Two years and 4 months. I love this age. You are challenging no doubt. You have your whiny days, your moments of rebellion, your days when you run away from me for no reason every time I need to put your shoes on, but overall it just gets better and better. You’re so fun! And so sweet and so perfect is so many ways. Do you know how awesome it is to have a little girl who loves going to bed? It was one of my biggest fears as a new Mom, that I would never again sleep, that it would always be a battle. I heard so many horror stories. Bedtime is one of the sweetest times of the day, every day. Mornings too. You give the best cuddles, you love your blankies, your books, your bed. And you’ve actually started saying “Nigh Nigh, Momma” when I lay you down. Music to my ears. Then you make sure you know where your water cup is, you bunch up your blankies under your head, make sure I turn on your music, and then you pick up a book and start flipping. Perfectly content. There was a week or 2 right after we took the binky away where I worried all this was going to vanish, but it didn’t. You resigned yourself quickly and got right back in the grove. In the morning, you are at least 75% smiles and “Hi, Mommas.” I’m just really grateful for that part of your little personality. You get your morning happies from Daddy. I am NOT a morning person, but you help me to be. It’s impossible to be a grump gus in the morning when I have this face to greet me first thing. I’m grateful for it every day. That’s why I bring it up so much.
I got a new lens this month so I’m trying to capture more close ups of you… your sweet details. You love your fingernails painted and love to pick the paint off. Your corkscrew belly button melts me. Your dimpled knuckles reassure me you’re still a baby for while longer. Your diaper is still on. Potty training is something I need to convince MYSELF to commit to. We’re close. We have to just DO IT. Maybe this month.
I took you on your first hike this month, something I really didn’t know you could do. Daddy and I have always been big hikers. That changed when we had you (or actually when you outgrew the Moby wrap) because it got too hard to carry you. I found out that your two little legs will carry you quite far. We did at least a mile together while I scouted out a location for a photo session I had last week. And you had so much fun, climbing, collected, observing nature. And you walked yourself the whole way. I didn’t bring along the stroller or have to carry you. So cool. This is such a beautiful time of year in the desert, the Spring. And I’m beginning to resign myself to the fact that THIS is your home. You are a desert baby. It’s strange, but true. And I want you to know as much about your home as I know about mine. Instead of huckleberries, trillium and oak helicopters you’ll have chollas, yuccas and Joshua tree blooms. I’m actually getting excited to learn more about this ecosystem and teach you. It’s taken me a long time to come around and start appreciating the unique beauty of the desert (and I still don’t think it holds a candle to the NW) but there is a lot to learn and know and appreciate here. I have always loved nature and I’m getting excited to share that with you, to learn with you and teach you. The older you get, the more exciting that part of parenting becomes. I get to teach you things! It’s cool. On the second photo below, you sat on the log by yourself and started petting it and hissing, like you were riding a big snake. 🙂 Hopefully we won’t get too much first hand experience with that part of nature out here.
We’ve been spending a lot of time in Lowes, Home Depot, appliance stores, flooring stores in preparation for our kitchen remodel and room addition. You love those cars they have in the big box stores. They keep you entertained for a long time, as long as we’re moving. We’ve had to get a little creative keeping you entertained during more stationary moments like finalizing the design plans with the kitchen designers. Last time I gave you stickers and a paper to put them on. Five minutes of silence later we found you’d stuck them all in a line around the edge of the cart. You love stickers. They’re the best way to keep you entertained when I really need to get something done. You stick them and re-stick them and pull them off again and re-stick them as many times as they’ll stick. You line them up in rows, you decorate your own face (or ours), you put them on our arms, you stack them in sticky towers. Stickers, stickers, stickers.
The naughty chair is getting more and more use. It works really well, most of the time, especially when you’re unreasonably upset about something. You were actually in trouble in this picture. I wanted to get a photo of your dejected face and this is what you whipped out for me. HAHA. You know how to scam me, little one. You have such a sense of humor. And oftentimes when I ask if you want to go in the naughty chair you’ll say “Yeah!” I think just to see how I’ll react. Smart girl. God, give me wisdom. Only he can make me more clever than you.
You and Daddy are always crawling around together these days. You wave your little arm in a circular motion and say “on, Dadda” (come on, Daddy) and then you pant and get down on your hands and knees and wait for him to do the same. Then he follows you around in circles on the living room floor.
You have a blast with Mima, at our house or hers or in public. We can always count on you belly laughing and experiencing something new. She is an endless wealth of ideas to keep you entertained. It’s such a blessing to have her around. She teaches you things (like how to dance like a gypsy), buys you thoughtful little gifts (like a princess chalkboard), and makes even the seemingly mundane task of walking back to the car an event (by flying with you through the parking lot). She makes everything fun.
We’ve had the task of keeping your new earring holes clean this month, something you didn’t love at all until we started bribing you will Jelly Beans. Now every time we change your diaper you grab your ear say “eeees” (earrings) and repeat “a-num-a-num-a-num” until we oblige you with a cleaning and a sweet. It’s cute.
New things you’re saying this month? Daddy taught you pee-pee, poo-poo and Waywee (your nickname). He’s very proud of all of them. Oh, and yeowy. You say that every time you hurt yourself in the slightest, usually in a grouping of three. “Yewo-y, Yeow-y, Yeow-y!” There are more. It’s hard to keep track. But you are getting really good about using the words you know without encouragement. You watched me get dressed a couple of days ago and named all the articles of clothing as I put them on without any incentive or initiative from me. And you’ve started saying “Thank you, Momma” without any prompting!! It’s soooo sweet (and well-mannered). It sounds more like “Chi chi, Momma” but I know what you mean, baby. And I’m so proud of you!
And we did our first Mother-daughter mani-pedis this month too. I paint your nails all the time, but I actually let you soak your feet with me this time, buffed them (which tickled your toes), and painted them. You are so good about stuff like this. You take it so seriously and are really careful to listen to everything I tell you. I can tell you feel honored to be included as a “big girl” and you don’t want to mess it up.
Okay, that’s what I have for now. Another month of treasures.
