Happy birthday

We went to our niece, Sophie's, birthday party a week last Saturday.

This is Sophie

This is Sophie with me

And this is Erin and Sophie. 

We took her to the park while the BBQ was being prepared.  After this we needed a lie down.  It was exhausting always keeping watch, and our enthusiasm and spirits high. 

Sophie didn't need a rest, she had more than enough energy to unwrap her presents.

With a little help from her cousins, Xavier and Sebastian.

The party was amazing but it was a baptism of fire for Erin and I (probably more me than Erin) not having been to a two year old's party since, well, when I was about two.  And seeing how natural all the adults seemed to be around the children was incredible. Everyone was on constant watch for what they would do next both in an 'on-guard' and 'in-awe' kind of way.  New words and experiences were popping up all over the place.

The last time we saw Sophie was when she was a timid 18 month old.  Now she's two and at this party she was a little timid around us, but not everyone else.  She knew names, bossed people around and and showed us that she has a growing personality. 

Sophie's in the middle of her two cousins, Sebastian is 3, and Xavier is 1.  It was an eye opener seeing the difference in overall growth and development of a 1, 2 and 3 year old. A year is a very long time in childhood.