Catherine At Two

Our beautiful little girl.

Dear Catherine,

I thought child #2 would be so simple after child #1. After all, been there, done that, right? And in some ways it is--I'm much more relaxed about the whole thing now. But raising you has been an entirely new adventure. You are, quite literally, nothing like your brother. And I wouldn't change it for the world.

You are independent, always wanting to do things yourself. You are ALWAYS on the go--always jumping or climbing or generally getting into trouble. You make your wishes known very clearly, and quite often. You're also a snuggler--I love reading books with my little Princess bug on my lap. Cooking dinner with you in my arms, however, isn't nearly as sweet, but we manage. You just wants to be where I am--to see (or do) what I'm doing. You drive me crazy and I adore you. 

You bring such joy into our family. You're obsessed with having everyone home together--you run through the roll call every night at dinner (usually during the middle of the prayer): "Mommy! Daddy! Seth!" And if someone is missing, you are so concerned. You miss Daddy desperately while he's at work. Same with Seth during preschool. You're the happiest when we're all there together. 

Baby Girl, I love you so. You've amazed me every day for two years and I have no doubt you will amaze everyone for the rest of your life. Happy Birthday, Princess. We love you so.

Here are some of the things you're up to at two years old:

-you are 100% potty trained, but only when you have absolutely nothing on your bottom. Panties, diaper, or even just pants? Forget it. Which leads to this:

-you prefer to spend your day stark naked. Who cares if it's the middle of winter and 66 degrees in the house?

-you love to draw. You'll frequently ask for your "cunnins" (colors) and set to work creating beautiful artwork. More often than not, however, you'll sneak off to another room and color on your face. Which is why the colors are up high.

-you can finally say your own name! "Cafin."

Trying to get a picture of her in the dress I wore as a kid.

This was the best I got.

-size 4 shoes, size 3 diapers, size 18 month clothing (with a few 12 month holdouts). You were 34 inches tall and 21 pounds at your checkup--50% for height, not even on the scale for weight.

-you're having another word explosion, which means you're speaking in sentences now. Usually only one or two words, but still... You even gave me a full report on nursery this week. "Snacks. In the mouth. Play and play, Emma. Cook and cook." Translation: I ate some snacks and played in the kitchen with Emma. 

-you are completely and utterly terrified of the stink bugs we find in our house. You go into complete hysterics when you see one. Then for days afterward you point to the spot where the bug was and say, "Bug! BUUUUUUUUGGGG!"

(Who wouldn't be terrified of these stupid things? Especially in your house?)

-every time Seth picks up one of the stink bugs and throws it out the door/flushes it down the toilet, you say, "Seth, hero!" And he eats it up.

-you would live in the tub. You ask for "splash and splash" repeatedly every day. Now that Seth can turn on the tub himself I have to be vigilant--twice I've come upstairs to find you both naked in the tub with no help from me.

-your hair is a horrid matted mess after every nap/bedtime. You get it from me--so sorry.

-your favorite part of your kitchenette is the fake cell phone. You'll hand it to me and insist that I talk to Emma before running off with it yourself.

-you'll fight your brother and father for the Kindle now. You want to play "monkey" (Monkey Preschool Lunchbox). You have no idea what's going on, but you LOVE the monkey.

-you also love Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, which you watch on Youtube during lunch. As soon as I start making lunch, you start asking for "meess mouse, meess mouse!" Goofy is your favorite.

-you spend quite a bit of time pretending to be a cat. You'll be in the middle of doing something and spontaneously start meowing. You'll even drop down and crawl around occasionally.

-you'll turn on the music on my keyboard and insist that we dance. "Daddy, dance! Mommy, dance!" You think it's hilarious. And you clearly got your moves from your father. Lucky you.

-speaking of dancing...when we first started letting you run around naked, I caught you doing this sultry little dance on the couch. The best part? You were singing "stiiiiiiiiink buuuuuuuummmmmmmmmmm, stiiiiiiiiiink buuuuuuuuuuuummmmmmm" to yourself while dancing (neither of us have any idea where you got this from). So now we call it the Stink Bum Dance, and you still do it frequently, but only when you're naked and especially when you can see your own reflection in the fridge.

-you're starting to give up naps. You'll currently skip about two naps a week. I hate to see them go, but it's not so bad since Seth isn't napping either.

-you love playing with us. You'll stand at the top of the basement stairs and holler, "SETH!! Jump and jump! SETH!! Are coming?" That trampoline you got for Christmas has been put to good use.

We love you baby girl! 

In my make-up. 

For the thousandth time...