Daily Sweet Pea: Labor of love

Dear Hadley:

This past weekend, you turned two years old. TWO! Or, as you say, "one-two-one." And TWO you definitely are:-)! You are so incredibly adorable. You repeat everything we say, you sing and dance, you are exuberant about everything, and you feel everything so BIG! You wear your emotions like giant beacons on your face and they range from extreme giddiness one second to the depths of despair the next. It's really laughable-- or would be anyway if it didn't involve you melting into a puddle on the floor when things don't go as you wish.

Honestly, you rarely have tantrums. Now that you can communicate with us, we can act almost civilized. We can ask you to stop doing something and tell you why you should stop and amazingly, you listen. I know! I never thought that day would come, either. Speaking of communication, you have made leaps and bounds in speech just in the past month. You are speaking in sentences, singing whole songs (row, row, row your boat is your favorite), learning the alphabet and colors, and learning new words at lightning fast speeds. Your all-time favorite phrase is, "Uh oh, oh no!"

When you are asked what color something is, you automatically answer "LELLOW!" Then, we remind you that it is, in fact, pink or green or blue or red, and you agree. Your favorite thing to say is "I want ______," as in "I want cheese," or "I want mou (her stuffed mouse)." Yesterday, you melted my heart by saying "I want my Minnie (Brynn)" as we were packing up to go to the store. You also routinely want everything you see. Last week at the store, you wanted (in no particular order) a cow, a dobby (doggie), a nanda (panda), a bed, juice, and shoes (men's shoes, in fact).

Recently, much to my surprise and delight, you have decided that you want to wear bows in your hair. You now ask us repeatedly for a bow and frequently request that we "bow Minnie," too. You also love to play dress up and often wear three or four tutus at once while playing in your playroom. One day recently, you refused to take off your tutus, so we compromised and you wore one to Target. The check-out clerk almost fell over fawning over you.

You are the best big sister ever. You love, love, love your little sister and dote on her constantly. As soon as you wake up, you ask for "Minnie" and if Brynn is sleeping, you tell everyone "shhhhh." Lately, when Brynn cries, you say, "Minnie's crying" and you tell her, "It's ok, Minnie," and "I know, Minnie." You have such a big heart and are even learning to share your toys with Brynn. Yesterday, while we were playing, you hugged your giant Pooh Bear and then walked over and placed him right on top of Brynn. Then you casually walked away. Pooh is easily three times bigger than Brynn, but I was still proud of you for sharing! Baby steps.

You recently started preschool and so far, you are loving it. You still have moments where you get lonely for me, Daddy, and Brynn, but otherwise, you are having so much fun. You are learning new songs, painting, coloring, playing outside, and making friends. I love that you are getting the social experience that school provides, and I'm so proud of you for adjusting to something so new.

For your birthday, we had a delightful, little family party at the local botanic gardens. There is a children's "backyard" area there with treehouses, miniature playhouses, a rainstorm area, gardens, a hedge maze, and fountains. You love the gardens and I knew that a party there would make you so happy.

And it did! You had a blast in your pink tutu, headband, and bow. You even wore the sunglasses I brought as party favors. After we played for a while, we took a break to eat some brownie cupcakes that I made. You surprised all of us by blowing out your birthday candle with no prompting at all. I have no idea where you learned that!

It was an amazing day that I will never forget. I hope you enjoyed it as much as we did.