Scarlet is Two!

Oh my gosh, I still can't even believe it. I've been calling her a two-year-old for months now and claiming that she has been acting like a two-year-old since she was 18 months, but now it's finally true! Scarlet turned two years old yesterday. *Fanfare trumpets*

We had a whole day of activities planned on Saturday, all of which were designed to let Scarlet have fun even though she had no idea why we were doing anything out of the ordinary and she probably didn't care at all. It was so much fun for Josh and me that we went ahead and did it all anyway. We started the morning off with our first ever visit to the aquarium. Scarlet was fascinated with the dull-colored fish at eye-level and less intrigued by the sharks, starfish, anaconda, penguins, and virtually any other, cooler creatures there. We caught one of those 3-D movies up on the second floor, not really paying attention to which movie was available, only that we were five minutes early for it, so we got in line. All of the pictures of the movies that I could see were computer-animated cartoons, so I knew it'd be kid-friendly.

It was not.

Apparently we caught a terrifying 20-minute film called Sea Monsters and it was horrifying. Scarlet insisted on being held by her dad after the first monster rose from the depths to reach out at those of us wearing our 3-D glasses. Random sprays of water or air burst out of the seats and the sides of the theater, terrifying me at random, unexpected moments and causing Josh to laugh at my growing irritation. Finally, after the little extinct sea creature's mother had been murdered and her older brother had also been murdered, we got to watch her sink slowly to the ocean floor as she died of old age. And then the film ended.

The three of us got up uncertainly after that shocking, sad, kid-unfriendly film and went to look at more fish, but the experience was sort of ruined after that, so we ended up leaving soon after. It was lucky we did, too, because the parking lot was jam-packed when we left and we had been lucky enough to get there close to opening so it wasn't very busy for most of our visit, but the crowds were pouring in as we left.

Scarlet fell asleep on the drive back home, so we put her down for her nap and I ran out to the bakery to get cupcakes for her non-party. When she woke up we had pizza for lunch and then took her to the dollar store so she could pick out a few cheap gifts for herself. We let her wander the toy aisle and she ended up only being interested in the empty gumball machines because they were very colorful even though she had no idea what they were. So I picked up a Magnadoodle knock-off, a doctor play kit, and a picture book for her myself. Back at home we wrapped them all up in the same birthday wrapping paper and then took Scarlet to her grandmother's house for dinner and cupcakes.

We had a meal of pasta and salad (Scarlet only ate the bread, which surprised no one) and then we sang to her and she got to blow out her candle (after virtually weeks of candle-blowing practice) and open up a couple of presents. It was a great birthday. I think my favorite part was how she seemed to sense that Josh and I were paying her particular attention (even more so than every other day) so she turned on the charm and just glowed under all the attention. She was so pleasant and wonderful all the time that I just loved spending the whole weekend devoting myself to whatever she wanted. Today she has her two-year checkup and we'll just have to see what her doctor has to say about her growth and progress.