Happy 2nd Birthday, Sydney!

Sydney is TWO!  This probably sounds odd, but this year's birthday has been more emotional for me than her first.  When she turned one, she was still a baby to me, especially because she wasn't walking yet or even crawling.  Now she is a little girl; a sweet, talkative, kind-hearted little girl whom I love more everyday.

We started off her birthday with a stop at Brugger's for a bagel and then headed to the zoo, a tradition we started last year.  Like last year, the zoo was not crowded and we were able to see all the animals fairly close up.  Sydney definitely enjoyed it more this year than last, but her favorite was a temporary exhibit that wasn't there last time....anamatronic dinosaurs!  She was a little apprehensive about them moving and making sounds, but quickly got over it and kept saying "wanna see more dinosaurs!". 

The celebration continued with a pizza dinner with MeMe and Pops, opening presents, and eating cake (a dinosaur cake at that!).  Some of her favorite gifts were a wagon from MeMe and Pops, a playhouse, and a magnetic ocean creature puzzle.

We also celebrated with family and friends at Pullen Park.  The weather could not have been more perfect, although the park was definitely busy because of it.  Sydney had a great time celebrating with friends and family...topped off with a ride on the train!

 

Here are a few things I want to remember about Sydney at 2 years old:
*She continues to amaze me with her language.  She speaks in sentences and uses words like reflection and pterodactyl correctly. 
*She has finally learned how to jump...after much work on her part!
*She loves to read, I mean l.o.v.e.s.  Some of her current favorite books are any Little Critter books, The Very Hungry Caterpillar, Noah's Ark, and a Lion King book. 
*She is smitten with dinosaurs.  She has been saying for the past few weeks that she wants to be a "green T-rex with Bronty (brontosaurs) on the back" for Halloween.  (I'm not sure what the Bronty on the back means...)
*Her go-to name is "Freddy".  If she gets a new stuffed animal, she asks "What we gonna name him?" and then immediately answers herself with "Freddy".  Also, if I don't know the name of something she says "it's Freddy".  For example, we were playing with some Disney Princess stickers.  I know the names of some of them like Cinderella and Belle, but I'm not familiar with some of the newer princesses.  I was telling her the names of the ones I knew and when we got to one I didn't know, I told her so and she responded with "that's Freddy".