Birthday Girl

Incredibly, Anneke made it to her second birthday without exploding from sheer stubbornness. This feat called for some serious celebrating, so Anneke began her day with a miniature marshmellow-chocolate-chip-cookie birthday cake...
...before proceeding to bigger and better cakes, the candles of which Lautje selfslessly offered to help blow out:

Her presents (a matter of some concern in a household already overflowing with toys) seem to have been to her liking, too. The revealing of the magnetic blackboard required some help from the Oma - Anneke seemed convinced that having a huge mysteriusly wrapped thing show up in her living room was present enough and there was surely no need to take that beautiful paper off...

Once revealed, however, it was a huge success and gave Lautje the chance to show off how he can write an "A" for Anneke.

The Nanny and Papa's presents were also well received, though Anneke decided the Thomas the Train pillowcase was better used as decoration...

George and Lisa got to try out Anneke's new baby kinderwagen.

However, the day wasn't all smiles and giggles. So as not to spoil the Mommy and Daddy, Anneke naturally decided to throw a fit about something of relatively minor importance. On the plus side, she chose not to scream or cry, but rather (for some unknown reason) to pretend that she was an ostrich...

In the end, though, Anneke's birthday weekend was a great success. And although she might be stubborn and strong-willed, she can still turn on the charm when she needs to, and melt the Mommy and Daddy's hearts.