Excuse me, but have you seen my baby?

There are moments when I realize that our little baby girl is no longer a baby. These are moments that make me proud and sad at the same time. I don't care what anyone says about the terrible twos, this is the best time of my life. I love watching Liv grow and learn and develop every minute of the day. Each day she surprises me with something -- her growing vocabulary (which unfortunately is sometimes too "mature"), her developing skills of logic, her independence, her sense of humor.

Most recently, I was struck by the fact that she is officially a child (as opposed to a baby) at the Star of Texas Fair and Rodeo. Grumpa and Bunny made a visit to Austin, and we treated them to a true taste of Texas. Livy loves animals, so she was eager to rides the ponies -- by herself.

And feed the deer and goats:

And while last year, she would not even think of riding the carnival rides, this year she loved it.

At Payton's birthday party, she thought she was big enough to pull Talise in the wagon, and she was.

She is fearless. She came hobbling over to me after scraping her leg at the playground. I hugged her and ask if she was okay. Her reply, "Don't worry mama, I'll be alright." And off she went.

She has gotten over a lot of her shyness. She is particularly comfortable with Cara and Danny (friends of mine).

Yep, my baby is growing up.