And just like that she's 2! Happy birthday Mia!!

Unbelievable that my baby is 2. How??!! Why?! She's growing up way too fast! And there's nothing I can do about it. I just want to bottle her up and capture who she is right now for forever. She can keep growing and we'll keep enjoying her. I just wish I could hang on to little Mia for a lot longer. I love how much she's talking and adore her sassy/shy personality. She learns so much from watching her sisters and so much of her excitement for life comes because she knows that her sisters are excited about those things.

She's been into birds and ducks for months and months now. Probably around Sophie's birthday we asked her if she wanted to have a duck/bird party when she turned 2. I wasn't sure she'd have an opinion (and we really shouldn't have been discussing it until after Lydia's birthday ;) ;)) but she was clearly thrilled at the idea. So we logged that away for a few months and, as the birthday got closer, started making plans!

Jon has become the master cake baker/decorator as of late, but he had to travel the night before Mia's birthday and wasn't going to be home until late so it was up to me. I prefer made from scratch cakes over boxed ones and started making the best white cake {ever} after the girls had gone to bed. Pretty sure I overmixed the batter because the 9" cake sunk a little in the middle, one dozen cupcakes were a little more sunken and the other dozen cupcakes were unusable craters. And I pulled them out of the oven just as Jon made it home. Total disaster. So Jon rushed to the store for a cake mix and baked them when he got home while I wrapped Mia's gifts. I didn't mention they were made from scratch because I thought I'd have a total breakdown and there wasn't any time for that, so Jon didn't find out until later what my deal was and what had actually happened. Which was probably for the best. We decided to get some sleep and left the cakes to cool until morning.

Mia was so excited about her balloons when she woke up! She does the cutest little dance when she's excited about something and we got to see it several times on her birthday. She's a pancake fan, so we made them for breakfast and then Jon took the birthday girl and her sisters to the junior high for a bike ride. Mia got to ride behind Jon in the trailer and Lydia and Soph rode their bikes. Soph took a few turns in the trailer with Mia and everyone had a good time.

While they were gone I got to work decorating. Fortunately things went much more smoothly this time around and there were no major disasters. And when Mia saw the duck cupcakes, the grin on her face made it all worth it. She was giddy about her duck cake and the bird cupcakes passed inspection too! Our tiny little lady filled up on cheeseburgers for lunch and then the girls watched Monster's University while Jon and I got the house ready for the party and Mia's guests.

 

Jon took Sophie to gymnastics while I made dinner. The girls munched on PB&J, carrots and grapes at the counter and then family started to arrive. It was amazing to contrast how excited Mia was about the party, the balloons, her guests coming (along with everything else that had to do with her big day) verses how shy she actually was once everyone arrived.

Right before we got started our cute little neighbor, Evie, showed up with a Christmas box for Mia. I got a text from her mom with this explanation: "Hey Becca, I hope you all had a fun day celebrating Mia's birthday!! Evie ran over earlier with a little Christmas box. She went to her room and found a little bunny. She got tissue paper and the box and put it all in and then told me it was for Mia's birthday! I have no idea what condition it is in! She said to me "it's okay mum, it's a cute little bunny for little Mia. She's little and cute like this bunny so she has to have it." I couldn't disagree with that!!!! Just wanted to explain in case you were wondering what the used toy in a Christmas box was about. :)" -Louise. So cute! These neighbors moved here from England a year ago and their little Evie has been a great friend to our girls. They moved to Provo yesterday and we (along with our ward and neighborhood) miss them already.

Anyway, once the party started, cute Mia delicately opened her presents. She needed a little bit of help because there were so many people there that her excitement visibly lessened. But she'd thank each gift giver by whispering to the floor. The duck from Uncle Tophe was an instant favorite, the singing Sophia the First birthday card from Grandma and Grandpa was enjoyed by many, and Tiger Family toys were winners right away too. Aunt Cathy's paw patrol gift caught Lydia's and Sophie's attention and the puppy from Aunt Stacey has gotten some love as he's been pulled around the house. The books and clothes weren't immediately appreciated (and the clothes turned out to be WAY TOO BIG. In fact, one of the dresses has been claimed by Sophie. It looks great on her with some leggings underneath) but the giraffe and bunny were acceptable gifts.

Mia wouldn't let me put her down while we sang. She needed help blowing out her candle. I know she could have done it, but not with so many eyes on her! Thanks to Uncle Jarom for the pics while we sang. I wasn't allowed to set her down to eat her cake either, so she ate her cupcake in my arms until it was too difficult and then she let Uncle Tophe hold her while I finished feeding her. Cousins played outside and inside and I brought in Uncle Isaac's and Aunt Amber's card from the mail while everyone chatted. We were hoping that Grandma Steed's card had arrived, but it hadn't. It was so nice of them to come join us to celebrate Mia! Then she opened it with Isaac and let me read it to her before she took off playing.

We tried to get a good picture of Mia in front of her growth chart, but she wasn't in the mood. No amount of coaxing from her parents did any good. Uncle Will tried to encourage her too, but the results were the same. She went boneless and melted into Jon's arms. We tried again the day after and even with Lydia and Sophie getting "measured" first Mia wouldn't do it. Nothing we said or did could persuade her to stand up tall and get marked off. Good thing she had a well child check up Friday!

 And at her checkup we found out that this dainty little lady is hugging the bottom of the growth chart. She's once again in the 0 percentile for weight. In Mia's defense it was really difficult to get a measurement on her and I'm not sure it was accurate when all was said and done. She's in the 33rd percentile for height and she looks healthy so we're not worried about this 0% business. She's up 5 1/4 inches from last year and stands 2'9 1/4" tall. She's growing!! And we love her. We love her enthusiasm, the way she talks, her sweet teeth (all 16 of them), the sideways looks she gives when she's embarrassed or we don't understand what she's saying and her obvious love for her sisters. We're all lucky ducks to have her in our family!!