Our TWO YEAR OLD STRAWBERRY!

Listening to her guests sing "Happy Birthday" while waiting to blow out the TWO candles on her ladybug cupcakes!

On June 4th, our sweet Strawberry turned the big T-W-O!!!! We can hardly believe we have a full-blown "big girl" now. And, for those of you wondering, YES...she is acting every bit of the prototypical "endearing-one-minute-and-tantruming-the-next" part! I'm going to have a t-shirt made to function as a warning to all who come too close. It's going to say, "Delightful...until crossed!"

Perhaps the most amazing part of God's perfect design in parenthood is the deep reality that, no matter how challenging our children become, we love them more ferociously with each passing day. Oh, how we ABSOLUTELY ADORE this gift of ours! Susannah is a pretty awesome two-year-old, if we do say so ourselves :). She is exceptionally focused and driven in all that she does, and she has clearly-expressed "visions" for everything she undertakes. She is cautious when it comes to engaging in new activities, and in being so is content to sit back and watch others for a long time before she jumps in and joins them. She is reserved, and is becoming increasingly stranger wary. But once she warms up to you...watch out! She'll talk your ear off in complex, almost grammatically correct, descriptive, and incessant sentences!!! A language-brained girl indeed! Our daily lives are commentated in both spoken English and American Sign Language, and listening to/seeing things that come out of that little mind is incredibly fascinating.

Susannah loves many things, especially painting, watching "Signing Time" DVDs that we borrow from the public library, filling and emptying her piggy bank, trains, helicopters, having tea and chocolate parties with her baby dolls and stuffed animals, watching excavators and other digging equipment work on a nearby project, building elaborate block constructions, and pretending with anything and everything. While she plays we know exactly what she is thinking because even while she's alone she jabbers non-stop! She loves to eat ice cream, so a trip to Kline's or Split Banana is the greatest treat on earth! Indulging in chocolate is her very favorite extracurricular activity. The mere mention of an "M&M" will make her so excited she'll actually tremble with glee! Next to ice cream and chocolate, pink (or red...or blue...or, well, any ole' color will do!) toenails are simply heavenly, and she will sit as still as a rock during and after I paint them until she is given the go-ahead to move around.

She is helpful, enjoying opportunities to help Mommy cook, sweep, and especially scrub the potty. What is it about the toilet brush that holds such intrigue for tots? Her daily chore is to feed Rylie, our ever-patient doggie. She adores animals of any sort, strips the clothes off of all of her dollies to make them "nakey," and listens to music with great attention. She identifies many of the instruments she hears in varying genres of music by saying such things as, "Mommy, Susannah hears a violin! That's so pretty!" and, "That's a hammered dulcimer!" When she's not playing with her "real" instruments, she will make instruments out of whatever she can find. Just recently, she pulled two beaters out of a kitchen drawer, tapped them alternately on the counter, and declared, "Susannah's playing the hammered dulcimer!" I'm not kidding! She has minimal interest in potty training, though she's quite aware of what's happening with her body "down there." Seems to be a battle of the wills, and so far she's winning... In the rare event that she'll actually sit on the potty and go, she immediately stands up and says, "So proud of you, Susannah!" (Does anyone else out there kind of like that their toddler speaks of herself in the third person, because I love it!!!!) And during her nightly "Nakey Time" ritual, at which point she runs around the upstairs in her birthday suit, she always reminds herself, "Don't you pee-pee on da floor!" And then she usually does it anyway! :) How come we don't mind a bit?

Now, onto the Ladybug Party we held at our home for her second birthday!

Susannah and her cousin Sophie helped themselves to the pretzels and other goodies while the party guests talked and played.

Mama made ladybug cupcakes with bright pink frosting rolled in red decorator sugar, chocolate chip spots, and licorice whip antennae.

Grammy put the finishing touches on the "Dirt Cake" she made, and it sure was adorable when covered with bright gummy worms and little ladybugs!

Aunt Jenna made edible ladybugs with grapes, strawberries, and mini chocolate chip spots! She put them atop fresh spinach leaves for a decorative touch.

Though I couldn't find a ladybug balloon at any local stores, I figured a strawberry balloon would do just as well :). Threw in an Elmo balloon for good measure!

Her first gummy worm from the Dirt Cake!

When Susannah and her friends finished eating, it was time to run in the sprinkler! Grammy and Grandpa provided this twisty sprinkler and the children had a blast! What FUN it was just to watch them play so delightedly.

Our un-napped birthday girl was content to hang back from sprinkler time in the safety of Daddy's arms.

Sweet Maggie (right with her mommy Emily) was also a little too skittish to jump into the chaos of wet and wild children, but also watched happily from afar.

Just a cute shot of our Birthday Girl's Birthday Curls!

Uncle Seth (left) had more fun than the children in this fort!

Each child got to pick a pair of tulle wings for the first ever Guilford Avenue Bug Parade...right in our very own backyard!

Susannah, Judah, Hannah, and Ethan awaited present time eagerly.

The rain held off until the guests had departed, which was such a BLESSING! Aunt Natalie had the privilege of taking Susie Joy out into the gentle warm rainfall with her brand new ladybug "ungrella" from her friend Lily.

Our tired little ladybug was asleep by 7, but up and ready to play the next morning at about the same time! She ran around in her ladybug jammies while wearing her new ladybug barrette from Grammy and Grandpa. She and Daddy spent much of the morning watching the new butterfly light, also from Grammy and Grandpa. Susannah is incredibly interested in butterflies, so I researched the names of six different types shown in her light. She has learned to identify them and takes great joy in doing so!

Uncle Seth and Aunt Natalie spent the night at our house, and the next day practically gave Mommy and Daddy the day off by playing with our girl! Here, Aunt Natalie pushes Susannah on her new tricycle (her birthday gift from us). Notice "nakey" Dolly in her left hand. By this point in the day, Dolly had already had a bath, a nap, on the changing table, and several meals! :)

Here, Susannah gives her new pull-along puppy from Sela and Adra a drink of Rylie's water.

Uncle Seth and his "other woman," our very own Rylie Firecracker

Other June Adventures...

What an eager dishwasher we have!

Susannah is just like her Daddy in terms of her love of tools and assembling things. They put together the easel/chalkboard attachment for her kitchen Learning Tower. She didn't even give me time to wipe her sunbutter lips before she dug in with a screwdriver and screws!

What concentration! What SUNBUTTER LIPS!!!!!

After a few more chances in the sprinkler, Susannah finally decided it was safe enough for her to try! Her best buddy Judah came down, and the nakey little wild things were all wiggles and squeals as they frolicked in the cold water!

These are the moments childhood is made of...

Sherando Lake has been our family's favorite summer spot this year. We went almost weekly, driving 40 minutes to enjoy the sandy beach, the calm water, the surrounding mountains, and the shady picnic areas. We had the treat of seeing many tiger swallowtails--Susannah's favorite butterflies--during our visits!

"Delicious shivers" (to borrow Grandpa's phrase!) as Daddy chases and splashes her!

Judah and Susannah wade in the shallowest part of the lake.

Daddy turned 35 on June 24! That morning, when I got Susannah out of her crib, I told her, "Today is Daddy's birthday! How old will Daddy be today?" Her confident response? "Daddy will be TWO!!!!" We made a pound cake, one of Daddy's favorites, to celebrate!

Is there anything better in all the universe than a two-year-old with strawberry curls???????????!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!