Happy Birthday Marit and Mommy!

Happy birthday to you,

Happy birthday to Marit,

Happy birthday to you!

Our baby girl turned two!

Birthday girl getting ready to blow out her candle

She is following closely in her brother's footsteps (see Theo's 2nd birthday post here). She is very tall for her age, 36.25 inches (95th percentile) and 31.2 lbs (90-95th percentile). She passed her two-year well child check with flying colors (except Mommy and Daddy don't brush her teeth twice a day - does anyone do that?) Her vocabulary has exploded over the past few weeks and easily has over 100 words with up to 3 word sentences. She has better manners than her brother, always saying, "Peas" for please, and "Dak-oo" for thank you at the dinner table. She gives the best hugs and kisses and always walks with me out to the front door when I'm leaving for work and gives an extra hug before I actually leave. "Bye-bye Mommy, of-oo", which means I love you. Melts my heart! She refers to herself as "Mamit", which is pretty adorable. She was overwhelmed with gifts this month, starting when Grandma and Grandpa Benziger visited after Thanksgiving and she got to open her first birthday presents and ending with Christmas Day. I guess that's what happens when you have a December birthday! Half-way though the Christmas present opening, she came over and sat on my lap and refused to open any more gifts as I think it was just too overwhelmed. Some of her favorite birthday presents included new stuffies in an plush animal house, MagnaTiles, LeapFrog LeapPad and super hero masks and capes.

Evie and Marit in the super girl capes

We had the entire Pastorius family in town for her birthday weekend (while Daddy snuck out of town to Toronto to cheer on the Seattle Sounders in the MLS Cup, which they won in a shootout!)

We saw Daddy on TV at the Sounders game!

and we invited a few kids over to go to the Seattle Gymnastics Academy indoor playground followed by pizza and cupcakes at our house. Her cousin Evie, Uncle Dan, and Grandpa Pastorius even made a surprise special appearance to be with her on her 2nd birthday!

Pastorius clan together again!

She hasn't figure out potty training yet but does enjoy sitting on her potty and watching Elmo videos on YouTube. Maybe by next year we'll be a diaper-free household! She got her first haircut last week and Grandma Pastorius thinks she looks like she's four now! I was at a going away party today for a friend and there was a two-year old there who I thought looked about 15 months or so and she was 24 months, so maybe Grandma's right. You decide -two or four?

Post haircut!

It was Mommy's 33rd birthday this week as well. Theo, Marit and Mommy got to spend a whole day together being tourists in Seattle. First, we went to the Seattle Aquarium for Winter Fishtival week where the kids got their faces painted.

Star fish in the tide pools

Then we bought tickets to ride on the Seattle Great Wheel, a giant Ferris wheel at Pier 57 next to the aquarium. Theo was skeptical but enjoyed it and Marit was terrified and cried for most of the ride as our car rocked back and forth a bit and was all glass so the people looked pretty small from the top (max height of 175 feet). We went around four times and it was a sunny days with clear views of the snow capped Olympic mountains, ferry boats from Bainbridge Island and Bremerton and downtown Seattle and the Space Needle (and it is the tallest Ferris wheel on the West Coast).

Theo a bit scared about the heights on the Great Wheel

Marit was not very pleased with the rocking

Can you see the Space Needle?

Carousel ride

After we left, we passed by the Fisherman's warf carousel and again Theo was skeptical but had fun and Marit was excited for about the first 30 seconds then terrified of the G-forces and cried until I took her off the horse.

Checking out the Seattle Great Wheel

For dinner, we tried to go to a special dumpling house, Din Tai Fung, but with a 1.5 hour wait at 5 P.M. we decided to opt for another option. Luckily, we managed to get a seat at the chef's counter at a fancier restaurant, Salare, in Ravenna. We shoved the iPad and a phone in front of the kids while we enjoyed the Salumi and Charcuterie and Pork Cheek, Grits and Horseradish appetizers and then beets and kumquat over quinoa salad, Cavatelli pasta, and Pacific Octupus and Duck entrees. We had to forgo dessert because the kids were starting to get restlesss but OMG, it was so delicious! And when we were leaving, an older couple complemented us for taking our kids out to such a nice restaurant and were very impressed how well behaved they were.

After Mommy's birthday dinner - cupcake time

Last night, Daddy and Mommy got to have a speical date night and celebrated Mommy's new job at Essentia Health in Duluth, MN, by going to Canlis, the dressiest fine dining restaurant in Seattle.

Canlis baby!

Look at the good looking vintage Port ;)

We enjoyed the 12-course tasting menu and classic wine pairings, followed by a special tour of the kitchen and wine cellar by the lead sommelier. The reflection of the lights from the Seattle neighborhoods of Eastlake and Wallingford on Lake Union were awesome and the ambiance, service and piano playing was top notch. Definitely highly recommended (but burns a hole in the pocket book). Overall this week has been very rejuvenating and relaxing and we're glad we don't go back to work until the 3rd! Happy holidays to everyone and may we all strive to live in peace and have good health in 2017!

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