two years old

So, I now have a two year old on my hands.  How crazy is that?

Let's start with stats and milestones, shall we?

At 2 years old, Abby weighs about 27 lbs and is about 34 inches tall - at least by my mediocre measurements.  We have a doctor's appointment this week, so hopefully we'll get some official stats then.

- She has all her teeth and is working on her 2-year molars.  One or two of them are breaking through now.
- Her hair is still blonde - of varying degrees - and is naturally curly at the ends and straight on top.  When it's wet, it comes down to her shoulders now...well, at least in the back.
- She loves to do everything that toddlers are supposed to love to do.  She likes to sing and dance and run and jump.
- She knows her alphabet and can recognize all the letters.
- She can count to 20, but often gets stuck at 19 (and will say 19 over and over) and she can recognize her numbers up through 10.
- She knows her colors and her shapes with about 90% accuracy.
- She loves to sing and her favorite song to sing is Twinkle Twinkle.  But Old McDonald, the ABCs, Jingle bells, and the Hot Dog song are up there too.
- She likes to color, paint, stamp, and glue.  Anything craft related is a lot of fun for her.
- Her favorite toys are still Tilly the doll, Glowie the glow-worm, Little Baby, and most recently, Pink Monkey.
- She watches some TV, but only Mickey Mouse and Sesame Street.  She can name nearly all the characters on both shows.
- Her vocabulary is great.  I don't know how many words she knows, but she communicates well and can parrot back anything you ask her to say.  She speaks in sentences and is pretty good with letting us know what she wants, needs, and thinks with her words.
- She's still a good sleeper.  She takes a 2.5-3 hour nap every day and sleeps from around 7:30pm-7am.
- She's a good eater.  As with many toddlers, she goes through phases where she doesn't eat much and through phases where she eats a lot.  She loves milk.  She thinks M&Ms are God's gift to Earth.  Her other favorite foods are tomatoes, pickles, olives, hummus, cheese, cereal bars, and oatmeal.  She likes nearly all fruit.  She only drinks milk and water.
- She wears mostly 18 month - 2T clothing.  Size 4 diapers.
- She loves to help.  She helps put up dishes, throws things away for us, cleans up toys, "folds" laundry and any other chore that she can be involved in.  She also likes to help me cook and generally just wants to be included and involved with whatever is going on.

So, there's a snapshot of Abigail Katherine.

I write these things down so that I'll remember them.  I know that when she's 5 years old, I won't remember how tall she was at 2.  And, in some ways, maybe it doesn't matter - but I like to have a record of these tidbits nonetheless.

When Abby was a baby, it was difficult for me to adjust to being a mom for a few months.  Not *really* difficult, but a lot harder than I had imagined it would be.  I remember thinking "I'm going to be a great mom to a toddler"  But, then, I doubted if I was a good mom for a baby.  Well, of course things changed.  My hormones settled and Abby and I bonded and things have been beautiful.  But, I still remember thinking that and I remember looking forward to this age so much.  This age when she's old enough to talk to me and listen to me.  Where we can to crafts together and plan projects.  She's old enough to play pretend with me and we have tea parties and hunt for pretend monsters.  It's just so much fun.

Of course, it's also exhausting - but it's a happy exhaustion.  And, most days, I'm merely tired - not exhausted.  I try to remember to enjoy each age that she is - to not rush into wishing for her to grow up a little bit.  But, now that we're here, I can really say that I'd be ok if she slowed down growing a little.  I'd like to really savor this age.

I may change my mind if she starts on these terrible two behaviors I've heard so much about.  But, until then, I'm going to just enjoy this 2-year old phase.

She's a fun kid.  She makes me happy on many levels.  I feel like we've bonded in new ways over the past few months and there are days when I just think "man, she's fun to be around"

Anyway, I'm happy.  We're so blessed that Abby is such a strong, healthy, thriving little girl.  I try to remember that daily.  I can't wait to see what this next year brings for Abby and for us as a growing family.  There are so many changes in store that it is sure to be an exciting year for all of us.

Love to all.