My middle child turned 2!! Which is kind of wild because everything that happened in 2020 is a blur and it almost feels like we skipped a year. But, here we are. June 2021. And Parker, my little Parker, is 2 years old.

There are a few things I learned with having a second child that I don’t think I would have realized with Dylan, my first. With your first, every stage and month is SO new. You google everything because if you are like me, we don’t really know what we are doing… we have never done parenthood before! Every month is such a milestone. And one year is huge, let alone the SECOND year! I also worried over every little thing. I felt guilt that I wasn’t doing enough, wasn’t reading enough, wasn’t doing baby led weaning enough, wasn’t practicing tummy time enough, wasn’t sleep training enough. I feel like with social media, we have a lot of thoughts on what it “should” look like, and we feel like we are failing if it doesn’t look like the ideal scenario.

Then comes my second baby and it’s not so new as before. I know what to expect. I know the sleepless nights get better. I know that it’s not worth sweating the small stuff, because in the end it will all be okay and we will forget all the little details. I became a lot more calm and I really think that is what made Parker so calm herself. She was my angel baby. So quiet and easy going. Never causing any trouble. (I do think I have blocked all hard parts out of my memory and only remember the good moments!!!!)

I also learned that every baby goes at their own pace. I had my second girl, but their stages and milestones have been SO different!!! SO SO different! I learned we cannot compare to others at all, because they all crawl, eat, walk and talk at different points!

Parker is learning how to talk so she doesn’t know too many words. But one she does know is “red”… it’s her favorite color! I made a red(dish) frosting for her cupcakes. I made the same recipe I made for Dylan’s second birthday… which feels like just yesterday!

We had our immediate family over and celebrated in the backyard last weekend. It was our first family gathering since we were all vaccinated and it was wonderful. I am SO thankful for science, the vaccine and that we were all healthy. I had sure missed hugging my brothers and sisters!

Birthday Sprinkle Cupcakes

• 1 3/4 cup white sugar

• 1 cup unsalted butter (2 sticks)

• 4 eggs

• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract

• 3 cups all purpose flour

• 1 cup milk

• 1 tablespoon baking powder

• 1/2-3/4 cup sprinkles

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a muffin pan with paper liners.

1. In a medium bowl, cream together the sugar and butter. Beat in the eggs, then the vanilla. Add in the flour and baking powder and mix well. Finally add in the milk and mix or stir until batter is smooth. Stir in the sprinkles. Using a cookie scoop, scoop the batter into the tins (I do a heaping cookie scoop)

2. Bake for 23 to 25 minutes. Let cool then ice with frosting below.

Vanilla Buttercream

• 2 sticks (1 cup) unsalted butter, softened

• 1/2 cup milk

• 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

• 8-9 cups of confectioners' sugar (powdered sugar)

Directions:

1. In a mixer, beat the butter until smooth.

2. Add 4 cups of sugar and the milk and vanilla and beat until smooth and creamy. Gradually add the remaining sugar, one cup at a time until the frosting appears thick enough to spread.

3. Frost the cupcakes.