2 going on 17

Sometimes I have to stop and remind myself how little Gwen is because she seems so grown up to me. She started potty training herself at 18 months, has an opinion about the clothes she wears, can communicate almost anything to you even though her vocabulary is limited, and understands everything you say. She is fiercely opinionated and lets you know it. If shes meets someone new, she studies that person, with stern eyes, until she feels she can trust them. If she feels out of her comfort zone at all, she bottles up and becomes very quiet and stares at everything with her furrowed brow. However, if she's in her element with people she loves, she is the most joyous, loving, dancing, singing, laughing, teasing little person you've ever met.
I wonder when we'll stop calling her "baby Gwen"? It has just kind of stuck, and I kind of like it even though I know she's not a baby anymore. She got sung to in nursery, got a present at joy school, brought cookies to day school, went out for ice cream on her actual birthday, and had a "party" with our family on Sunday. Lucky Girl!
Birthday Breakfast!

Birthday Ice Cream! In case you missed it, this is Gwen's smile for the camera face.

Party on Sunday! We invited everyone over to our house for dinner, presents, cake and ice cream. We had Gwen's favorite dinner, eggplant Parmesan! Miles loved helping her open every present. :) She got a "new" bike, Minnie Mouse books and Minnie Mouse salon stuff, a beautiful new dress that she wanted to put on immediately, some books, a movie and some new nail polish. She also got a "new" dollhouse that I bought a the DI the day after I found out that Gwen would be a girl. :) It was $2, and in terrible shape, but I was just so excited to be getting a girl that I bought it. When she was born and my mom came up to help, she did all the leg work making the dollhouse more sturdy and such. I recently tried to make it pretty, although I think my dollhouse-ing skills are lacking. She loves it still and that means it's a success!

I tried really hard to get the Birthday Girl "money shot". I don't think it quite happened, but here are all the attempts. :)