A Letter to Our Two Year Old...Round #2

I posted this already last night, but somehow it got deleted so here goes round #2...

Dear Avery,

How is it that our baby girl is already TWO years old?!? I say this all the time, but time has really flown by and I don't like how fast it has gone by. It seems just like yesterday that I was waking Daddy up at 1 am and telling him I thought it was time to go to the hospital...so again, why is my little bunny two years old?!? I can still remember very clearly when at 5:47 am on May 6, 2011 I was handed a very pink, chubby cheeked, pouty lipped TINY baby. Now I sit next to you while you watch Alvin and the Chipmunk's Chipwrecked, which you watch in full concentration and only turning to me to laugh occasionally or comment about the movie. You continue to be my sweet and sassy little girl!

You absolutely LOVED it when we sang Happy Birthday to you! You had the biggest smile on your face and I'm so bummed that the auto focus on my camera focused on the cake instead of your pretty smile! And yes we recycled your cake from your party b/c we had lots leftover and yes Lola there are 3 candles b/c 1 is for good luck. All the pretend play we did singing Happy Birthday and blowing out pretend candles ensured you knew what to do when we were done singing and you blew out your candles right on cue!

You love to make people laugh and your sweet little laugh is so infectious. I LOVE how you squish your nose and eyes when  you are really laughing. You are talking A LOT!!! I'm not sure how many words are in your vocabulary...I've stopped keeping track b/c it seems like you are saying a new word every day. You love to read books and your current favorite is Goodnight Moon, which I am thrilled about b/c it is my absolute favorite bedtime book. I've tried reading this to you at bedtime before, but it hasn't worked out b/c you've always wanted to go to bed after about 30 seconds of cuddling. I started to settle for reading it at other times and I think I got you hooked. I use the book to get you to go to your room when you don't want to go to bed. You run straight for your shelf, grab the book, and climb up on your recliner. Then  you demand: "Mommy, sit down!". You are such a bossy little girl! We start out with me reading the whole book while you sit on my lap then you take a turn reading the book a couple of times. You actually have the beginning of the book memorized and you'll recite the first half of it even though you're not on the right page: "Gwee woo, phone and red bah-woo. Cow jump moon. Three beh, sit cheh. Two kittens, pair mittens. House and mouse. Mush. Shhh.". Translation: In the great green room, there was a telephone and a red balloon and a picture of...the cow jumping over the moon. And there were three little bears sitting on chairs and two little kittens and a pair of mittens. And a little toy house and a young mouse. And a comb and a brush and a bowl full of mush and a quiet old lady whispering hush. You do a pretty good job!

Your absolute favorite person to play with is Parker. In fact the first question you asked this morning was: "Where Bubba?" b/c he didn't come to greet you like he normally does since you slept past 9 am and he was already in school. Sometimes you cry after we drop him off at school and yell: "Bye, Bubba!" as you sob. It breaks my heart! He is also the one person that can drive you nuts b/c he likes to pick on you and tackle you. It usually makes you laugh, but sometimes you just want to be left alone. But then again, you also like to bug him when he is playing quietly by himself. You love to play with cars with Bubba, play with  your baby dolls, play pretend (you throw anything over your shoulder and pretend it's a purse and that you are leaving and yell out "Bye! See you! I go see Shamu!" You get the pretending to go see Shamu from Parker - both of you love to pretend to go to Sea World), you love to sing and your favorite song besides Twinkle Twinkle and Happy Birthday is We Are Young by FUN. I've got the cutest video of you singing it in the car...I'll have to figure out a way to upload it! Your Bubba loves you so much and he doesn't like it when you're sad and crying. Any time you are upset he tries to comfort you either by patting your head or saying "shhh. shhh" or singing your favorite Twinkle Twinkle. It usually works and you stop crying...even for just a bit.

You started going to daycare in February when I went back to work full time. You had a tough time at first and hated it when I dropped you off in the mornings and would always cry, but Ms. Debbie always said that you were fine after I left. It took a while, but after about 2 months you started to walk up the driveway to the front door by yourself instead of insisting I carry you and you rarely cry anymore. You talk about your school friends Hammond, Abby, and Logan and of course Ms. Debbie. In fact you like to pretend you are on the phone with Hammond.

You had your 2 year check up today. Dr. Kathy, who is my fave pediatrician at the office, came in and your chin just started to quiver. But you just sat on the table brave as can be and let her listen to your heart and lungs. You let her look in your ears, nose, and throat. You looked as if you might cry at any moment, but you let her do her thing. Then she asked you to lay down, which you did, but you started to cry. You weren't screaming and thrashing around or trying to get up, but just crying an 'I'm scared kind of cry'. You let Dr. Kathy check out your belly, hips, legs, etc while Daddy tried to soothe you and patted your face and I rubbed your leg. Once Dr. Kathy was done, I hugged you tight, but you reached for Daddy. Sadly for me this has been  happening a lot recently. You've been favoring Daddy over me when you're not feeling good. It's ok - I know he gives good hugs. Dr. Kathy also said that your upper left 2 year molar was starting to peek through. I figured it was b/c earlier last week you were being extra dramatic and cried out that your tongue hurt, but you shoved your finger all the way to the back of your mouth instead of the spot where you had bitten your tongue earlier in the week. She said no other molars are attempting to come out right now...knowing you it will take until you are almost 3 for all 4 of them to come out!

So here are your stats:
Weight: 30 lbs (85th percentile)
Height: 35.5" (90th percentile)

If you continue on this growth trend you will be 5'11"! Dr. Kathy did say that some kids grow fast in their early years and then slow down quite a bit (this was Mommy...I stopped growing when I was around 11 yrs old - once the tallest I started to become the shortest), but that you will likely outgrow me - an easy feat since I'm only 5'1" and apparently that is only in the 10th percentile! She said that she doubts you will be as short as me since you've never been below average height wise (or weight for that matter). At 18 months your stats were: height 34.25" (>97%); weight 25.4 lbs (70%). Your projected height then was: 5'8.5". I guess only time will tell!

We love you a whole bunch, baby girl!

Love,
Mommy & Daddy
(and Bubba too)


More to come later: lots of photos of Avery's bday party...