Happy 2nd Birthday, Layla!

Well, it's almost Christmas, which means I have about 24 hours before it's too late forever to blog about my adorable 2-year-old Layla. 

Layla is an awesome 2 year old.  She is awesomely passionate about throwing tantrums, sure, but she is also awesomely passionate about life in general.  About everything.  she walks into a room and her eyes get HUGE and the muscles in her neck get tense and she says, "WOW!'   Regardless of what's in the room, it's exciting to her.  When she sees somebody she loves, she shreiks their name with excitement.  I think it's obvious which parent she's more like--the one who is always excited about everything.

However, like her mother, food is a vehicle for sauce, and in this way we relate very well.  She has never met a sauce she doesn't like. 

Layla has an astounding vocabulary and  a super sweet little voice.  She is often heard pronouncing loudly that she is a "MU-KUH-TEEEEEEW!"  (muskateer).  She knows her colors, can count to "poopteen"  (actually, she usually gets to 8 without fail and then it's hit-or-miss after that, but when she gets past 12 it's all poopteen).  She can sing along to the alphabet song and recognizes a couple of the letters.

Layla loves dogs and has no fear of them at all.  To a fault.  She will get in the face of the biggest, snarliest, jumpiest, lickiest, or anyother kind of dog she sees.  She gives Abby a lot of attention and is currently working on training her to give horsey rides.

Layla also loves yogurt.  a lot.  I mean, loooooves it!  And cheese.  And milk.  She's a dairy kind of girl.  There's really nothing (within the realm of food and not treats) that she loves like yogurt and cheese and milk.  Except apples and oranges, which she is not able to digest and technically not allowed to eat.  So that explains that.

Layla is a lot of fun.  She is always up for having a good time.  She is NOT always up for missing out on a good time or being told "no" when she has decided what the next "good time" is.  She loves to play and dance and climb and jump and sing and color and build and all those things.  There's just not anything I can think of that Layla isn't into.

Layla is great at loving.  She is always giving hugs, especially when somebody is crying.  sometime recently I may or may not have started crying and throwing my own sort of fit and she smothered me with a hug and told me it was going to be okay.  She does hit but it's almost always immediately followed by a big hug and a "I'm sorry--ah you ok?" 

Layla is a joy.  She just is.

------------  Here are some pics from her birthday:



Birthday Party #1, the day before her birthday we left Utah, so before we left we had a quick little party with cousins and Aunts and Grandma's and Grandpa!  So fun!  The cake is a pile of leftover little cakes from Mignon and Joel's wedding. yum.




The morning of her real birthday we rolled into town and spent the whole day wasted.  So that evening we had cupcakes (muffins disguised with frosting, actually), and presents with the family.





So that weekend we had a little get-together with a few of her friends from nursery and their families and I made another barbie cake.  This one took waaay less time (and looks like it), but it was the best I could do that week.  Do you like how I'm in the background about to swat her hand away?





And this was a few weeks earlier.  It just shows how excited she is. sooooo happy!