Miss L turns two

L turned two on Jan 23, 2009. Don’t tell her that , we’ve got her and N convinced that her birthday is on Saturday. Okay, okay, I don’t think she’s paying any attention, but N is pretty excited that we are having a party for her. He thinks she would like a Stanley or a James for her birthday (friends of Thomas the Tank Engine for the uninitiated). He’s probably right, she loves playing with the trains and the hammers and anything else that Noah might have in his possession. If N has it then it must be the greatest thing ever, and must be had now... ah the joys of navigating sharing and personal space.

L is a delight to watch these days. She can spend long periods of time put her doll to bed over and over again. First she rocks her and sings "rock a bye baby" then kisses her, puts her in her little bed and says ‘sweet dreams". Then mere minutes later its "rise and shine baby" grab the doll and start all over again. Before you know it she’s done this for 20 minutes over and over and each time with the sweetest "rise and shine" as if it’s the first time she’s ever said it. Next thing you know she’s tossed the doll to the floor, with its clothes half off, and is off to the next thing. What will it be? A rousing game of hide and seek with N and Mommy? (L tends to like to cover her eyes count to 3 and then watch you hide for the last 7 numbers. I wouldn’t say it was cheating, just the best strategy) She loves to be "n-ked girl" (naked girl) and run thru the house at full speed giggling the whole way. She loves to sit on the potty for about 3 seconds stand up and announce "I went potty" whether anything happens or not. And this is followed by a routine of ‘dumping’ the potty into the toilet, trying to flush and saying ‘bye-bye pee’. Like the doll scenario she can repeat this over and over with great delight.

L loves to draw, she loves to point out letters everywhere we go and counts to 14. She sings songs all day long and thinks her brother is delightful (unless he’s not sharing then the meltdown begins) She can be stubborn and clearly is independent. She would rather sit down on the sidewalk and not move before holding your hand to cross the street. If you peel the banana for her you are likely to be greeted with a great wails of "Do it self! Do it self!" She has opinions about just about everything, from what she’ll eat to what she’ll wear. Wails of "Jammies back on, jammies back on" can be heard daily in our household. (This one she learned from her brother N, who is always negotiating keeping his Pjs on for just a ‘few more minutes, please’)

Happy Birthday L. Welcome to the world of twos. These days will be wonderful and exasperating, triumphant and frustrating, endless and instantaneous. They will be amazing days.

I promise to try and remember that these are your twos and not your brothers. I promise to try and carve out more time for just you and me. We’ll go out with out purses and hats one day and the next we’ll race N’s cars down the sidewalk. I’ll begin to let you have a little more independence and you’ll push my buttons... we’ll both do our jobs. But at the end of each night I’ll sing you your lullabies, kiss your sweet face with ‘earring’ kisses, fish kisses and cheek kisses. I will tell you, "I love you. Sweet dreams" and turn out the light. Silently I’ll shut the door and just as I get on the other side, I’ll pause and say a little prayer of thanksgiving for you. G’night sweet pea.