Love Mama | My Baby is 2!
HI LOVELIES! HERE IS THE 3RD INSTALLMENT OF MY LOVE MAMA SERIES. LOVE MAMA IS INSPIRED BY MY JOURNAL ENTRIES AS A NEW MOM. I HOPE THEY INSPIRE YOU TO SLOW DOWN AND STAY PRESENT WHERE EVER YOU ARE AND EXPERIENCE AND APPRECIATE EVERY LITTLE MOMENT.
My Sweet Bear recently turned 2 years old. I feel like I just celebrated her one year birthday yesterday. Its unbelievable how quickly the time has raced by! I vividly remember holding her warm little body on my chest for the first time, recognizing that this sweet little soul had been entrusted to me. Days before her birthday I found myself scrolling through dozens of photos of her gummy smile, chubby toes, and sorely missed triple chin. I swooned over videos of her first steps, gumming down her first solid foods, and her first attempts at dancing to music. I searched my mind, clearing the sleep deprivation haze from these early memories; trying to picture this smaller version of my girl. I found it impossible to hold on to any particular version of her because she was and still is changing all the time.
I’m so grateful for and fascinated with all the things she has learned and experience thus far. She has grown from a quiet observer to a confident ball of questions, singing, and dancing. My Sweet Bear has grown into quite a doer, jumping in with little hesitation to try new things and has no problem engaging with other kids to make friends. Her playful personality and hilarious sense of humor is constantly eliciting laughter and smiles in our home. I’m excited for the many changes and adventures to come.
The Adventure Begins
To celebrate the journey thus far of this sweet little soul, we traveled back home and to family in Tallahassee, Florida. Unlike last year, we decided to forgo a full birthday party and opted to give Sweet Bear a new adventure instead. We also wanted to spend some time with close family that we don’t get to see as often as we would like. That Saturday morning, Sweet Bear opened her eyes to quiet birthday wishes and hugs. She went about singing the cutest version of Happy Birthday as we got ready to celebrate the day. We began the day at a quaint hole in the wall kind of breakfast cafe with her grandma “JuJu.”
Counting Daddy’s fingers while we waited for our food. She can count confidently to 10!
Her appetite has grown so much! Let me tell you, they didn’t have a proper kids meal, but She ate ALL of her food with no problem!
Exploring Old Florida
After fueling up for birthday fun, we visited the Tallahassee Museum. The museum has live exhibits of historical Florida life and buildings, beautiful nature trails and native wildlife, and several activity stops.
We began at the historic Big Bend Farm. We checked out an old corner store, learned about blacksmithing, and learned about traditional milling.
Her Granddad “Paw Paw” joined the party as a sweet surprise. She was so happy to see him :).
Sweet Bear loved visiting the farm animals and practicing her animal sounds. She explored the vegetable and herb garden and followed butterflies in the flower garden.
She has become so independent. It was amazing to watch her curiously explore the farm and ask questions.
One of our favorite activities was exploring historical houses and learning how old Floridians lived back in the day. In the kitchen of one houses, we enjoyed a live demonstration of baking firewood cookies — they were really good by the way!
Baking cookies the old fashioned way!
These cookies were so warm and delicious 🙂
We explored Florida’s native wildlife on a beautiful nature trail through a southern swamp. At one point during our walk, right in the middle of the trail, we got a bit of rain. Sweet Bear took off running, shouting “its wrainning!” It was all I could do to keep up with her lol.
Along the trail were colorful sculptures of dinosaurs whose bones were found in Florida. Sweet Bear loved pointing them out.
Along the trail you could spot deer, bears, gators, skunks, foxes, and more!
The trail led us to ‘Old Florida’ as we were able to explore an old 1800’s baptist church, a school house, and her favorite — the Seaboard Airline Caboose. Later we explored the Bellevue Plantation — owned by a descendant of George Washington, which gave a pretty intimate view of life for slaves and slave owners during that time.
She was absolutely fascinated with the stained glass windows.
Sitting in the “upperclass deck” of the caboose.
Leaving a replica of what would of been the slave courters. It was basically a poor wood structure with no insulation, no windows, blankets on a dirt floor, and a roof that rain would leak through. It was tough to see.
Overall, it was really fun to explore and learn with my little girl. It was a particularly great experience to share with my husband as we grew up visiting the museum as kids.
Checking out the playground at the museum.
Celebrating With Family
After a full morning of exploring old Florida, our bellies were empty again we were excited to visit with more of our family. We retreated over to her grandma “Uma’s” house where close family congregated and celebrated our Little Bears big day.
This is one of my favorite moments of the day. Watching my baby girl play with her great grandma.
Her only and most favorite uncle 🙂
Now I’d insisted that I didn’t want to throw a “party” this year, but her Uma cooked a big meal anyway and it all went swimmingly. We ate together, sang happy birthday, and gobbled down tasty birthday cupcakes.
Her Uma prepping the food.
Enjoying her birthday lunch; she ate it ALL.
Enjoying her birthday cupcakes! Thanks Paw Paw!
Sweet Bear finished the day by unexpectantly cooling off in Uma’s kiddy pool and all was well. Our big girl is 2. Her precious light shines so bright! I’m grateful for the opportunity to watch her shine and for days like this to celebrate it.
Cooling off with Uma
I tried my best to get her to smile lol. Happy Birthday sweet girl!
Have your Littles had a birthday recently? Share your adventures in the comments. We are always looking for new ideas and experiences to give our Sweet Bear 🙂 @ALovelyMommyBlog
