Kassi turns 2!!!

Kassi is trying to show you how old she is with her fingers. She is a little concerned at this point. Andy would say that her facial expressions - especially those that involve the eyebrows come from her Mother?!?
I hope Andy doesn't think the same about this face :). She can't quite get those two fingers to stay up!
Okay, now she is getting a little upset at those two fingers for not doing what she wanted them to do!
With a little help from Mom, it worked! She was quite proud of her accomplishment!
She loved her new "Hello Kitty" night gown from Grandma and Grandpa, her necklace from her aunt and cousins, and her scooter from Mom, Dad, Drew and Jesi! It took her a little while to figure out how to ride it. She was quite creative in her first approaches - riding on her bum and scooting with her legs and having Jesi help her steer!

She also LOVES this dress from Grandma and Grandpa Walker. I'm tempted to have her wear it every Sunday because it is so darling on her (and my favorite color)!!!

She was so excited to get this card and a package in the mail from Grandma and Grandpa Starkey!

This picture and the next show what was in the package - a cute little dress w/ matching shirt and 2 adorable hats that she and Jesi like to wear together! This is her new wave - it is a true wave involving the movement of each finger!

Grandma and Grandpa Starkey actually sent Jesi her striped pink dress a year or two ago and it has been one of her favorites. So, of course when Kassi got her dress, they decided to dress alike! And the hats completed the outfit and the love! They were best buddies all day - as they are most days!

Andy's family was in town and it was Kassi's aunt Cari's birthday that week as well. So, we all ate at the pizza factory together and then came home for some chocolate cake and homemade strawberry frozen yogurt! I was planning on making Kassi another "themed" cake later, but she seemed plenty happy with this one!

Kassi and Jesi LOVE to dress up with all the hats, gloves, scarves, etc. that they can find! I'm a little sad to box up these clothing items for the summer that have provided hours of entertainment! But, I'm sure they'll be back at it again next year! And, Kassi might have her hair fixed for more than a few minutes at a time due to finding a winter hat! I must admit that I almost put my foot down to Kassi's insisting on sitting on her Dora potty chair. You probably can't tell in the picture above, but she is sitting on her Dora attachment. But, if she thinks sitting on the potty chair is as fun as dressing up, maybe that is a good sign for the future?!? I'm hoping Kassi follows in her sister's footsteps and decides to basically potty train herself one of these days before the baby comes?!? Here's to wishful thinking!

Is this what they mean when they call the age of 2 the "terrible two's"?!? Kassi's favorite activities lately include climbing to find scissors, permanent markers (as in this case) and anything else that could be dangerous or make a mess, such as toothpaste, food, etc. We have worried more about her than any of our other children when it comes to making messes and getting hurt due to adventurous ideas including climbing! I had a cute picture of her with just a plain old smile, but this picture shows her personality a little better!

I'm pretty sure it was the same day (despite the different outfit) that she found the salt shaker and went a little crazy. She is always proud of her art work on the wall, furniture, etc. as well as most of her other messes! How can you be upset with this cute girl? Her vocabulary has picked up like crazy the last couple months since her birthday! On her birthday, her new word was "WHY?" The next day, her new word was "MINE!" And the following day, her new word was "Snack?!?" Since then she has been learning several new words and/or sentences every day and it is so fun to hear what her little mind is thinking.

Kassi is our little fruitaholic! If she sees fruit at the beginning of a meal, she refusses to eat anything else! So, we always have to hide the fruit and serve it as dessert! She has recently become deathly afraid of "bugs"! If she sees a dark mark, anything floating in the tub (including grass, lint, etc.), a dead fly in a light fixture, etc. she is horrified. Occasionally she will wake up screaming in the morning because she thinks she sees a bug in her room. I'm afraid she gets that from me - although I've really calmed down over the years, so I'm surprised that it would have passed on to her?!? I feel horrible about the possibility that I could have instilled fear in my child by running away from a bee or screaming when I kill a spider! Her favorite things lately have included "sicles" (popsicles), "roni and cheese" (ever since Drew fulfilled a cub scout requirement by making from-scratch macaroni and cheese for dinner, she has been asking for it often - this morning she insisted on "roni and cheese" for breakfast!), playing outside, reading books, watching "Signing Time", dressing up or playing house with her big sis, playing cars with her big brother (despite his occasional protests), entertaining just about anyone, brushing teeth and then finding a spot of floor somewhere in the house to leave her tooth brush, smashing Mom's toes with her million mile per hour stool, and choosing her own clothes to wear. She prefers p.j.'s during the day and clothing at night, so if you see her in her pajamas in the middle of the day, you'll know that I lost the battle. She loves to have her "bankies" and will insist on every blanket in sight when she goes to bed. So, we have to hide some, or she will cry until she has 10 or more blakets covering her. She loves kitties and puppies and we love how she calls kitties "meows". She loves to pretend she is a kitty. She goes around on all fours and likes to lick her food and your hand! Oh, and another favorite of ours is when she tells us whose turn it is to pray. At night we have scriptures together and then take turns saying prayers together as a family. Kassi will say "Daddy, your turn!" and proceed with everyone in the family from oldest to youngest. She calls Jesi, "Sissy" most of the time which we find adorable. Sometimes she decides to go first, such as for dinner tonight. She blessed "Gamma, Gampa, Jazz" and then said "Daddy, your turn!" She has gotten a little confussed and thinks we always need to take turns praying every time someone prays! Kassi has been a pure joy to have in our family and we don't know what we'd do without her. She is always making us laugh and we have no doubt that she will continue to entertain us for the rest of her life! We love you, Kassi! Happy belated Birthday!!!