That girl has gone and done it again, turned another year older in what feels like the blink of an eye.  What an emotional roller-coaster the past week has been!  And I’m not talking about Jules…  I’m feeling all the feelings – melancholy over how quickly time seems to be passing; pride in the kind, exuberant girl she’s become; joy in watching her revel in the gifts and the cupcakes and the special time with friends; total disappointment that tantrums apparently don’t end at age two…  But the over-arching theme has been one of gratitude, for Juliette and for sunshine and for friendship.
We partied at Jefferson Park last Sunday, celebrating with wiffle ball and pizza and a few of Juliette’s buddies.
I think (or desperately hope, at least) that she has inherited her dad’s natural athletic ability!
Juliette was just about to take a whack at another one of Jason’s pitches when she stopped mid-swing and cried, “my balloon!”
Sure enough, that giant number 3 had come untied and was floating away to never-never land. Â Juliette was super-bummed, but I promised her we’d do our best to find it later (and then I promptly ordered another from Amazon…).
Holy crap, they’re cute.
How do you end a perfect evening? Â With a warm embrace from a cherished friend…
I snuck into Juliette’s room the morning of her actual birthday and tied the new balloon to her bed – I’ll never forget the wide-eyed look of wonder on her face as she whispered in disbelief, “Mommy! Â It came back!”
Shane and I took her out for a bakery treat at Fresh Flours before dropping her off at school – I told her she could have anything in their beautiful pastry-filled display case, and she chose…yogurt and granola, which is what she eats at home every single morning.  Routine for the win.
We walked over to her classroom and I spent a little extra time with her before drop-off, wanting to ease the good-bye and give her a tear-free start to her third year (sadly, it didn’t work).
I may have left her bawling in the morning, but when I came to pick her up, she was livin’ large, strutting around her classroom with this giant birthday crown on her head.  I told her it was time to head home and she asked if she could pleeeease stay a little longer so that she could head out to the playground with her new friends.  I happily obliged.
I eventually coaxed her home and we packed some snacks and our beach gear for dinner by the lake with Shane, La Verne, and Nico.
Make a wish!
I watched these two taking in the sunset together and it was almost too much to bear, knowing that not only had our girl’s second year come to an end, but also that these summer nights by the water are numbered as Fall quickly approaches.  SIGH.
They clearly weren’t too broken up about it.
Inevitably, we tell the kids sure, they can put their feet in, and one of them ends up soaked.  Poor N was much more distressed by his wet cupcake than he was by his wet clothes, though.
Jules had a few gifts to open back at home, so we set up a throne for her on the back porch and let her tear into them.  Gift-giving is so much fun at this age, as she’s equally excited by a flashy new game and a practical package of underwear.
Happiest of birthdays, Juliette Grace!
I’ve been going through our photos and videos of the past year, putting together the highlight reel, and gosh, we played hard during age two – we sledded and danced and swam and camped.  I also read Parenting Without Power Struggles and made a New Years resolution not to scream at my child, but really, two was a blast.
And now it’s time to get on board with three.  THREE.  I expect three will hold more dancing, more hilarious chatter, more adventure.  More milestones, too – in the past few days, Jules has said good-bye to diapers and learned how to count to four in Spanish!  Yep, our daughter is THREE.  I’m liking the sound of that more and more.