Lil Miss Austin's birthday was last week. She's officially now 2 years (and 7 days) old and boy is she acting the part.

The birthday went off without a hitch. Only one couple and their kids didn't attend but I think they may have been out of town, so that's cool. There were 5 kids, including LMA that made it and the inflatable pool playground in the backyard was a big hit. We went with the Spongebob theme and there was Crabby Patties (White Castle burgers), Jellyfish (Jell-O cups turned over and set on gummy worms), Pirate Bootie (bowl of Pirate Bootie), punch and cake. The cake was pretty awesome, I'd purchased a mold for Mrs. Austin to use and we were very excited, but the task of decorating the cake had her not looking forward to the experience. It turned out just wonderfully and was the high point of the party, to us.

Lil Miss Austin was the perfect center of attention. She played well with the other kids, didn't fight, shared her cake and was very nice when saying Thank You and Goodbye. She was actually able to open the couple wrapped presents by herself and knew that the paper was not the fun part, but the item inside. Last year she was more fascinated with ribbon and tissue paper than the actual gift. Amazing what a difference a year makes. By next year I'm sure she'll be asking where her cell phone and computer are because these kids toys just aren't cutting it anymore.

I'd also like to offer mad props to Mrs. Austin's sister for sending a box full of loud musical instruments. A gift that guarantees we don't get to sleep late on Saturdays. It's only fitting since we've been doing the same for a couple years now with her kids, mildly amused at our own precociousness for giving another parent's kids loud noise-making toys. Well, it was apparently payback time. I'm sure it wasn't meant to be that way, there is a drumset in our garage, and all the kids in Mrs. Austin's family were in band or played an isntrument at some point, so it was a very cool gift.

She likes the triangle the best.