Dear Cupcake #5,

As I spent some time gathering photos for this post, it brought back memories of your eventful, long, and exciting birth and I can't believe another year has gone by since I wrote your 1st birthday tribute post!

You have changed in so many ways since your 1st birthday celebration and what a joy it is to celebrate another milestone with your 2nd birthday!  This past year you have also grown in so many ways, including your wild and crazy curly hair!

So around your first birthday you were cruisin' and taking big steps.  You were so fast and on the go so much the only way I could take a picture of you was if you were resting against the glass door on the inside of our house and I was on the outside. :)

You REALLY like shoes!  Not just your new shoes that Aunt Jeanne gave you, but any shoes: my shoes, Daddy's shoes, your sister's shoes, your brother's shoes, stranger's shoes.   And this past year has been filled with great golf ball size bruises on your forehead...more than once!  And you found it very funny to rub avocado all in your hair!  Yuck! :)

You got and gave many, many hugs and kisses this past year because you are soooooo huggable and kissable!  And your hair went from short, straight, and tame to long, curly and wild in a short time!

You loved staring at our Advent wreath in Dec. 2014. You love saying prayers with our family and making the sign of the cross before each prayer.  Whenever you see a cross or a crucifix you always point and say "G-sa" (Jesus).  Our family grins and giggles when you sing "Ah-ley-U-yah" (Alleluia) loud and proud during Mass or when you fold your little hands and bow your head in prayer.  Your siblings and Mommy and Daddy love you loving Jesus so much!   And you thought you were a big shot when you figured out that a Cheerios box can also serve as a great stepping stool for an inquisitive and sneaky little girl!

You always love hanging out with your big sisters and they love hanging out with you!

Your big brother is also one cool kid to go down the slide with and you love sneaking in piano practice with him.  He is always so patient and loving to teach you his musical talents!

Your shirt on the left above says "Wild Girl".  Yep, that's you!  Your wild hair matches your wonderfully wild and sweet personality!  You love to walk your "doggies" throughout the house as your sisters act like puppy dogs as you grab them around the neck to give them a walk.

Besides really loving the homemade "I-seem" (ice cream) from the strawberry farm down the road from us, you also love "doggies" and staring at our neighbor's dog in his backyard is great fun for you as you listen to his loud bark.

I'm not sure how much you have loved being dragged to soooo many soccer games of your 3 older siblings this past year, but you did make the most of your time on the sideline as you entertained yourself with picking blades of grass or maybe it was examining a bug that got you through another game.

"Ow-sigh" (Outside) is always a hit with you as you enjoy pushing the grocery cart or riding your little tricycle in our driveway or playing with sidewalk chalk or the hose or swinging on our swing set.  And here you are with my shoes at your Uncle's wedding!

Dressing yourself with more of Mommy's shoes, Daddy's ties, and your sister's bathing suit has kept you quite occupied this past year.  And you know that when I call your name, your first response is to look up or turn around and say "Cheese!!!" with a big grin because chances are Mommy has her phone pointing at you and wants to take a picture of your cuteness! 

You love the surf, sun, and sand at the beach and staying cool in Nana and Grandpa's neighborhood pool with Daddy is fun too!

Since you have always been super flexible and even more so this past year, we signed you up for a summer gymnastics class recently and you LOVE to hang on the parallel bars! And you love the songs they sing in class and the clapping and the bubbles that are blown at the end of each class!

Even with dirt on your face, you can still take some super cute selfies with me.

For the past few months you have really enjoyed the book "Goodnight Moon". We have read the board book version  for awhile now so when you saw a little boy reading it at the library table last week, you ran up to him and tried to snatch the book from his hand since you were so excited to see your favorite book!  After waiting patiently for the little boy to leave "your" book unattended, you checked out "Goodnight Moon" with your sister's "caw" (library card) at the self check-out station so now we read the library version AND our board book version of "Goodnight Moon" every day more than one time a day sometimes!  You love to spot the roaming "mow" (mouse) in the book and the moon, "clock, clock", fire ("hot"), and count the bears sitting on chairs!

Your precious little feet have taken you on many fun adventures with us these past 2 years and your love, smile, hugs, kisses, laughter and sweetness has taken each of our hearts and filled them with love and memories, and has helped our hearts to grow more than we could have ever imagined Baby Girl!

Happy 2nd birthday, sweet Cupcake #5!

We love you!

Love,
Mommy