Happy 2nd Birthday!!

On Callie's actual second Birthday, Juan and I were both home to spend the entire day with her. In the morning she had her check up with the pediatrician and she did great. For once she didn't have to get any vaccines and so there was no crying :)
Then we took her to the beach for a picnic lunch and some swimming. I have been wanting to take her to the beach but can't manage it by myself right now as its exhausting, carrying her and chasing her to keep her safe in the water. She got to wear her new Doc McStuffins bathing suit and beach dress that Tia Nena bought her for her birthday. She was really excited about it. She had a fun time splashing in the water and running out into the waves. Juan had to save her more than once from going all the way under. This kid seriously has no fear. We came home and took a bath and used the new Doc McStuffins beach towel to dry off before her nap.
In the evening we had a pizza party at La Bellas, a local pizza place with an arcade, as Callie loves this place. Grandma, Grandpa, Tia Nena, Christian, Jeana and Ford all made it to celebrate yet again. She played arcade games, got a few prizes, opened even more presents, blew out candles and ate more cake! This has been the longest birthday weekend for her! She stayed up late and we even let her watch a little bit of Finding Nemo before bed on her new couch that folds out into a bed.

On a side note I feel like I need to give an update about what things Callie can do at age 2. I used to do this a lot for the months in year one, but then I sort of stopped as the skills slowed down. Here are some of the amazing things she can do now.

• She uses thousands of words- some of the more amazing ones lately have been disappeared, refrigerator, jealous, pinata. She is also mastering things like before, after, out, in, today, tomorrow, sometimes, always, although one she struggles with is up and down for the car window as she always says the opposite and gets mad when you dont do what she intended. 
• She pretends to play doctor frequently. Today before the doctor saw her she said she was taking notes and writing on her clipboard. Besides doctor, she is very creative and imaginative and plays pretend almost everything, especially with her kitchen and dolls. 
• Callie has learned to play games on the iPad and can match up letters and words in one specific game she likes. 
• She is literally a sponge and soaks up all kinds of things we say, even when we think she isnt listening, in the past month some memorable moments have been her saying, "kill you, kill you Manny" after I said I wanted to kill him for peeing on the floor. She also heard kids saying rip the head off the pinata from her party and then yesterday repeated this about the Lambie pinata, rip the head off, hit her hit her. 
• She is very much into coloring and painting and will tell you she is drawing you "someting". She is absolutely left handed and holds the markers and pens with the correct pen grip. 
• Callie can tell you the name of everyone who has a nickname, for example she can tell you mommys name is Rachael, Daddy Juan, GiJu Betti, Grandma Nena, Papa Rique, etc. 
• Callie can tell you the name of her street! Center Street. I am still working on getting her to identify the house number, but for now she just points it out to you. 
• She can tell you how old she is! Finally she has mastered, 2!!
• She can name several colors and shapes
• Callie frequently asks for me to make up songs about certain people or things that happened in our day. If I tell her I dont know one, she will say "try mommy", so obviously this is something I keep telling her. 
• She can blow out her birthday candles, no problem. You may remember last year I practiced forever but on the spot she wasnt able to perform at her party. This year she could blow them out several times on different cakes and different days.
• She can tell you what things she is allergic too (mostly) and what things she has "special" only that mommy makes

I think thats all I can think of for now. But she is pretty amazing to me at 2. She does and says things that just shock me how smart and what a good memory she has. I try really hard to appreciate each day and each moment I have with her as she is growing up so fast and I will never get back the moments of her being a baby, but I love being able to do so much more and communicate with her more every day. Plus she is just the cutest little peach you have ever seen! Happy Birthday to my little Pumpkin Doodle. Mommy loves you to the moon!