The Shiner - 21 Months (20 Nov 2008)

The Flight of Time - Various (22 Feb 2007, 2008, 2009)

A Child's Laughter

One of a kind this cheerful sound
A child's laughter wherever it's found
From the giggling of a baby in a playpen
To the laughter of a toddler again and again

A child's laughter can bring a smile
To one who hasn't done so in such a long while
I know because that one was me
Until my daughter's laugh set mine free

A child's laughter so gleeful and pure
An innocence adults miss for sure
Laughter that can bring back the past
And memories of a youth that flew by so fast

A child's laughter can bring out the best
Of most any man when he's depressed
Cause his spirit that's fall to soar
Until at last he laughs once more

Harry J. Couchon Jr

Ainsleigh celebrated her second birthday (officially) today. It's kind of a bittersweet moment for a mother. It's so much fun to watch her grow and learn new things, but so sad when I look at her and see she's really not a baby anymore. She had a very full weekend with a party and then a special lunch at Macaroni Grill today where they sang "Happy Birthday" to her in Italian, complete with candles on the ice cream. I think the sugar high might possibly last for at least a week.

Her outfits the past two years have been done by Cammie of My Little Fairytales. Her work is amazing and her outfits are always so unique and colorful. Always fit for a Princess, even though the Princess usually has her crown off five minutes after the first kid arrives.

Watching My Funny Valentine Grow (11 M, 23 M) - Feb. 2008/2009

Baby Breakfast - 23 Months (12 Feb 2009)

A picture of Ainsleigh's favorite breakfast, doesn't it look pretty yummy?

Speaking of pretty, she wasn't too happy about posing for pictures today, but I took them anyway. Paired up Portabello Pixie with Matilda Jane and Loves Me Not for a pre-VDay lunch with her grammy.

It's All About the MOO... - 23 Months (9 February 2009)

N!

I see the moon
and the moon sees me
The moon sees the somebody I'd like to see.
God bless the moon
and God bless me
God bless the somebody I'd like to see!

Ainsleigh has fallen in love with Mr. Moon. She found him one night peaking through the skylight in our room and ever since has been fascinated. Red looks up for him every chance she gets and when she finds him, she waves hello. My story to her was about the man in the moon and how he watches over her while sleeps--she is still trying to understand that he is rarely a daytime visitor. What's the moon have to do with the picture? Nothing except for I caught her sleeping with her hat pulled over her eyes, I can only guess she was tired from all the moon watching. When I went to snap the picture what should appear...well you see it above. And it's been awhile since we have seen Red's other favorite Moo--the simply wonderful cow hat.

Wee Pears - 23 Months (27 January 2009)

Click on Thumbnails Above to See Larger Images

Ainsleigh loves bananas. She obviously gets the love from her father because I don't like anything about them. I'm kind of the same way about pears, however, I like the smell of pear and don't really mind the taste, I just don't care for the texture of the fruit itself. When we go to the grocery store, Red always says, 'nanna' cause she wants to cruise the fruit--it's all 'nannas' or 'apples' in her world at the moment. Recently, we found these adorable little Red Anjou Pears. I say adorable, cause for one I'm a certified packaging junkie (if it's shiny I will buy it type of thing) and hands down this has to be the cutest piece of fruit I've ever seen. I picked some up and the next day gave one to Red as an afternoon snack. She took a bite and said "yummmmmm". It's the perfect thing for a toddler cause it's just the right size to hold in their hands and pears are soft enough that they can actually get through the skin pretty easily. So here are some pics of Ainsleigh in her Lime Green Velmas from Matilda Jane which matched the green of the fruit almost perfectly watching TV and enjoying her wee fruit.

Jeepers Creepers - 6 Months (10 Sept 2007)

Well, I hope it's understandable why it was hard to pick just one of these photos for posting. Every time I come across these photos in iPhoto, I literally laugh out loud. If you are wondering about the outfit, it was a summer favorite, Gymboree top that had a hat to match and Ralph Lauren skooter. For cloth diaper lovers, those are Mutts.

Missing the Quiet Moments - 7 Months (2 Aug 2007)

Little Babushka - 22 Months (16 Jan 2009)

We have really only had one day with snow so far this winter that was what I would call "playable" meaning temperatures and all other weather conditions didn't leave you frozen as a Popcsicle. This hat is from The Gap and it says size 2-3 years. Um, well, it fits on my head. Anyway, Little Red wore this one day when we took her Grammy to a doctor's appointment and Grammy fell in love with the hat and said we MUST have a picture of her in this hat--voila'. With the way this hat is sized, I'm guessing we might be able to get a picture of her in it on a snow day when she's 40 as well! If you are one of my Facebook friends, you have seen more pics from this day, but it's late and I just wanted to get back into posting cause it's been awhile. Maybe if everyone is lucky, you will get to see more "snow" at a later date.