Lancelot Acres

Happy 2nd Birthday Lauren Mae!

Lauren as a newborn.

You can really see her 'black' eyes here.  She was born with two black eyes.  They think it was because her umbilical cord was wrapped around her neck twice and her heartbeat dropped with every contraction.  They would have taken her by C-section even if I hadn't already had one planned.

Lauren at 1 year old.

Lauren Today:

She still has redish eyelids but they aren't really noticeable unless she is very tired or has been crying.  They are noticeable in the above picture (she was tired, not crying...LOL).

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Well, our little girl turned 2 years old today.  I cannot believe it.  I'm feeling a bit emotional about the whole thing.  She had a great day today.  She's been saying, "Happy Birthday" for weeks, but today she was really saying it a lot.  She went to my parent's house yesterday and they gave her a few gifts, so she was really beginning to understand that this birthday thing is pretty cool.  Too bad she doesn't understand that it's only one day.  LOL.

We dropped Lilli off at school and then took the long way (back roads) to Kalamazoo to pick up their pictures we had taken 3 weeks ago.  I set Lauren down in the toy aisle at Wal-mart and told her she could choose anything she wanted for her birthday.  She had so much fun.  We were there for over an hour and a half.  She walked and played and ran and chattered.  It was so funny.

After much deliberation, she chose a figurine of Goofy w/ Chip and Dale, and a figurine of Donald Duck w/ a lion ($5 each).  I chose a 'see and say' for her.  Her only other request was a sucker, so I bought that at the check-out counter.  She was one happy girl carrying her toys out to the car.  LOL

We are going to 'celebrate' her birthday on November 1st and we are giving her a dress-up trunk full of dress-up clothes and accessories. 

We aren't doing much for her birthday, just going to my parent's house and having cake and ice cream.  We are making a pinata, so we'll do that too. 

For 2 years old, Lauren is very advanced in a lot of things.  She copies almost everything that Lilli says and does.  It amazes me the things she comes up with sometimes. 

Tonight we were eating polish sausage for supper (leftover night but we didn't have any leftovers left...LOL).  Anyway, Lilli was saying how good the sausage smelled and I told her she should really try it, she might like it.  She politely said, 'no thank-you'.  A few minutes later I was explaining to Lauren that she would be going to dance with Lilli and I, but that Papa would be picking her up later in the big truck.  She looked at me and said, 'no thank-you, stay mommy'.  LOL.  That little turkey.

Lauren is talking all the time and is starting to put sentences together.  She also says please and thank-you at the appropriate times (most of the time) without being prompted. 

She absolutely LOVES playgroup and sings the songs from there all week long.  We only go on Wed mornings from 9:30-11, but it sticks with her and is a definite highlight to her week.  She struts in there like she owns the place and hugs the director and sits on her lap. 

She sings, 'Bubble Gum', 'Jack-in-the-Box', 'Baby Fish' (from playgroup), and 'Twinkle-Twinkle Little Star'.  She is trying to do the ABC song but gets it mixed up.  It's really cute.

She loves to read stories and we spend much of our day reading books.  She loves board books, but will also bring other, longer books from our book shelf to be read to her.  She is very patient and will usually sit through the entire book, and several books at a sitting.  She will pretty much sit there as long as we will read to her.

She loves to play, but usually wants somebody playing with her, or at least in the same room with her.  She loves Little People and she loves her wooden blocks.  She also plays with those little cheap animal figurines a lot.  She often pushes her baby dolls in the play strollers or grocery cart and takes them 'shopping'.  She also loves our play kitchen and often brings me food that she's 'cooked'.  LOL. 

She moves our kitchen chairs to wherever it is she wants to be in the kitchen.  If I'm cooking, she wants to be right there with me.  Doing dishes, she wants to help.  I'll often give her a bowl of something to stir  on our island while I'm at the stove, otherwise she wants to be there helping me the entire time.  She also helps with vacuuming (she has her own vacuum she uses), dusting, folding laundry, making beds...she's just a great help with everything.  LOL

She still loves her Beco baby carrier and we use it occasionally while making supper if she's really tired/cranky.  I'll put her in it on my back and she's a happy camper.  We vacuum this way sometimes too.

She likes to watch TV and her favorite shows right now are the Mickey Mouse Club and Dora.  The Wonder Pets, Sesame Street and Tigger and Pooh are up there too.

She still carries her Lovie and sleeps with it every night.  It's a stuffed goat and she's had it since she was just a couple months old.  She loves that thing.  She also has a stuffed Minnie Mouse that she sleeps with a lot.

We keep a sippy of water on her bed at night and she still wakes to get a drink through the night.  I suspect that her daily dose of Septra (for her kidney reflux) causes her to be extra thirsty.  I do believe she is sleeping better since having her tonsils out though.  She was waking 4+ times per night, and now it is once or twice, and very occasionally, not at all.

She loves to help Papa outside and especially loves to go for rides on the 4-wheeler.  The only way I can leave the house and wave goodbye to her without her screaming is if he's taking her out to ride the 4-wheeler.  LOL

It would be hard to say what her favorite food is because she is such a great eater.  She prefers warm meals over cold ham or sandwiches.  She will eat a very healthy helping of goulash, roast, steak/potatoes, spaghetti, almost anything really.  She will eat almost anything we eat.  She doesn't like tacos or burritoes though.  (non-spicy).  She just doesn't like the look of them...she won't even try them.  LOL

She wants to eat all the time.  For snacks she loves the typical goldfish crackers, cheese nips, fruit snacks and peanuts.  She also loves bananas and apples, grapes and most any fruit.  Pineapple is a particular favorite.

Her kidney reflux is at a grade 3 and we have an appointment with a urologist in Grand Rapids on December 10.  This Dr does an outpatient procedure called 'deflux' that we are hoping to have done for Lauren.  If it was successful, then she could go off of the meds directly after that procedure.  As it is now, she could be on the meds for the next 5 years, if not longer, while we wait for her to 'outgrow' the problem.  We are just not ok with her being on an antibiotic every single day for that long.

We are late getting into her 2-year well child appt as the pediatrician's office was all booked up.  So we have that appt on Dec 8.  She is due for shots that day, but I can't remember which ones right now.

This is really just all about Lauren since this is her special day.  I still can't believe she's 2 years old. 

(sigh)