She's Still Worth It.

Just wanted to follow up my last post by saying: while this is definitely a challenging age, it's also so, so, sooooo much fun, and wonderful, and exciting!

There's a lot to complain about, sure. For example: there's a better than good chance that your two year old will smear all of your belongings with a thick coat of vaseline at some point (see top right picture).

And maybe, they'll refuse to nap unless it's on your shoulder (bottom left picture).

But, if your two year old is anything like my two year old, it'll be ok... maybe even better than ok :)

Emma has become such a grown up lately. Here are some of the fun things she's been doing:

• Making great social connections. She likes to play with other kids and hold babies. She has a best friend who she plays with nearly every day (see top left), and they're adorable together.

• She's becoming a CHAMP copycat. She can mimic just about everything we say, which is just so amazing to me. Hearing her say things like "Hold on tight!" or "Ohhhhh yeah!" or "See ya later!" can overwhelm me with emotion and make me laugh at the same time.

•  She's starting to converse. Like today, at Target-- she REALLY didn't want to be there. So she threw a tantrum at being put in the cart, which was fairly predictable. So I pulled her aside and tried to talk her through it. I said, "Can we be HAPPY? Happy Emma?" And through her tears, she tried to muster a convincing "Happy Emma." But the tantrum was still winning out. So I said, "Would it make Emma happy to look at SHOES?" She thought for a moment, nodded tearfully, and said, "Shoes, shoes, shoes!" while signing shoes enthusiastically. Fortunately, our whole purpose in going to Target was to buy rain boots for Emma-- she's been eying them for months on our neighbor's daughter. Once said rain boots were on her feet, they didn't come off until bedtime, and her smile stuck around for about that long too. (middle picture)
• She's also developing a great sense of humor. After we picked out the rain boots, I showed her some (adorable) pink, glittery cowboy boots and asked if she wanted those instead. And she started laughing, shaking her head at me, and said, "Noooooooo," like I was so silly for even asking. I thought it was hilarious. She did the same thing to a pair of crocs.

• She sets the table pretty often. She usually sets a spot for her "baby" in her highchair. The utensils all come out of the dishwasher, and the plates are all lined up on the same side of the table. But she's pretty pleased with herself on most occasions.

• She can say "bye" now without having a complete and total meltdown (which I'm sure stems from her abandonment complex she inherited from me). She'll blow kisses, and say "Bye! See ya later!" over and over again. And her "see ya later" sounds something like: "See ya la-la-la-la-la-la!" Which is just cute. We've recently started seeing the speech therapist 90 minutes a week (which is up from 45 minutes a week), and it feels quite long. Last week, at about the halfway point, Emma walked over to the door, blew kisses and said her "bye bye, see ya later!" And after that, she really wouldn't have anything to do with the therapist. She was totally done.

•  She's a wonderful nurturer already and is going to make a fabulous older sister (not an announcement-- we'll let you know when there's one to be made. promise.) one day. She dotes on real babies as well as her doll baby. It took a week or so for her to be willing to put the baby to bed, but now that she does, baby takes about 20 naps a day. Each time, Emma rocks her and sings to her, and plants about 5 big kisses on her face. She covers her up with a (washcloth) blanket, and says "Shhhh. Night, night."(middle right picture)

•  She identifies routines really well. When I start fixing dinner, she'll go sit on the ottoman and wait for me to turn on a Disney movie. That's my favorite time of day. (bottom middle picture)

•  She's very affectionate. We get lots and lots of kisses now. And more times than I can count in a day, she'll stop what she's doing, run full force into my knees, and wrap her arms around my legs and say, "awwwwwww." Which is the sound she thinks your supposed to make when you hug someone. And she's correct :)

We're having the time of our lives with our little two year old monster. I wish that you all can be so lucky as to enjoy the cuddles, laughs, and joy that a two-year-old can bring into your life.