It was TWO MONTHS ago that you turned two. What a slacker I am, not writing this post until now. Well you can blame your sister. There will be a lifetime of that I’m sure. Suddenly things got crazy, maybe I should say crazier. Lucky for your dad and me, you took the arrival of your sister in stride. I have to say that I think we can thank Maggie for some of that. She has not been a very demanding baby, so the level of attention we pay you hasn’t declined greatly. You are a big help with Maggie, and I would guess enjoy the attention that a new baby brings. Plus, with Maggie here, you get more one on one time with Dada. He took you to see your first movie at the theater. You saw Frozen on the really big TV. He also took you on your first sledding trip. You loved the two trips down the hill, but then your hands got cold and it WAS TIME TO GO.
I can’t BELIEVE how much you’ve grown, changed, learned in
just ONE YEAR. Year one is all about size and year two is all about your brain.
You know all your colors, only sometimes confusing pink and white. You are
quickly learning numbers and letters. Sometimes I worry we can stimulate your
brain enough. You soak it all in. I mean ALL of it. You repeated your first
cuss word last month. Luckily, you aren’t too good with the s’s so it sounded
like ‘it’.
Your vocabulary continues to surprises us, while your
pronunciation continues to confound us. I think I’m better at understanding you
than your dad. You hurt your pinkie yesterday and when I told your dad, he didn’t
believe me that you knew what your pinkie was. He immediately began quizzing
you. “Caroline, where is your pinkie?” Don’t take offense; he does it to me too.
Its just his way of showing his amazement at your intellect. (At least that’s what
I tell myself when he challenges me).
Our biggest challenges right now are centered on
communication. You know exactly what you want but you can seem to get me to
understand. OH THE FRUSTRATION! You cry those big crocodile tears as I throw a
string of questions at you, trying to figure out the problem. There have been
many times that we stand looking at each other, tears streaming down your face
and my heart breaking that I don’t know what it is you are trying to say.
It goes something like this:
“Are you Hungry?”
“No?”
“Do you want a hug?”
“NO MOMMA, no hug!”
“Do you want to color?”
“NOOOOO!” Crying
intensifies. I’m getting colder.
“Do you want to go bye-bye?”
“NO”
“Do you want a waffle?”
“YEAH! Waffle!” Hands
reach triumphantly overhead in victory.
I’m never really sure if you wanted a waffle to begin with
or if that just sounded so good that you forgot your original request. I just
have to be careful not to ask you if you want to play with knives or drive the
car! I never know when you’re going to say yes.
You give the BEST hugs! My absolute favorite is when you
run to me, outstretched arms, yelling MOMMA. I sweep you up. All limbs are
enthusiastically curl around me. If you are really excited, I get big pats on
my back as I hold you as close as possible. You are a great snuggler too. On
those lazy weekend mornings, when I’m curled up on the couch, you climb in next
to me and we watch TV. I’ve even learned how to balance both you and your
sister in my arms, because I love the couch snuggles so much.
I can’t wait to see what this next year brings. I can’t
imagine that you will continue to change and grow at such a breakneck speed,
but only time will tell.
I love you so much.
The Momma!
