I have to say Pearl cracks us up! She is so dang funny and I haven't been very good about recording these silly moments lately. Like today (and everyday for about a month now), she tells me "You're in trouble Mom" and points her finger at me when she doesn't want to do something. Apparently sitting 3 inches from the TV is better for your eyes than 3 feet away. Jeff and I get in trouble about 20 times a day and most of the time we can't figure out why. It always makes us laugh though.
And this morning Pearl refused to leave for school without her giant purple Easter bunny. Who knows why, she hasn't touched the thing in months. So, rather than pick a fight I knew wasn't worth the 15 minutes of screaming, I let her drag it out to the car. Once we got to work I strapped that rabbit in her car seat because there was no way I was going to let her take it to class. She must have forgot about bringing it because when we left work, I said "Look who's in your seat! What a silly bunny!" and Pearl started giggling. Not just any giggling though, the hard core, hurt your stomach, throw you head back kind of giggles. She thought it was the funniest thing she'd seen all day! Two minutes later, she tossed the bunny aside and was begging for a banana (I've learned that the ride home is much happier for both of us if we have fruit on hand).
Then tonight after our walk we stopped by the park. Sometimes Pearl can be quite the pansy and will refuse to go on the slides unless "Mommy help you" (translation, "Mommy help me") is involved. But tonight she decided that if the "big kids" can do it, so can she. She climbed up and down the biggest, most scary slide there was over and over again. After she'd get off, she would run around screaming like a girl. It wasn't a scared kind of scream though, but a silly girl kind with her hands flapping up and down at the wrists (sort of like your stereotypical gay run). What a goon! She gets it from her father.
Not even the rain could stop us from having a party, even if we had to move it into the garage. We really need to get our patio finished, but that's a story for another day. Luckily we have a big garage and who says you can't have a good time eating with a few cobwebs, a leaky roof, and on the ping pong table (we always set it up in the garage for the kids to play with, not eat on unless it rains)? 
Everyone came down for a BBQ to celebrate Pearl's birthday. Pearl was so excited to have the whole family and our neighbors over and ran around crazy from one person to another (stealing food from each of them on the way). She loves having everyone together but the excitement nearly kills her. She was exhausted and in bed about 15 minutes after everyone left. Jeff was pooped too... I guess cooking steaks, chicken, bean salsa salad, and setting everything up can wear you out. What a stud!!! Seriously ladies, you should be jealous. Jeff is an amazing husband! He is a great cook, a great dad, and a great gardener. The list could go on and on! 
My measly contribution to the party - besides giving birth to the birthday girl - was picking up an ice cream cake from Baskin Robbins and getting in an argument with Jeff over it in the process. See My 365 Project Blog for full details on the cake.
Before opening presents, we took an attempt at a family photo to document the occasion. This was as good as we got, but at least we have a shot of us all together. 
Now for the presents! Look a new shirt (and jammies, shorts, skirts)! Pearl also got a super cute Melissa & Doug wooden sandwich set that you can layer sandwiches or a burger with and the pieces velcro together, penguin umbrella, books, and puzzles.
Doritos face. Pearl gave Jesse a huge handful of Doritos and then stuffed them in her mouth as fast as she could. She eats chips (or "chip-a-chip-chip-a" as she calls them) so funny! It's like watching a chipmunk stuff their face. She takes hundreds of tiny bites as she continues to shove it in, without pausing until the entire chip is in her mouth, and crumbs are spilling out the sides of her mouth.
If you can't get Pearl and Ruby to pose for a picture with their new matching penguin umbrellas, get Kimmy and EZ to pose! Or make Kimmy hold both of them down until you get a shot.
Pearl's name was in lights, literally, today thanks to a surprise "favor" called in by our neighbors. But the surprises didn't stop there... with a new Pearl-sized bench for the yard and a fancy Leap Frog computer. Pearl knew exactly what to do with the computer mouse and I'm sure will be helping her old mom fix the real computer in no time now! 
And not only did Pearl have a happy birthday message for everyone driving through town to see, but Jeff surprised her by writing "Happy to You Pearl" all over the sidewalk this morning. I didn't notice either of them until Pearl started wandering over to the sidewalk chalk and jabbering at me to look and Jeff called me to ask if I'd checked my email yet. It's just too bad Pearl can't read yet!
On other birthday updates, we took popsicles and graham crackers to daycare today. I told Pearl she had to share with her friends and that the treats were for her birthday. She didn't care much for what I was trying to tell her because once she (and the other kids in her class) saw them, chaos and screaming erupted! I guess they were a big hit... I had meetings all afternoon so I missed out on the fun. When we got home, I decided I better hurry and wrap her present, after all we had cute wrapping paper for just the occasion. I think Pearl had more fun helping me wrap her present than actually playing with it. I'm a lame mom I know, but I figured why make a big fuss about something she doesn't get at all and if it was more entertaining to help me put ribbons and tape all over the wrapping paper, then it was time well spent. 
Luckily Pearl was excited to then open the present so we wandered outside to open her present and uncover the BIG present that had been sitting in the garage all week. If you didn't guess what we got Pearl from a previous post, we bought her a play kitchen which came with a bag of dishes and accessories. It was funny to watch her lift up the blanket covering the kitchen and then shout "TOY!" About 10 minutes later, when the video camera had been turned off of course, she said "YEAH!" and continued to open all the cupboards over and over again. Her favorite part is the ice machine though followed closely by washing her hands in the sink. 
I wish I could post videos of all the wrapping and unwrapping but they are just too big to upload! You'll just have to use your imagination and try to remember what it was like as a kid to have a birthday filled with fun toys! And the scary part is that we haven't even had her official birthday party yet.
In preparation for the big #2 birthday this week, we converted Pearl's crib into a big girl bed today. Jeff wanted to do this months ago but I just couldn't bear the thought of my baby not being a baby anymore or the possibility that she would escape and wake me up in the middle of the night. Pearl thought it was fun to have her mattress in the middle of the dining room and tried really hard to help "fix" her bed. With some new screwdriver marks on it thanks to Pearl's "fixing" and moments of hysteria that we were taking away the "baby bed," we finally convinced her to give it a try. Once she figured out that she could climb in there and jump up and down, read books in bed, and get her baby out all by herself, she was pretty excited about the change. 
Taking apart her crib reminded me of when we built it in eager anticipation of bringing home a tiny, dark-haired baby girl. I can't believe how big Pearl is. Even though it's so fun to watch her learn and grow, I joke that I'm going to stop feeding her so I can keep my baby longer. Here's hoping my "baby" will stay put in her big girl bed and let us get a good night's sleep!
I guess Pearl pays more attention to my morning routine that I thought. She's been interested in my makeup the past couple of days and even knows which brush goes with the powder and which one I use for blush! Today when she was playing with the makeup brushes she kept telling me they tickled - hence her eyes are closed in all the pictures. It's pretty entertaining to watch her curl her eyelashes and glob on the mascara. While flattering that I'm obviously her role model (ha!), I really hope I don't look that funny when I apply it myself. I'm praying it's just a phase we won't re-enter until she's at least 16, or better yet 25! And speaking of praying, the last two nights when we've tried to have family prayer before bed, Pearl has informed us "NO! I tired!" as she refuses to fold her arms and then lays down on her bed. Funny though, because as soon as we say Amen, she's up wanting her milk and stories again. 
