For the week or two prior to Maya’s birthday, we’d been trying to teach her that she could show us that she was going to be two years old by holding up a finger on each hand. She’d grin, duck her head all bashful-like, and juuuust sneak her two fingers up for us to see. We tried to catch a photo of it for her birthday party invitations, but she just wouldn’t hold a pose for long enough.

See, I’m two.

Fast forward to her well check yesterday where she adamantly held those two fingers up to the nurse and the doctor both as if to proclaim that she was two now and would not be putting up with any of this doctor business any more. After many tears and much stubbornness, we were all really glad when the well check was completed and we could go home.

Maya’s party was this past weekend. Her grandparents all made the long journey to see her, and her Aunt Darci and cousin AP came by as well. Nanny Anna and a few of our friends rounded out the guest list. We again had barbecue – this time from La Barbecue. Barbecue seems to be a crowd favorite and leftovers are really easy to use. All the meats (brisket, sausage, and pulled pork) were incredible, and the bacon potato salad and pinto beans were solid. The jalapeño coleslaw was very good, but the heat overpowered the otherwise complex flavor of the slaw, which was a little disappointing.

Two years old!

I made a giant cookie for Maya’s birthday cake. Sean pointed out that he often had giant cookies for his birthday cakes and really liked them, so I went with it. On a whim one afternoon, I asked her if she wanted a cookie for her birthday. She shook her head no. Startled at her declining any form of dessert, I paused momentarily to regroup before asking her if she’d like chocolate cake. She grinned and shook her head yes. We settled on having a great big cookie with mini cupcakes arranged on top to make the number 2. I even took a crack at decorating it. I’m thinking I really need to decorate more than one cake a year for my skill to improve at all.

We were hopeful that Maya would be a little more into opening presents this year, and she was … for a little while. Parents who’ve already gone through the small child phase probably know what’s coming. She would diligently tear off the wrapping paper piece by piece, slowly uncovering her toy. The slightly older and more practiced kids in the room would be fairly vibrating at this point, itching for her to hurry and open another. But no, Maya wanted to take the neat new toy she had just opened and play with it. Or take the new book she had just opened and read it. Or wander off to play with some other toys. We actually opened most of her gifts from us the next day because she had just worn out on the enterprise.

Possibly her favorite gift.

All in all, we had a really nice weekend. Thanks to everyone’s generosity, Maya received some great gifts that she’s had all kinds of fun playing with. She was able to spend a bit of quality time with her grandparents. Plus, we spent all weekend eating barbecue and dessert. So far, I think she’s found that being two is pretty okay.