor personality on her side for head chicken status.

I had made a double batch of chocolate cupcakes for Lucy's birthday and froze half of them for Violet's birthday.  Because of this, all I had to do was make frosting and the girls were excited to lick the beaters and the bowl.  

It rained on and off all day on Violet's birthday, but that was okay by us.  Violet got an umbrella from Grandma T. for her birthday, so after dinner we headed out for an umbrella walk.

 Lucy and Emma had rain jackets from a friend, and I found some rain boots that fit Violet in our hand-me-down shoe bin in the basement and even a pair for Emma too.  The girls enjoyed free-style splashing in puddles and a little bit into our rain walk we noticed that Charlie had come along too.  Since Charlie didn't have rain boots, a rain coat or an umbrella, he started getting super whiney and Will ended up carrying him for the majority of the trip home.

Violet had a great birthday and she is so proud to be two now!  The past two years have challenged all that we thought we were capable of, and Violet has shown us that although we would have chosen an easier path for her if given the chance, she is up for the challenge.  ViVi, you have been a joy and a gift to us and we are so proud that you are a member of our family!  We love you baby girl!