Two years have gone by in a flash! It is hard to believe that we are celebrating your 2nd birthday. You have brought so much joy to our lives over the last 24 months. Each week brings something new, and every day is a blessing. There are so many things that I love about two-year-old you.
You are quite a talker. You jibber jabber all day long, from when you first wake up until you are drifting off to sleep. We can't always understand what you are saying, but you have such a look of concentration as you are talking to us, so we nod and talk back to you as best as we can. You are developing such a big vocabulary. You are even starting to string together phrases, like "Where Daddy go?" and "That's my bear." You are saying "my" before everything - "my bear," "my baby," even "my Daddy." I love how you say "dull" instead of "doll" and "beer" instead of "bear." We've recently started practicing our flash cards before bed. It is such a special nightly routine, and you are so attentive as we sit together on the chair in your nursery. We will first read a book (right now your favorites are The Little Engine That Could, Goodnight Moon, and books with textures or mirrors) and then we will go through your animal flash cards, repeating the names of each one. Without me saying the name first, you can recognize fish, cow, dog, pig, horse, and duck. You can also make noises for each, my favorite being the 'fish.' It gets a little confusing when we see the 'seahorse' and you start to neigh...that one is tricky! I love the way that you say "please" as "peas" and that you have started to say "help" when you want us to carry you or pick you up. You really love music, and we listen to songs before school as we go about our morning routine. You know a lot of the words to the "Good Morning to You" song. You also will often sing or hum the ABCs, "Twinkle, Twinkle" (which is the same tune...but Mommy can tell the difference!), "Old McDonald," and other songs that Mommy has made up. I'm sure one day in kindergarten you will say to a friend "You don't know the toothbrush song?" because surely "Brusha, Brusha, Brusha" is a childhood classic ;)
You are so busy all the time. You love emptying the toy box and pulling the books off of your bookshelf. You also love playing in Mommy's closet and trying on my shoes. It's never too much of a mess, and you usually help clean up afterwards. Your favorite toys right now are your baby stroller and books. You still love your Mega Blocks and talking teddy bear, and you love being outside. Unfortunately with the weather getting cooler, we aren't able to take our evening walks, but you like to point out the moon and stars both in the mornings and at night. You also like spotting pumpkins and doggies.
Now that you are 2, we will soon begin big girl things like potty-training and brushing your own teeth. You are wearing size 4 diapers and a combo of 24-month and 2T clothing. I just bought the first box of size 5 diapers. (Hopefully we won't be buying diapers for too much longer!) You love your size 5 pink tennis shoes, although they are almost too small. We have several pairs of size 6 shoes that you will be wearing soon. You are a mess when you come home from daycare most days. It usually means you have had a fun day playing outside or that the day's meals were a bit messy. You've started to say "dirty" when your hands need wiped off after a meal. If you fall down, you'll come to your Daddy or me with your palms held out so that we can brush them off for you. We are still cutting up certain foods, but you are doing very well with utensils. You've started to try some meat, but mostly you like fruits, vegetables, and bread. Our go-to snacks are yogurt, applesauce, and cheese. You also like Fig Newtons and Teddy Grahams.
The thing I love the most about this stage is your imagination. You love to play make-believe. You will often set up your animals to read to them, or you will put one of your babies in the stroller to push around the house. You like to pretend to put diapers on things and to feed your babies with an empty spoon. During bath time, you will bathe your "bath baby doll", just like a nurturing Mommy. You will certainly be a caring mother one day, and I love getting glimpses of you as a Mommy years from now.
There are so many special snapshots from the year that I hope to never forget. It was amazing to watch you take your first steps in early January; we had so many adventures together over the summer; you were unfazed going back to daycare, although Mommy was a little sad; and you continue to amaze us with all your tricks and skills. We are so thankful to be your parents and you light up our world!
We love you!
Mommy & Daddy
Even though we already celebrated a couple of weeks ago, we certainly couldn't sit at home on her actual birthday. We met up with Grammy, Grandpa, Maddox, and Zander for breakfast at Fitz on Main, where we ate last year. I suppose this makes it a tradition! Aunt Megan and Uncle Zack are out of town (in Jamaica for their anniversary); otherwise, they would have been there, too.
With full bellies, we headed off to the Greensboro Science Center. Emmy and I went several times over the summer, and it was fun to go back again with Daddy. Emmy loved seeing all the animals and running in the open space. We initially brought in the stroller, but I ended up taking it back to the car when it became apparent that Emmy preferred to walk or ride on Daddy's shoulders.
Our friends Stephanie and Lyla met us at the Science Center, and Lyla and Emmy had a lot of fun playing make believe and darting from one exhibit to the next.
We've had such a fun day! Happy birthday, Emerson Leigh!
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