Happy 2nd Birthday Annika! Mommy and Daddy love you very, very much! I hope you had a great day. I loved being home to share it with you!

Annika woke up this morning and as we usually do, we brought her into bed with us for our morning snuggles. Except this morning she looked at me and asked for birthday cake. And then she said "Happy Birthday Annika!" How did she know that? We didn't even say anything to her about it yet! We have been talking about it this week so maybe some of that soaked in. Anyway, I sang "Happy Birthday" to her and then made her a chocolate chip Eggo for breakfast. Not quite birthday cake, but I think it was okay. Annika had a fun filled day today, that is for sure. Nana came over around 9:30am and went with us to the mall to get Annika's 2 year pictures taken. Annika was doing just fine at the picture place until they started rolling down the back drop. That scared her and she never quite recovered from that. She was a little leary of the people after that. She didn't smile too much but we got a few cute shots anyway. Annika has become pretty shy around people she doesn't know or hasn't seen in a while. She needs some time to warm up and then she is her normal, goofy self. After pictures we stopped for a bite of ice cream and then came home and ate lunch. Annika and I took a nap together (I didn't mean to nap with her but I fell asleep before she did I think!) while Nana helped Daddy work on the deck. It's almost finished and we have our final inspection on it tomorrow. Kris just has to put the top railing all the way around and we'll be done! It looks great! After we woke from our nap and Nana and Daddy came in the house it was present opening time! From us Annika received a fall windbreaker jacket, an outfit, Elmo bath toys and Duplo blocks. From Nana she got a coloring book. Kris had to leave to go to work then so Nana and Annika played with Duplo's for a while until it was time for us to leave. Nana had to go meet Auntie Kim and Annika and I had to go meet Grandpa and Marcia for dinner. Daddy met us there too. After some yummy Chinese food (really yummy!) we walked around the mall for a while. Annika scored some winter boots from Grandpa for her birthday. She was being such a goofy little girl but very good too. She stayed close by for the most part and if she started to stray a little too far away she was quick to come back to us when we called for her. And she loved her boots and gladly put them on and walked around in them. I just love that little kid so much!

Tuesday night during the night Annika woke up. She jumps up and down in her crib while saying "Mom!" over and over again to get my attention. She doesn't cry or yell so we must have the baby monitor turned up high enough that she knows she just has to say "Mom" (and it's not Mommy or Mama - it's Mom - like a big girl would say - not fair!) over and over again. Anyway, when I went in there she kept repeating "blue pig." She must have had a dream starring a blue pig. I laid her back down and covered her up and we didn't hear from her again until the next morning. A blue pig. Weird.

Yesterday morning Annika and I were snuggling in bed, me caressing her back and face while we gazed into each other's eyes. It was a serene, lovely moment, it really was. And then Annika looked at me and said "I love you Mommy." I melted into a huge puddle, teared up and then said "I love you too Annika" and gave her a huge hug. It was the first time she's said that to me unprompted. My baby girl loves me! She told me so! My heart exploded into a million pieces, it did.

Last night Annika and I attended the ECFE open house. Annika got to meet her teacher, Miss Laura. Miss Laura has been her teacher before and Annika remembered her. We also got to see her classroom and play with the toys. They also had ice cream and cookies for the kids (big and little!). Annika had a great time and didn't want to leave. We've found out that at least 2 other little kids in her Tuesday class have been in her previous classes so both she and Kris will have familiar faces when they walk into class for the first time on Tuesday. When we were leaving I told Annika she should say good-bye to Miss Laura so she walked up to her and patiently stood next to her while looking up at her. Miss Laura was talking to two other parents at the time. Miss Laura said good-bye to Annika and we walked out. It was just precious how she stood there waiting her turn. And Annika was only a little timid when we went into the classroom for the first time. It was crowded with parents and kids. I showed her some toys (including some dolls - she loves her babies!) and then she was happy to roam about the room playing with all the other toys. Once again, she just needed a little warm up time and some reassurance that she could go play. I am so proud of her.