Loving the Twos

My girl is growing so much, sometimes she pops up in bed in the morning next to me and I swear she is taller, bigger, and older looking in her sweet toddler way.

 Like her big brother, she is a chatterbox. Her toddlerisms have me so charmed, I love those quirky twists of the English language. If I ask who is hungry, she chirps, "My am!" And when she doesn't want help with something (which is often) she requests, "Naia do it my big girl self." I always say, "You go with your big girl self, you CAN do it!"  And often when she is playing on her own I hear her mumble this to her big girl self, "I strong, I brave, I can do it." My brainwashing is working... so far.

But when she has nobody to talk to, she shifts into song mode. This girl has the music in her bones. She can hear a doorbell or a ringtone and she automatically starts moving to the beat. She picks up songs so quickly and has an odd array of favorites. Some Nights by FUN. Silent Night in Hawaiian. The Nutcracker. Buena Vista Social Club. And anything by Elizabeth Mitchell of course. If there is a pause between songs, she stops and demands, "Music come back here!"

Her imaginary play has taken off too. She will sit and play with the animals and gnomes and have little chattery conversations between them, complete with high and low vocal inflections And of course whenever I am near she thrusts an animals in my hand, "You be this one, I be this one. Ready?"

When I ask where we're going, her answer is always, "Going on adventure!" Her spirit has meant several trips to the ER and loads of near misses, but she seems to have a good head on her shoulders with all that spunk.

She loves to help clear the table after a meal. She's very fond of tidying up in general (yay!) And she loves to boss her brother around and pull his hair. At the same time he is often the one she calls out for in the middle of the night or first thing in the morning. She will watch him draw a picture and say, "Bootiful picture Zachawy, I proud of you!"

Drawing and books and sorting anything small keep her happy, and nothing seems to make her light up like going for a walk and playing in the dinghy racks.

You can't imagine that you will possibly be as in love with your second child as you are with the first, and then whammo! So different, but so delicious. I love watching her change and grow.

"Mama, I adore you," she often coos. "Squeeze me!" And then I melt.