Thursday, January 21, 2010

Happy Birthday Baby Girl!!!!

ELAINA IS 2!!!



That's right, we celebrated her 2nd birthday this month. It was a fantastic day. Ben and I put up some streamers and a Happy Birthday banner in her room the night before, so that everyone would know that it was her birthday. I wanted to spend every minute of the day with her, and I was able to sneak over while Ben was at school for some one on one Birthday girl time for about an hour and a half. When I walked in the room, she was all smiles. I told her "Happy Birthday!" and got a HUGE grin. She knew it was her very special day. I pulled her out of her crib and was able to rock her for her nap. It was super special. I had to leave to pick up Ben from school and get everything for her party that evening.



This was her cake! It was made out of cupcakes, so cute!


She loved it when Grandma put her in her Bumbo seat on the table so that she could be in the middle of things!


Here she is checking out her cake. She has a very strong aversion to food, so I couldn't even get her to touch it. But I think she liked that it was Little Mermaid. Have I mentioned that The Little Mermaid is one of her favorite movies at the moment? Yeah. She's so cute when its on. She gets very tense and anxious whenever Ursula is on, and loves Ariel. I think she likes Flounder and Sebastian too, she smiles and claps a lot when this movie is playing. It's fun!



She's pushing my hand away because I was trying to get her to taste the frosting. I smeared it on her lips. :) She made it known that she did not appreciate it! Silly girl!


Of course once the frosting was on HER fingers, she didn't seem to mind too much!



She liked opening presents. I think she remembered Christmas with all the wrapping paper and tissue paper. Ben picked out a Little Mermaid toy for her. She's giving it "kisses". :)


It was a very fun party. We held it in the day room at South Davis. Her roommate Sherlynn (you can see her in the picture above) and one of the other patients, Caroline, came in and joined the party as well. She was so happy the entire time. I don't think I've seen her smile so constantly before. Don't get me wrong, she smiles A LOT, but these smiles just didn't seem to stop. It was a very special day, for my very special girl.

Back in bed after the party with her new Cookie Monster. Still smiling and happy!

Elaina has come so far in these 2 years! She weighs 22 lbs! She rolls over like crazy. She still isn't crawling, but she's constantly on her hands and knees rocking back and forth. She can nod her head "yes" and claps when she's happy or likes something. We're working on teaching her some signs, so that will be fun to see this year. She's starting to bear weight on her legs and can sit unassisted for several minutes at a time. We still have a lot of catching up to do, but she is such a miracle that I am excited to help her reach these milestones.

Happy Birthday sweet girl! I love you!!!!!!

p.s. I have more birthday pictures on my Facebook page. If you'd like to see them, click here
I will be adding some more to Facebook next week that my parents took, so feel free to check back if you'd like!

6 comments:

The Portas said...

HAPPY happy 2nd birthday, sweet girl!! I'm so glad you had a fun party and a good day. Sending you lots and lots of birthday love and kisses. xo

Stephanie Ellinger said...

Happy Birthday Elaina! (And what a milestone for you too Hollie!) Nathan screamed at his first birthday at the sight of the cake so hey, at least they are around for their birthdays :).

Have you tried putting on the Baby Signing Time dvd's on for Elaina? Nathan adores them (much like Elaina and Ariel). They are done so well and make it easy for you to learn new things and remember them too.

Sending you guys lots of hugs!

-Stephanie

Unknown said...

Happy 2nd Birthday! Looks like you all had a wonderful time.

Mp said...

Oh Holly! Look what time and Faith does! She is so precious! It looks like you had a Happy Day with the Birthday girl!
Rebecca

Jennie Mallon (Aunt Marney's friend) said...

Elaina is adorable. It is great that she is so full of life. Happy Birthday Elaina!

Lucky10 said...

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I came across your blog today. Happy Birthday to your beautiful little girl. I hope you can take her home ASAP. I have a 2 year old daughter, Cassidy, who was born with Tetralogy of Fallot w/ PA & MAPCA’s.
I think blogs are a great way to get the word about about CHD’s and I commend you for what you’re doing.
My wife and I are also on a mission to spread the word about CHD’s. We just started a jewelry company called Lucky 10. All of our products are handmade and pertain to Heart Defects and the Heart Community in general.
Please check out our site when you get a moment. If you could help us get the word out about our new business we would be very grateful. It’s a project that’s very dear to our hearts.
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Thanks so much and we look forward to reading more on your blog!
Thanks,
Vito Lisa