Turning 2!

Being nearly 38 weeks pregnant, everything I do is a little slower these days, and I almost forgot to post about Elisa turning 2! We've had so many changes with her this past month that she almost feels like a completely different person than she was 6 months ago. Some are amazing and some are difficult. She has had crazy separation anxiety every time we drop her off somewhere or leave the room for bedtime, which has been a really tough one lately. And we finally decided it was time to give up the pacifier, which she was still using for sleeping, and today I think we turned a corner. After losing it in her bed last night, we declared that "blue birdie is missing." We looked for it everywhere (while I quickly found it under the bed and hid it) and I think she has finally accepted that it is not coming back. But not without a lot of tears.

On the flip side, she is now dancing, singing, running, jumping, playing dress-up, and talking in 4-5 word sentences. Today's new sentence was, "Mommy, close your eyes," which she said as we lay on the floor of her room pretending to take naps side by side, like little girls at a slumber party. Most of her sentences are usually orders, telling me to sit here or go there, or Daddy to sing her current favorite songs - "ball" (Take Me Out to the Ball Game) and "'merica" (Star-Spangled Banner), a tough one for Daddy when it's early in the morning. What a patriot. Soon enough she will have another little person to give orders too, so maybe we'll be off the hook.

Otherwise, we had a really lovely little birthday party for her with some of her favorite playmates and good friends of ours with kids, complete with food from one of our go-to Mexican restaurants, Rodeo, and cupcakes from my favorite neighborhood bakery, Lark. There were also bubbles, beanbag tossing, and a flamenco show!

Here's the birthday girl getting ready to party.

Oliver dominates the bubbles here while the other kids look on amazed.

Everyone enjoying their quesadillas.

Stuffing her face with a vanilla cupcake.

Our friends Scott and Wendy gifted us with a flamenco show. It was really incredible watching all the kids completely mesmerized by Wendy's dancing.

Paul and Elisa got pulled up to dance!

Sitting under the grapevines on our patio in the shade of a hot summer day, with our friends around us and Elisa cuddling in my lap, I felt so incredibly grateful in that moment to have raised a little girl this far in life, even if it has only been two years. These two years have been amazing, and I love every moment of mothering her, even on the tough days.

Other than that, we've been trying to make the most of this last few weeks as a family of 3, which has included trips to the beach.

Trying on shoes and dressing up, a new favorite pastime

Rides on the Griffith Park train

And getting a new car! I am so in love with our new sportwagon. Maybe because it's gray like our dog, drives like a dream, has tons of trunk space, leather seats, bluetooth streaming, gets practically 40 mpg, and they even threw in tinting on the back windows to keep the babies shaded because we are three-time repeat customers at this particular VW dealership. Actually, this is the 4th VW we have owned. I know, we're nuts. But this one feels like a car we can grow comfortably into as a family and drive to the ground. I felt like it symbolized that we're ready for baby to arrive. It's our very own "swagger wagon."

We may be feeling extra sentimental lately because of Elisa's birthday and the baby coming, but raising a family together so far really has felt like a dream. We are savoring each day.