Thursday, August 1, 2013

The Terribly Wonderful Two's

I am the mother of a two year old.

I love saying it! I love when people ask me how old she is. It's just so much fun to say, "She just turned two on the 28th!" Do I believe that I've had this amazing kid in my life for two years? I'm not so sure I do...  But, on the flip-side, I can't remember a time without her being here.

This age has been so much fun.

Believe me, I have definitely gotten previews of the "terrible two's" and what is in store, but over-all, this is my favorite stage of parenting yet!


I love looking into Evey's eyes and knowing that she understands most everything I am saying.
I love saying "I love you to the moon and back,"  and hearing her respond with "love you, too. Moon. Back."

I love seeing her face when she hears Papa's race car pull into the driveway after a day at work. I love going through the roster of family and friends and realizing how many amazing and influential people she has in her life.

We pray for our food, and at bed time, and often for the rain to come or that she'll be able to go to the beach (aka: the pool). When you ask Evey who loves her, I love seeing the confidence in her response that Momma, Mimi, Papa and Jesus do.

She's so smart. She is already putting words together to make sentences (minus conjunctions). She knows what movies she likes and knows how to load them into the Blu-ray player. She knows how to clean up her toys and where they go. She knows how to get her way and how to pout when she doesn't get it.

She knows what happens when mommy counts to 3.

Often times, she puts herself into time-out if she's misbehaving. She says "sorry" when she's disobedient, and she is always forgiven. Don't get me wrong - we've had our fair share of tantrums, but for the most part, she is willing to follow the rules.

She is pretty cautious and, she learns quickly that if something hurts it's not a good choice to do it again. At the same time, she's a daredevil and loves to try new things! She can do summersaults (which she gets from me) and loves jumping on the bed or couch. She loves to climb up the side of the crib, or the back of the couch as long as Papa or Momma are close at hand.

She wants to know what everyone is doing all the time.
She loves fiercely. Whether it's a toy, a friend or family member, she loves and loves freely.

Her favorite baby doll is named "Baby Darth." A name that she bestowed on said doll herself. She loves rocks, monsters and trucks, trains and planes. She loves wearing jewelry and carrying a purse filled with her favorite things.

She loves to read! She has spent the summer going to story hour at the library with Mimi and has fallen in love with books! Her favorites are "Tails", Star Wars Counting, and a book about airplanes that Papa Flash made for her.

She asks for "mac-cheese" for breakfast, lunch and dinner.

My favorite trick (if you will) that she's learned this year, is counting. By the time she hit her second birthday, she could count to 11 and we're working on 12! She's so smart and she picks most everything up quickly. My heart swells with pride and joy when I hear her laying in bed counting. Sometimes she still gets them a little confused. One night, I heard over the monitor - wah (one), tooooo (two), tree (three), sits (six), yeight (eight), nine, ten and I had to laugh to myself. She even counts down to something she's looking forward to: tree, toooo, wah, GO!

I love her facial expressions and hearing her learn new words. I love how I can be in the middle of an adult conversation while she's in her own world playing and she'll turn around and interject, using the correct words. I love that she knows so many things and that I have to spell words if I don't want her to know what I'm talking about. The amount of adorable flowing out of that child always makes me smile.

So yes. I am the mother of a two year old. An amazing and independent little girl. I would shout it from the rooftops if I needed to! So far, I am in love with the terrible twos - temper tantrums and all. I hope she stays at this stage for a while. We're just having so much fun!!