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Wednesday, August 26, 2009

So this is what 2 looks like...

To say it's hard to believe Abby turned 2 today would be an understatement. I remember the day she was born like it was five minutes ago. The moment I met her it was love at first sight. Two years later, I'm still madly in love with this precious daughter we've been given. I adore her. I'm enthralled by her. I am amazed by her. I want the best for her. And she's growing up, and there's nothing I can do to stop it.

Parenting is one of the kindest, cruelest experiences in life. God takes your heart, hands it to you in the form of a screaming newborn, and says "Here, love this kid with everything you have. Teach her what's right. And raise her so that one day, she won't need you anymore."

I won't in any way purport to be a perfect parent. Heck, half the time I don't even think I'm a really good one (the other half, I blog about). But through some combination of occasionally getting it right, and the fact that Abby's a pretty good kid to begin with, she seems to be turning out okay so far. She's come a long way since her birthday two years ago.

Stats:
Height: 3 feet, 1 inch (off the charts!)
Weight: 26 lbs (42%)
(And yes, that puts her BMI freakishly low...looks like she's been blessed with my great metabolism. Glad I could do something for her.)

She's one smart cookie. She knows all the letters of the alphabet and the sounds they make. She's started singing the alphabet song, though not all the way through yet. She prefers it if I sing and she screams out the particular letters she's feeling excited about at the moment when I get to them. She recognizes all 26 uppercase letters and quite a few lowercase ones as well. She still loves to "read," and has begun recognizing a few written words in her books. She recently started counting, and loves to tell us anytime she finds pairs of things ("one, two...two puppies!"). So far she can count to 3 on her own, needs a little prompting on 4-7, and gets really excited about 8, 9 and 10.

She's an engineer. Like her dad, she's constantly solving problems in her head or with her hands. She's fascinated by how things work. She's destroyed more interactive books that I care to count by trying to figure out what causes them to make music, or what makes a certain piece move, or how the binding holds everything together. She takes things apart in record time, then brings me the pieces and tells me, "Pieces mommy. Broken. Fix it, please." She'll watch while I fix it, and have it disassembled again in moments. We go through a lot of tape at our house. She's figuring out magnets and what they will and won't stick to. I find magnets all over the house that she's tried to stick to doors (fail), the washing machine (win), my leg (fail), or the spring on Caleb's jumparoo (win). Most recently, she was fascinated by the birthday balloons that got stuck to the air intake on the wall in the foyer. We had to explain that dolls and blocks would not work in a similar fashion.

She's a social butterfly. Abby has a couple of real close girlfriends and regularly asks to play with them. Which works for me, because I like their moms. So it's a win-win situation really. On our way home, we pass our neighbor's house and Abby always points out "Maddie's house! Maddie's house!" And anytime I even mention the word "fun," her mind immediately goes to her buddy Abby Mae. "Fun? Abby Mae? Splash in fountain?" It's adorable to watch her make friends and navigate the world of sharing. And speaking of that, she's not too bad at the whole sharing thing, for a 2-year-old. We try to explain about turn-taking and greed, and it seems that she's beginning to understand how to be patient (waiting without grumbling). Watch out though...if you turn your back, she will take your stuff.

She's a chatterbox. Counting the words she doesn't know would be much easier than counting the ones she does know at this point. The thoughts that she vocalizes never cease to amaze me, and she's particularly fond of narrating absolutely every single thing that happens in her little world. "Abby jumping! Mommy cooking...stove hot, don't touch it! Cabey eating green beans! Daddy's home! Abby's riding in Mommy's car! Mommy vacuuming the rug...move Abby!" How she gets that excited about every little thing is beyond me, but I love her exuberance. I'm exhausted by it, but I love it. Most recently she's started helping us say the blessing at mealtimes ("Thank you God for food. Amen.") and will help say her prayers at bedtime with some coaxing. She's learned her full name and is proud to tell you when you ask.

She's a sweet big sister. She's generally kind to her brother, and always makes sure he has a toy to take with him in the car like she does. My favorite moments are those when she'll give up her favorite toys to "Cabey," as if she knows that they're extra special and he'll appreciate them more. If he's crying or upset, we can count on her to bring him "soft baby toys" or "chew toys" (teething rings) to play with. She likes to pet his head, and has learned to be gentle. She'll hold his hand (if he'll let her) when we say the blessing at mealtime, and often comes in to give him good night kisses when he's getting ready to go to bed. She tries, unsuccessfully, to pick him up (which is understandable, since she only weighs three pounds more than he does).

She's ours. Justin's in the habit of asking, "What's your favorite thing about Abby?" My answer never changes. "She's ours," I tell him. And I mean it. She's adorable, she sometimes cuddles, she's a great sleeper, she's not a picky eater, and she's generally pretty obedient. But if none of that were true, I would adore her just the same, because she's ours. I love getting her up every morning, I love that she's part of this family, I love dreaming about her future and soaking in the present. I love that God chose me to be her mom.

Happy second birthday, Abby.

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