A Dream Along The Way: Look Who's TWO!!

Arden turned 2 on Dec 13th and we had a little party the Saturday before. Derek's parents flew down to celebrate with us and my dad, grandmother, sister and nephew came over.

Brigham loved the balloons, but didn't enjoy getting tangled in them.

The cake could have a post of its own, but lets just say fondant was tried and failed so we went with cream cheese frosting and gum paste for the decorations. I didn't have much time and was making the cut outs Saturday morning and gum paste hardens pretty quick when left out. I wanted the butterflies wings to be sticking out and not stuck on the cake. When I put it all together, it looked great (butterflies had been sitting out for a while and were hard, but I covered the cake, and the wings fell flat) To stay hard, the gum paste needs to be out for days. Hey, I'm learning each year. At least it taste good. I used a pound cake recipe that is absolutely yummy-and dense so perfect for decorating with fondant or doing layers.

In the middle of the 'party,' Arden got sick, so we had to disappear for a little bit. Poor baby. She really enjoyed unwrapping presents though.

On her actual birthday (and her grandpa's!) we went out to eat at Lonestar and then to the mall to see santa.

Helping Grandpa open his present-

On a side note, Arden has suddenly taken to her pacifiers. She has never really been into them, but they've always been around, and for some reason, one has stayed in her crib. Actually she did like to chew on them when she was teething, but suddenly she always wants one when she goes to bed or when she's tired or first wakes up. It started around the time she got a cold that turned into a sinus infection a few weeks ago, so I'm hoping this attachment goes away soon. Maybe she's getting her 2 year molars.

Arden is such a doll (minus those glimpses I've seen of terrible twos the past couple of months) She loves to help. Yesterday, I was wrapping some gifts and she sat beside and said 'I help! I help!' and put tape all over packages.
A lot of times when I tell her I have to do something- like put my shoes on and I pick them up, she will take one away from me and hand it right back and say 'good girl!' Same thing if she sees me wash my hands, she'll grab the towel first or take it away from me so she can give it me. It makes her day.
Recently I was eating a pomegranate and she asked for some and said, "MMMM dat's GOOD mommy!" She ate a ton that night, but has refused to eat them since. When she eats something she likes, she usually says 'MMM good!' and rubs her belly.
Her favorite color is white, she loves butterflies, babies, purses and shopping carts with steering wheels. She pitches a fit when it's time to go. She loves to sing and dance and jump. When she sings, sometimes she finds a toy that resembles a microphone (where did she learn that?!) other times, she goes a capella ;)
She tests her food before eating to see if it's hot. She likes to tell me I'm a 'good girl' when I do certain things. She 'I love you' two nights ago for the first time (that I could actually understand) and it was the sweetest thing. She is very good about cleaning up her toys when I ask her. She loves to draw. She's not really into coloring. She is typically slow and careful when she draws. She says 'thank you mommy/daddy' a lot and says, 'Oh! I sorry' more than she needs to!
She still loves shoes, and has to be the one to pick them out.