Last weekend marked Sophie’s 2nd birthday – and I must admit I’m really struggling to believe my baby daughter is two years old already. Years are vanishing in the blink of an eye.

With Alex a massive fan of birthdays, the build up to Sophie’s special day had been lengthy and exciting – with regular practice renditions of “happy birthday” being sung by the pair of them.  Sophie knew to anticipate cake and presents!

When the big weekend finally arrived, we had a wonderful time.  The clocks changed on Sophie’s birthday morning, and miraculously – following a slightly later bedtime the night before and a trip to Pizza Express with their grandparents, both children slept an hour later, so we weren’t impacted by the clocks change at all.  The best gift Sophie could have bought me – an hour of sleep 🙂

We had a fun hour unwrapping presents.  Alex was keen to unwrap everything on Sophie’s behalf, but she did a great job by herself.  They loved Sophie’s new easel in particular.

After a quiet morning, it was party time!  At 3.30pm, our house was filled with 14 little ones – thank goodness it was warm and dry enough to play in the garden!  All Sophie’s friends from her childminder were there plus a few neighbours, and they all pottered around happily together:

Love these pic of siblings Sam and Una:

As it got dark, we served up dinner for the little ones – and they were all so well behaved at the table, quietly munching through pasta, crudites and lots of bread:

After the obligatory jelly and ice-cream, it was cake time.  There were so many children and grown-ups singing, that Sophie was a bit unsure, but she seemed happy to blow out her candles.  She certainly enjoyed the cake – she stuffed so much in so quickly she was a little bit sick – classy girl!

Here’s my beautiful birthday girl – turning into such an independent, feisty lady!