Dear Ad,
Whew girlie, you are giving Mommy and Daddy a run for their money lately. Being the parents of a toddler is truly exhausting in more ways than one.
There is the physical exhaustion. The incessant "hold me's" (or as you say, "Hold you Mommy!"). The constant desire for a horsey ride or to fly through the air.
The running around after you all day every day to make sure you aren't getting into trouble (which you usually are!). That is the physical.
But then there is some serious emotional exhaustion! You are a tough cookie these days with a willful spirit and a mind of your own. (That's putting it nicely, ha ha!) You are too smart for your own good, and we've know that since you were an infant!
There is the ongoing battle over the TV/IPad.
The battle over diaper changes. Every one of them. Every day.
The battle over nap and bedtime.
The battle over snacks.
The battle over not throwing your food on the floor.
The battle over being gentle with your little sister.
The battle...the battle...the battle. It seems like everything is a battle with you lately. A few weeks ago Daddy asked, "Why is Addy on the verge of a tantrum at every moment of every day?" Ha ha! In fact, you cry so much that you have started announcing it to us, as though we don't already know! "I'm crying! I'm crying!" It's quite hilarious to hear you say that amidst your tears :)
At your 18 month doctors appointment Dr. Mike asked about tantrums with you and I remember saying, "They're not so bad." He explained what toddler tantrums could look like, and you were no where near that extent. I thought maybe we could slide by the terrible twos unscathed. Bahahahahaha!!!! Those words came back to bite me!
I know that it is your age, and you are recognizing your independence, but Miss Marie, you WEAR ME OUT! As I'm sure is the case for most parents of toddlers, my most widely used word these days is, "NO!"
I have been feeling sorry for you lately though, because you've had a cold all month. I even called the doctor's office one day because you weren't able to get any naps for multiple days in a row because you'd be coughing the whole time. It was pitiful to listen to/watch. I'd watch you in the monitor and you'd lay down, but then cough, cough, cough, so you'd have to sit up again. This would go on and on for your whole "nap" time. Which meant you weren't sleeping at all, which probably didn't help you're behavior.
So all month we were doing saline nasal spray and sucking your nose out multiple times a day, and then giving you spoonfuls of honey before sleep. We put a humidifier in your room and propped up your crib mattress with pillows (which didn't help because you just slept on the other side). We would go into your room in the middle of the night during your bouts of coughing to give you water and some honey. You were such a pitiful little thing at night with that coughing. Like I said, I'm sure the lack of sleep potentiated your daytime drama.
Now, on the opposite side of the fence, you are also so much fun at this age! You are really exploring the world around you, and you find fascination in the littlest things every single day. Seeing the world through the eyes of a child is a truly amazing experience. "Mommy look! An acorn!!!!!" Being with you makes me stop and see the beauty in the everyday things.
You are still usually happy first thing in the morning. While I'm feeding Emma and you wake up for the day, I can hear you in your crib yelling, "Mommy, where are you?!!!" It makes me smile every time :) When I hand you your breakfast you will often get wide eyed and exclaim, "Ooooh, lucky lady!", because I say that when you get a special snack :)
Speaking of snacks, you seem to ask for them constantly. Sometimes I'll repeat it back, asking, "You want a snack?" and then you'll look all surprised and say, "OK!". Like it was my suggestion or something! And when you are thinking about what you want, you put your pointer finger on your chin and say, "Hmmmmm." Don't know where you learned that but it's hilarious! You really are so funny!
You often call your sister Emmy Who Who, because you hear me call her Emmy Lou Who. And I love that when music comes on, you start dancing and run over to Emmy saying, "Dance Emmy!" Hearing you say that never gets old!
You've started calling Daisy "Daisy Duke" like Daddy and I often do. And you've realized that you can prevent Daisy from doing things you don't want her to do. Therefore, something our poor dog hears a lot these days is, "No Daisy! Mine Daisy!"
Daddy and I really need to watch what we say and do because you mimic everything! A word I never realized that I said so much until you mimicked it is, "Yeah." For some reason, hearing you say that just grates on my nerves. I am trying to consciously say "Yes" instead of "yeah", and teach you to do the same. Just sounds so much more polite in my opinion.
You are really starting to string words together and are becoming quite the little chatterbox! You say "I did it!!" many, many times every day. You are the first to say "Bless you", regardless of whether said person is coughing or sneezing. "Outside in the leaves" is a phrase we've heard a lot from you this fall. Something that has never changed about you is that you love to be outside. You always have.
Here are a few of your favorite things this month:
-Electronic devices. You are an IPad/TV addict, and Daddy and I have cut way back on the amount of time we are allowing you with these things.
-The rocking horse that my Uncle Ken made Aunt Tina and I when we were kids. It's up in your room, and if we're in there, you want to ride it. "Mommy, I'm rocking!", you squeal with delight when you get on!
-You really love traditional "boy toys", like trains, cars, and helicopters.
-But then you have also become fascinated with my makeup and jewelry recently. You have even started doing the cliche act of trying to wear my shoes!
-You're favorite TV shows are
Calliou and the
Goodnight Show.
-
Leprechaun Tales is your current favorite book. It's the book that Mommy and Daddy bought you in Ireland!
(This is not that book, but I don't have any pics of you with your favorite book.)
-You love singing all of the songs you learn in school, especially
Ring Around the Rosie and
If You're Happy and You Know It.
-You count to ten, but you skip five every time. Every time.
In potty training news, you pee on the potty almost every night before your bath, but you refuse to do it any other time. Refuse. You get panicked about it, and run away yelling, "No! No! No!" But then at night you go no problem. I'm not getting worked up about it. You aren't even two yet, so we'll take it slow.
You have learned to say, "Cheese!" for a picture, and it's funny because you say it any time I have my phone out. Probably a sign that I take way too many pictures with my phone, ha ha!
Probably the cutest thing I've ever heard was a few weeks back when Daddy came home from his first day back to work after Emma was born. You ran up to him and said, "Love you Daddy! Missed you Daddy!" It was the first time you have ever said either of those things to anyone, and I'm pretty sure his heart melted just a little bit that day. I know mine did. The other kicker came a few days later when Daddy came home from work. The three of us sat at the dinner table and you kept looking from him to me and then you smiled and said, "Happy now." It's moments like those that make all of the trying times fade away. Moments like those will remain in my heart forever.
I heard a quote the other day that really rang true for me. "
When raising children, the days are long, but the years are short." So very, very true. Sometimes I feel like bed time can't come soon enough, but then I turn around and think about how two years ago I didn't even have
any children yet!
Those two years truly flew by
. Now you are almost two years old: talking and going to school. It's wild. Some days are tough, I'll be the first to admit that. But having you and your sister are the two best things I've ever done. No matter how exhausting certain stages of your life may be, I love you more than you will ever know. You are such a smart, funny, spunky child, and you make me laugh every day. I have never been happier, and I owe that to you little lady!
I love you!!!!!
Love,
Mommy
