Two Years Today

My little Kate had a birthday today. It's been two years since that cold, snowy and rather stressful, early morning drive to the hospital. Two years since I held my dark-haired little darling in my arms for the first time. Two years since Maggie became a big sister. Two years of watching my beloved Katherine Suzanne grow. Two years, two years, two years. How can it be?

Kate at two is as affectionate as can be. She gives loved ones (and occasionally even acquaintances) her trademark running hug and continues to take her new role as big sister very seriously. Emily appreciates her reassurances, hugs and kisses, most of the time. She and Maggie love to hug and tussle and play. And Mike and I love her sweet hugs, snuggles and hand-holding at bedtime. Her affection is not limited to people and she loves giving stuffed animals and baby dolls a good squeeze as well.

She loves to count, knows most of her colors and recognizes many of her letters, as she proved today at storytime when she loudly claimed her place on the "K" (for Kate, you know). Unfortunately, that position on the rug set her grinning, facing all her fellow storytimers, directly in front of the librarian. Rather than have her take all the attention away from the story, I convinced her that "O" was another desirable spot.

Our birthday girl is also quite observant. A couple weeks ago Mike had been using his screwdriver for a project and left it somewhere. Several days later he needed it again and asked me if I had seen it. I had not, but Kate had. She volunteered her services, leading Dad to the misplaced tool. Then tonight we were using the scissors and needed them again but weren't sure where we placed them. "I know," Kate quickly piped up and retrieved them from their lost state. I am sure glad I have her around as I spend a good fraction of my life "looking for things I had a minute ago" (as my witty friend Samantha put it on a hilarious pie chart she made). No, seriously, I do. It's sad. Maggie routinely cheers me for finding my keys if it takes me a few minutes to get in the car after putting the kids in. One time I told her I didn't need to look for my keys every time, so logically Maggie asked me, "Well then, did you find your phone, Mama?"

Kate has an adorable little voice--I love to hear her call "Mom-mee!" And lately she has taken to calling Mike and me "Daddia" and "Mammia" when she is tired. She talks a lot. Mostly about what she sees. She loves opportunities to say grace and prays with her eyes open thanking Heavenly Father for the green beans or chicken and rice on the table and blessing Daddy and Maggie and Emily and me. And she is quite polite. She is always saying her version of thank you, "Daynt you, Mom-mee," for something. She also likes to chime in at bedtime now when Maggie is sharing her favorite part of the day. A couple months ago, Kate started saying, "Part, part!" When she has our attention, she says, "Ummm....swing," or some activity that she liked from the day. (Occasionally, she names an activity we haven't done. In those cases it's nice to know what she would have liked to do.) She knows tons of words and her language is growing more complex every day.

Our blue-eyed beauty also has a sense of humor. She is often laughing about something with her scrunched-nosed smile. The other day I wrapped her up in her towel after her bath and cradling her in my arms asked, "Are you my big girl or my baby?" "Pea-nut. Baby pea-nut," she said, waiting expectantly. I had to laugh. Sometimes I call her a little peanut and somehow she knew it would be funny to refer to herself as one. A couple months ago, she started a phase of pretending to be a baby. She says "bay-bee,"makes this little face and a baby coo and expects us to pick her up, cradle her and treat her like a baby. She loves when we say "Ooooh, baby." I don't know where she got it, but it is really cute.

As is common with two-year-olds, Kate is experimenting more with her emotions lately. Maggie would practice her sad face in the mirror. Kate likes to test our reactions to a little scowl. When one of us frustrates her (usually Maggie), she makes a little scowl and marches towards her room, usually pushing her doll stroller. "Home," she says, in a mildly angry tone. It's cute the times Maggie tries to appease her. Kate is also recognizing things that make her nervous and will run to my side saying, " 'cared" [scared] or "Hold you!"

Kate loves coloring in her Hello Kitty coloring book, is frequently humming or singing and can fill in words to many of her favorite picture books. Recent favorites have included Go, Dog, Go by P.D. Eastman and Tip, Tip, Dig, Dig by Emma Garcia. She finally got her own copy of the later, so we no longer have to monopolize the library copy, which we have checked out four times in the past couple months. Her favorite songs to request at bedtime are "Temple" ("I Love to See the Temple") and "God" ("I Am a Child of God"), both Primary songs from church.

Our little girl had a great birthday today, as we celebrated as a family. We went out for Chinese for lunch and made Mickey Mouse chicken nuggets and fries for dinner. We opened gifts and ate cupcakes. It was a little tough on Maggie to see Kate have a birthday all by herself, but she enjoyed helping direct my efforts to make it special for her sister (e.g., telling me to make Kate's cake, leading the singing of the birthday song, helping wrap, and making Kate a card). Kate was really cute blowing out the candle the first time before we even had time to start singing. Of course, we had to relight it so that we could sing to her with the candle burning. Funny enough, the second time she had trouble getting it out, so we had to hold back Maggie who would have been more than willing to do it for her.

Kate now has a few more things of her own making her less at the mercy of Maggie's whims and giving her more leverage in deal-making. She finally has her own Color Wonder book, her own stuffed puppy dog and a Curious George DVD. She loves her new purse. And she beamed every time we sung to her today. Here she is checking out her new train set with Maggie:

Oh Kate! How we love dear, sweet, irrepressible, little you. Where would we be without you prancing all over the house--or the latest "tip-toe, tippy-toe." I love your awkward arabesques, tight hugs and huge smile. Thanks for being my baby.