So Saturday was the big day. My 2-year-old daughter finally made the move from her crib to her very own "Big Girl Bed." We knew it was coming for quite some time as her little leg edged closer and closer to the top of the crib rail as she lifted it up, usually in defiance.

I scoped out twin-size beds for weeks until we finally settled on a comfy-cozy Sealy mattress about two weeks ago. Then the Elmo comforter and sheets arrived, and I picked up the bed rail on Saturday. We finally had all the pieces and just needed to put them together.

My husband and I took apart the crib on Saturday afternoon and I definitely didn't remember all of those teeny-tiny little parts. It was hard to imagine that I put that crib together almost two and a half years ago when I was about six months pregnant. It arrived on a night when my husband had class and I was so anxious to assemble it that I did it by myself (with the help of a conveniently sized box). I remember being so anxious and excited about having a baby when I put that crib together, and here we were on Saturday taking it apart and moving onto a new stage in Emma's life — "the big girl."

Emma squealed, "My big girl bed," as we brought the mattress and box-spring up from the basement. She had to help us carry them from the kitchen to her bedroom. And she was ready to jump in even before I had the sheets on.

Despite her excitement I was still nervous about how she'd react at bedtime. However, as it arrived, Emma got in her jammies, grabbed her "kids" and climbed in. She got under her covers, laid down on her pillow and smiled from ear to ear. She was so proud and so excited (and so was I). I think she was asleep before we shut the door.

Sunday was Emma's second birthday party and at one point there were five children under the age of 4 in our living room (a niece, two nephews and our friend's daughter). It was quite a zoo, but it was so much fun to watch them all playing together.

Emma was so excited to open all of her presents. She got piles of the cutest little girl clothing (and we had to try all of them on on Monday night), a gas grill that lights up and makes a grilling sound, a Fisher-Price high chair for her many "kids," a V.Smile TV Learning System and more that I'm sure I'm forgetting.

She's not sure how to play the video game yet, but she and her little cousin certainly had a blast when they discovered the attached microphone. Her party guests were serenaded with a variety of little kids' tunes from the "Alphabet Song" and "Old McDonald" to "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star" and "Little Bunny Foo Foo." Now I just need to convince her that you don't actually have to inhale the microphone in order to sing into it.

She also was ecstatic when we lit the candles on her Elmo ice cream cake and she got to blow them out. And she was all smiles as everyone sang her "Happy Birthday." She's been singing "Happy Birthday, Emma" for at least a month now to anyone who would lend an ear.

My husband and I got Emma "Sesame Street Stripes and Letters" sheets and a comforter for her "big girl bed," which is still in our basement. The rail that I'm hoping keeps her from rolling out at night came in today, so that's our project for the weekend -- assembling it and crossing our fingers that she actually wants to sleep in it.

I'm sure that will be a whole nother story ... stay tuned next week.