Happy 2nd Birthday to Eli!

My 2nd birthday was so much fun! I love Thomas the Tank Engine so my mom decided to make me a train cake--twice! We got to eat train cake at our neighborhood playgroup and then on my actual birthday. Yummy! The cake looked great, but Elina and I was more interested in eating the candy off of the train than the actual cake part. Sorry, Mommy.

Mommy and Daddy threw a really fun train party for me at the house. We had cake, opened presents, and then played Pin the "1" on Thomas and Eli Bingo. For our birthdays every year Mommy and Daddy make a bingo game that has pictures of things that we like. So my bingo card had things like Thomas, Mickey Mouse, and Elmo on it. Elina won the "high-stakes" bingo round and got $3! She was so happy! Elina and I won at Pin the "1" on Thomas. I didn't like the blindfold over my eyes, so I just put my "1" right where it should go. Everyone said it was ok though because I'm only 2....what do I know about rules??



You're all probably wondering what a 2 year old can do at this point...so here is a list of milestones that I'm pretty proud of--

I can form my own 2 word sentences.
I can put on my shoes.
I remember my manners (most of the time).
I can wash and dry my hands.
I can jump.
I can kick a ball.
I can open doors (which my parents don't like).

And here is a list of my current faves--

Favorite food: Any kind of soup (but especially udon noodle soup and miso soup--hey, I'm Asian, after all!)
Favorite drink: Yoplait yogurt drinks
Favorite song: If You're Happy and You Know It
Favorite book: Sesame Street's The City Sings a Song
Favorite TV character: tie between Mickey and Elmo
Favorite activities: sitting in Mommy's lap, singing songs, taking walks, watching TV, and playing ANYTHING at ANYTIME with Elina (I love her)
Favorite toy: Any train

In this first video, I'm opening up the gift from Mommy and Daddy. It's Cranky the Crane from Thomas the Tank Engine. If you listen carefully, you can hear me say, "Whoa!"

And in this video, we're having fun with my new Mickey Mouse Choo-Choo Express.

And recently, I started joining in on songs. Even though I don't know the words, I'll just whisper or mumble words here and there to "sing along." I started doing this with the "Happy Birthday" song at playgroup! Now I'll just go around and say, "Happy Bir-Day to You" to people. So in this last video Mommy's quietly singing "Happy Birthday" with me so that I'll sing along. (I know Mommy doesn't sound awesome, but it's the only way I'll sing it. I don't do solos just yet.) I sing quietly, so you really have to listen to hear me. Otherwise, you get an earful of Mommy singing! I'm just shy like that.