Happy Birthday, Kaylee!!

 My little Kaylee is two years old today. She is so grown up for a two-year-old. The thing that really amazes me is how much help she is with Ben. Yesterday I was in the other room, and Ben started crying. She climbed up on our bed to reach his bassinet and found his pacifier, and gave it to him. She even remembered to take her shoes off before climbing on our bed. She loves giving him the pacifier and does it whenever she thinks it's necessary (and it often is exactly what he wants at the time). When I do the dishes, she sometimes looks around the house and brings me any bottles or dishes that were left out anywhere and puts them on the counter for me. One time I said Ben needed a diaper change. She looked in the diaper bag and when she saw that there were no diapers left in it, she went into our room, found the package, and brought it out to me. Yesterday, Will and I decided to play a little trick on her and see what she did. We pretended we were going to the store with her, and leaving Ben alone in his swing. We barely got out the door before she was saying "Ben? BEN!!!!" She loves her little brother so much.

The other day it made Will and me laugh because we were at Red Robin and Kaylee had chocolate milk. She drank it all and wanted more. I said she shouldn't have any more, but when the waitress came, she held up her cup and said "Mmm?" It was so cute that I couldn't resist letting her have more. She didn't say it that time, but she's also getting pretty good at saying please and thank you. It actually sounds like "Peesh" and "Dip-doo!" though. She says "bless you" whenever someone sneezes. However, she says "Meh-neh." I have no idea how she came up with that one.

She's quite self-sufficient. She hates being alone, but if Will and I need to have some time to talk all I need to do is tell her that it's Mommy and Daddy time and she'll happily go play by herself for at least a couple of hours. One of the mornings soon after having Ben, I slept in a little bit with him and she got up by herself. I found her on the living room floor, eating cereal and drinking water out of her water bottle. If I let her play outside with some water and water toys, she's literally happy for hours. I really never have to entertain her, which makes it much easier to care for a baby. I said before Ben was born that she would be a great big sister, and boy was I right!

We did a photoshoot for her birthday today. She is so girly it's funny. We did her hair, painted her nails, and put her in a tutu and she absolutely loved doing all that. I know it might be a little pathetic but I have never made a tutu for her before. She got so excited about it. It was hilarious. Anyway, here are some pictures:

As always, it was a very exercising endeavor. I think I got some good ones though, and we had fun, so that's what counts, right?

Of course, she IS still two. She still has plenty of tantrums, and she gets into everything. A few days ago I found her covered in diaper rash cream, along with the coffee table and Will's school laptop. It was quite the mess, that stuff does not wash off easily. And taking family pictures a few weeks ago was difficult. She was not exactly cooperative.

It's really quite funny looking back on these pictures. I can't wait till she's a little older and I can torture her with them. :)

PS Thank goodness for my sister-in-law Tiffany, she managed to get a few smiles out of Kaylee so we got some decent pictures. She has skills!