We had a birthday party for her on the Saturday before her birthday and invited all her family..and most of them came. She was so excited, but was a bit overwhelmed at first by how many people were in her home. After Mike and I traded off holding her and kind of letting her absorb what was going on, she relaxed and went off to play with all her cousins. It was a GORGEOUS day outside (LUCKILY!), so we kept our back door open and let the smaller kids play out back, while the older kids spent most of the party in the front yard playing around the neighborhood. This made SUCH a difference and the house didn't feel as crammed as it usually does at my parties. I'm so glad all our family members (or, most of them, at least) were able to come and celebrate with us. Diana got LOTS of fun gifts and loves to play with all of them all day, every day. She is one lucky girl! I made her a mini-Winnie the Pooh cake and she was so excited (she LOVES Winnie the Pooh)! I made sandwich cookies, cookie dough balls, and cake pops for everyone else...they were all VERY sweet treats, I guess I should have toned down a bit on the sugar. :) All in all, the party went great, Diana had a good time, and I think so did most everyone else!
On Diana's actual birthday, we let Diana choose everything for the day (food, clothes, etc) and she made some great choices! She chose Milk, fruit & veggies, and some turkey bacon for breakfast, she chose to wear her favorite grey knit dress to church, and she was SO excited to go to Nursery after Sacrament meeting (as always!). After we got her from Nursery, we asked her if she wanted to go home, to which she promptly replied, "NO!" We then asked if she'd like to go straight to Grandma and Grandpa Steadman's (We go every Sunday for Sunday Dinner), to which she excitedly exclaimed, "Uh, Yep!", so we headed home to change (She passed out in the car on the way) and then went out to G & G Steadman's. She was so excited to be there and to spend time with her Grandma, Grandpa, and aunt Julie. She got lots more gifts there (most being clothes - she LOVES clothes, such a girl!) and enjoyed another mini-cake, courtesy of G&G Steadman. (It was essentially two white cupcakes SLATHERED in frosting to create a dog, and she DEVOURED it!) She was a good girl that day and Mommy & Daddy promised not to get angry at her for anything, so she had a GREAT day! :)
I took Diana this morning for her 2 year check-up and she's developing great! She's 25.5 lbs (32%), 34 in (55%), with a head circumference of 47 cm (37%). She got one shot today, which she was a little upset about, but in true Diana fashion, within 60 seconds of her shot being administered she was all better and forgot all about it. They never really phase her after the initial pinch. She got a purple paper crown and some Disney Princess stickers from the Nurse for the shot. OH, and today was her first time with her new doctor - we LOVE her!! Her name is Dr. Clifford with Southwest Medical Associates and she's FABULOUS!! I will admit, I usually don't like female doctors, but she was so sweet, so personable, so informative, and SO good with Diana! Diana seriously loved her and talked her ear off, and that's huge because Diana was always scared of her last doctor. I'm so excited to have her as Diana's new pediatrician, and to bring my baby boy to her once he gets here. So, if anyone's looking for a good Pediatrician, I HIGHLY recommend her!
- Diana's talking SO much lately, it's crazy. She learns at least one new word a day and loves to sit Mike and I down on the stairs individually and have heartfelt conversations with us each day.
- She's very affectionate and loving, and loves to be silly and give big, squishy kisses and hugs to Mommy and Daddy.
- She still LOVES babies, and I'm so excited for her to have a brother soon.
- She's FINALLY starting to learn names, and it's fun to watch her associate a person (in picture and in person) with a name.
- She loves to color and will ask to color with her pencils at LEAST once every day.
- She LOVES to sing and sings a million different Nursery songs throughout the day, especially on car rides (and especially when Daddy's in the car, because he'll sing along).
- She loves movies and quotes her favorites both while watching them and at random (she is SOOO my child in this respect...I'm sure it drives Mike NUTS!).
- She's getting SOOOO much hair -FINALLY!- and she loves to have it styled, especially in Pigtails (or, as we call them, Piggies).
- She loves to go to the store. Target is her favorite and every time we go, without fail, she will head STRAIGHT to the jewelry section and look through all the bracelets, watches, necklaces, and earrings, exclaiming piece by piece, "Ooo, so pretty!" and "Oooo, so cute!". She's such a girly-girl!!
- She can put on and latch her own shoes and she loves to put them on.
- She can buckle herself into her car seat (Mommy LOVES this!) and is very proud of herself every time she does it.
- She loves to play pretend with her teddy bears, babies, kitchen toys, doll house...anything she can get her hands on she'll play with it, and she's got QUITE the imagination!
- She still loves to brush her teeth and is starting to get REALLY good at it on her own.
- She loves cheese and yogurt, even though she still has a bit of a Milk allergy (poor girl!).
- She's still very much a Daddy's girl and can't wait for Daddy to get home from work every evening.
- She can and loves to dress herself, although she usually needs a little help getting her shirt on...she's a bit dyslexic with her shirts.
- She now prefers showers over baths, and still gets a shower every night before bed, although now she tries to sneak in a morning shower too with Mommy.
- She got moved from her toddler bed into a twin sized bed right before her birthday, and she LOVES her new bed! She got to pick the blanket - it's a plain purple blanket (Mommy LOVES it, it's so pretty!), and then she just has plain white sheets...this makes for an easier time come laundry day, plus they're versatile, so no matter what she changes her room theme too, I can keep using the same sheets!
- She's leaning more and more of her ABC's and still loves to count - she can still only count to 5, but she does great at it. She loves to pretend to write her letters and numbers.
- She's so smart and she gets bigger every day...it's amazing to literally see her intelligence grow day by day. I love her and I'm so thankful Heavenly Father trusted me enough to send her to me. She's my angel and brings a smile to my face every day. I love her with all my heart!!
