It doesn’t feel real but does it ever?  You are our LAST of the babies and here you are turning two years old.   Sawyer pointed out the other day in Target that I needed to be looking in the toddler section instead of the baby section when we were looking for sweet birthday surprises for you.  He even gets it, you are growing older my dear and you aren’t the baby anymore.  As sad as we are to see you grow out of those chubby baby legs and adorable baby cheeks; I can’t wait for us all to do fun things together!  In a few short years we can all go to the movie theater! How crazy is that?  In one year, you’ll be able to take ski lessons!   Next summer you’ll start preschool.   I can’t mourn that baby too much because I know how much fun we have ahead of us!

This has been such a huge year for you.  You aren’t a big fan of sleep and had me up several times a night until you were eighteen months old.  One night  you were up every 45 minutes just because you wanted to be with me.  I was so exhausted the next day, I cried during an entire swim lesson.  I have no idea why, I was just so emotionally drained, so physically drained, so OUT OF IT that the moment a mom I knew asked what was wrong, I cried. I  couldn’t stop and sat there crying like an infant all the while other parents looked at me like I was insane.  In their defense, I think I was insane. That night, we set Charlotte up in the living room so you could cry it out in your room without waking her. I ignored you. I felt terrible.  I felt like you needed me.  I felt like I needed me and at times I needed you.  We stayed strong. You stayed in your room and I stayed in mine.   The next morning I felt amazing.  I walked into swim lessons determined not to be that crazy mom; the one with messy hair and sleep in her eyes CRYING because she had nothing left to give.  Instead I chatted with other moms, I smiled, I HAD A GOOD MORNING. I walked away feeling pretty damn confident that I appeared so normal (Look at me moms!  I have matching shoes, I remembered to bring all my kids, I even brought snacks!  SNACKS!  Who knew I had it in me?) only to find my dress tucked into my underwear on the way out.  Well, you can’t win them all.  You, my dear, are worth every moment of insanity, every sleepless night and every embarrassing moment. You have my attention, my nightly snuggles and my heart.

I’m not the only smitten one, your siblings can’t get enough of you either.  Sawyer and Charlotte are constantly pointing out that you are the cutest baby they have EVER seen!  They say you are the best little sister they could have ever asked for.  They ask for hugs and kisses all the time.  They pull their chairs right up to yours during breakfast and have a  fight each morning over whose chair is closer to yours.  If they aren’t eating cereal shoulder to shoulder with you then their morning is incomplete.  You on the other hand yell “Pace!  Pace!” asking for space!!!!     I think you learned the space thing from me?  Let me tell you Vivian, you are so lucky to have one of the sweetest older brothers.  He has one of the kindest hearts I have ever been lucky enough to know.  He will fight heart and soul for you.  That is a kid you want on your side when the boys come around.  And that sister of yours? Yeah, she’s crazy right? I mean CRAY-ZAY but that girl is going to be the most fun-loving girl you know and you are going to want to tag along with her.   You two are going to have some insane adventures. I’m scared and excited all at the same time for you and when you two get into too much trouble, you’ll have a responsible and incredibly loving brother there to bail you two out.   You have it made my love.  Daddy and I, on the other hand, might need to stock up on some wine!

I love how much you TALK!  You are a girl with something to say.  Well, with a lot of things to say.  You love to tattle on your brother and sister.  You love to point out when someone is being nice.   You love animals, especially dogs.  You love asking me for “mommy nuggles” which is mommy snuggles and I’m happy to drop what I’m doing for your love.   The other day Daddy blew up a balloon a little too much and it popped.  The rest of the day you walked around saying “Balloon happened.  Balloon happened.  I don’t like that.”  Seriously, so funny!  You can copy what we say and are too quick to copy your brother and sister.  Your new favorite phrase?  “No fair!”  Yeah…

Other cool things:

– You had your first huge road trip!  We drove to Los Angeles and then down to San Diego to visit your new nephew!   You were  rock star in the car! I don’t know why I was so worried for that trip but you proved to us we can do fun trips more often.  Yay for getting older right?

-You had your first trip to another country! Look at you go!  We spent a week in Turks and Caicos. You were not a huge fan of the sand but you were a huge fan of the strawberry smoothies the bartender would bring you!  Or maybe you were a big fan of the bartender?  See, we’ve got to watch out for you!

-You are strong! You watch all the kids in Charlotte’s gymnastics and do what you can to copy them. I don’t know any 1-2 year olds that can hold themselves up in a pike position off the floor. YOU ARE CRAZY STRONG!

-You eat just about anything! I’m so happy to have another kiddo in the house who is an adventurous eater: sushi, curry, tacos, any vegetable, all soups.  If we put it in front of you, you’ll try it!  That is my kind of eater!

It’s a bit of a tradition that we don’t have a birthday party for the second birthday.  We are going about our day as normal as we can and finishing up with a few gift from Sawyer and Charlotte and chocolate cake.  CHOCOLATE CAKE! You lucky thing.

Happy second birthday gorgeous!  You have made our family a better one.  We love you with an intensity you can’t even comprehend until your a mommy.  It’s big. It’s a lot.  You’ll understand one day!

xoxo-mom