Happy Birthday Nicole!

Today is Nicole's birthday! My little girl is 2 years old. I can't believe it. It feels like I was just barely pregnant with her and here I am pregnant with another one.

She is growing and learning so fast I just wish that I could tell her to stay my baby forever. Luckily, I have another baby coming very soon, so I guess she can grow up a little.

Nicole has the following accomplishments at 2 years:

• 28 lbs
• Hitting her head on the counter tall
• She can sing the following songs all by herself (though she prefers that I sing with her): Popcorn Popping, ABC, Twinkle Twinkle, I am a Child of God, Old McDonald
• Nicole loves to read! We go to the library once a week to get new books because she loves to read so much. She has a small collection of books, but we can go through them twice in a day because she loves it so much.
• Nicole is FINALLY starting to eat a variety of food. She will now eat peas, corn, broccoli, and spinach in addition to her chicken nugget and hotdog diet. This is a HUGE accomplishment.
• Nicole has too many words in her vocabulary to count. She is constantly surprising us with the words that she knows and she is definitely a little parrot. We really have to watch our own language because she absorbs so much. She speaks in full sentences and asks questions that I didn't even know that she thinks about.
• Nicole loves to cook with Mommy and Daddy. Every time we go into the kitchen, she asks if we are cooking and then she asks for her chair (to stand next to the counter).

On Sunday, Momma Kimball threw Nicole a hotdog birthday party. I was not up for throwing a party at this time because I'm very pregnant, so Momma Kimball offered to have all the Kimball siblings over to her house for a Nicoley celebration. We went with a hotdog dinner because Nicole actually likes hotdogs.

Marie gave Nicole some gifts at the shower on Saturday and Nicole loves them. She got a couple of Kailan shirts, a heart pillow and a coloring book. Right now she is in love with the pillow. She hugs it and carries it around with her. 

Gifts came out almost as soon as we got to Momma Kimball's on Sunday and all the kids were very excited. Lucy and Carlitos loved the presents almost as much as Nicole. They all started playing with them.

Momma Kimball got Nicole this singing rocking horse. She loves it!

Anne got Nicole a felt animal book. I love this! I'm going to try it as a quiet toy for church.

This is Nicole's favorite new toy. It is a littlest pet shop toy. It is a bit above her age bracket so I wasn't sure if she would be interested, but she loves it. I guess she is done with baby toys.

Matt and I got her this magnedoodle for church. She loves this toy too. The trick is hiding it so it becomes a fun toy that she only gets to play with at church.

We also got her a bunch of clothes for the summer. We had to be responsible parents and get her things she needs in addition to toys. I know that the toys are currently a novelty, but hopefully they entertain her for a little while anyway.

The birthday celebrations were a success. I made cherry cupcakes for the party and Nicole seemed to like them too.