Kayla just turned 2 today! She had a great birthday and had her Grandma visiting to celebrate with her. Here she is just back from the Pawlik spa where she had hot rubber ducky massage and bath treatment. We all went to Outback Steakhouse for dinner including two new friends of hers she insisted on bringing - Boog and Elliot from "Open Season" from her Uncle Trevor. Boog was a good sport when Kayla wanted to dress him up in an outfit to match hers that she got from her Great Grandma. He was a little embarrassed and afraid these pictures might make it into the press but decided that it was worth it to make Kayla happy.

Here's a few pictures from the past couple weekends. Last week, we got to celebrate Daniel Kress Loy's 3rd birthday at a pool party. Kayla is here with Madison who we see from time to time. Madison is a couple years older so Kayla thinks its really cool to hang out with her.

This past weekend we went to visit our friends Eric and Lisa who just had a new baby boy named Kyle. Kayla got to play with Kyle's older brother, Justin who's 3.

Today at daycare I asked whether Kayla behaves herself during the day. I wasn't sure I wanted the truth but I figured I should start asking. They said, "Well, she is almost 2!" (Not exactly the answer I was hoping for.) Apparently she was climbing on something today and her teacher told her to get down and she turned around and said "NO". So now I know it's not just mommy and daddy that she's testing.

They said it's funny how the kids just come out of their shell in the 2-year old room and we've definitely noticed that she is. They also said that her walk cracks them up. If you've never seen it, she has quite a little strut. She definitely walks with authority! I can't tell you how many times she walks out in front of me, turns around and says "Come on Mommy!Come on." Then she comes back, grabs my hand, and leads me where ever she wants to go. Funny girl. It's hard to believe she'll be 2 next week.

We recently made a trip to the beach with our neighbors. We decided to go early to beat the traffic and to make it home in times for the kids naps. Kurt and Cole are around Kayla's age and you can tell she enjoys spending time with them. They spent the morning building sand castles and tearing them down. Well, mostly tearing them down.

Kayla spent some time in the water and wasn't afraid at all. Mostly she doesn't want us to hold her while she's in the water. It's like she has no idea she can't swim which is really scary for us. Swim lessons are in her near future.

When the boys stopped by to play with Kayla this evening, she got to play hide and seek with them in our house. She loves to hide but she only has 2 hiding spots. It's pretty funny to watch!

When we walked them home, we told Kayla to take Kurt's hand and they held each others hand the whole way home. He kept making goofy faces and she'd crack up laughing. They looked like such a cute little couple!