Happy Birthday!

Dear Matilda,
Today you turn two! It’s both hard to believe that you’re already two, and hard to remember a time when you weren’t here. We love you so much and hope that today is really special for you.

It’s a little cloudy out this morning, and we all stayed in bed a bit longer than usual. At 8:30, Daddy, Evelyn and I all burst into your room to sing “Happy Birthday” to you. You were already sitting up in bed, talking to yourself and reading a book. For breakfast you wanted a cup of milk and to hold a banana. You held that banana for over an hour. Grandma, Grandpa and Grandpa Mike are all here to celebrate with you today. In a little while you’ll get a shower (or at least a hot tub!) to get cleaned up, and after nap, I’ll put you in your party dress and take pictures. We’ll give you presents and for lunch you’ll have pizza and watermelon because they are your favorites. I made you a cake. It’s a confetti yellow butter cake with chocolate frosting and red white and blue stars. This morning, I showed it to you and asked if you liked it. You assured me that it was a birthday cake and that you do like it. For dinner (which you usually aren’t too interested in) Daddy will make Chateau Briand to celebrate the 4th of July and 2 years of being your parents. We will spend all day thinking about you and I’ll probably come back to the blog several times just to look at your baby pictures.

You have grown and changed so much in this second year of life. We are so proud of you, the things you are learning, and the little person you are becoming.

You are smart. You are REALLY smart. You’ve been able to count to 10 for ages. You can also count to 10 in Spanish, you can almost count to 20 on your own, you can read Arabic numerals, you can count objects, you know your abcs, colors, shapes, at least 100 animals and their sounds, I think you might know more Spanish words than I do and you conjugate at least one verb properly. I have long ago lost track of how many English words you know. Hundreds? A Thousand? You speak in sentences now. You know at least 5 songs by heart and sing them in tempo with a pretty little tone. You know who is in your family and ask about them when they’re not around.

You are big! You are nearly 3 feet tall already! You wear 2 and 3T clothes and 6 ½-7 shoes. You have all your teeth except your 2 year molars. Your hair is long enough to wear in pig tails, but not quite in a pony tail yet. You hate it when I put your hair up unless I give you something really good to play with while I do it. I do it anyway because it’s so stinking cute. You love to swing at the park and to walk and run. You sing simple little songs while you do it “walk, walk, walk” and “run, run, run! It’s fun, fun, fun!” When we go on walks you like to stop and crouch down and won’t get up until we say “Ready, set, go!” and then you take off like you’re running a race. You can go up and down stairs standing up if we hold your hand and you have started taking some small steps (like off the sidewalk at the playground) standing up all on your own. You are careful and cautious, but are becoming more adventurous, you’re even beginning to go down slides on your bottom instead of your tummy. You like to dance, turn around, shake, and walk on your heels. You love to be tickled. You have been sleeping in a big girl bed for a couple months now, ever since you tried to climb out of your crib. You were singing while you did it. “I climb! I climb! I’m STRONG!” You love to play chase with Daddy; you yell “I’m gonna get you!” and the game is afoot! It's hard to believe that a year ago, you weren't even walking yet.

You are imaginative. Six months ago you loved Yo Gabba Gabba, but now, you adore The Wonderpets and you love to pretend that you are saving animals just like them. You tell me every day that “there’s an animal in trouble!” and “this. Is. Sewious.” You make and serve me pretend tea and cookies. You pretend to be cold and it always makes us laugh the way you ball up your fists, open your eyes wide, grit your teeth and try to shiver. Your baby dolls and stuffed animals and bath toys all go on adventures every day.

You are loving. You greet me and Daddy with heart-melting phrases like “I love you, Daddy, you’re my best friend!” and “I missed you, Mommy! I love you so much!” You are quick to tell me if Evelyn is crying and you try to comfort her, telling her that “it’s ok, baby.” You don’t mind sharing your toys or my attention with your little sister and she adores you. You love the dogs and share everything with Laddie—even your cookies and cheese!

You thrive on your routine. You wake up early every morning. You’re almost always the first one up. But you usually just play quietly in your room until Evelyn gets up. Then you start your day with a cup of milk and some cereal. You tell Daddy and me that you love us as you wander around the room and play with Evelyn. Every afternoon you nap from 11:30-2 before having a little lunch. You never eat very much, but you do have some favorite things—chicken, pizza, salmon, turkey mini meat loves, watermelon, prunes, cheerios, raisins, and of course chips and cookies! You like to color and go to the park and when Daddy gets home we all have dinner together. After dinner you and Evelyn take a shower. You like showers better than baths. Then you get your jammies and Daddy reads you stories and puts you down in your big girl bed. You love stories. Your favorites right now are Mr. Brown Can Moo and Go, Dog, Go! You hate to have your door shut. We put up a gate to keep you safe. Most nights you’ll try to get up a few times before you’ll really go to sleep. We walk towards your room and as soon as you see us, you run across the room and jump into bed. You think this is hilarious. Secretly, we do to, but we try to be serious about it.

In your second year, you have been on a car trip to South Dakota in August to visit your great grandma Shirley. We flew out to Rhode Island for Uncle Eric’s thesis defense (he graduated in May). We went to Cape Cod for a week and 3 weeks after we got home, you became a big sister! You’ve been a sweet and gentle big sister from the start and have shown very little jealousy at all, it’s been wonderful to see you get to know each other. We spent Thanksgiving at home just the four of us, and Christmas in Geneva with Grandma, Grandpa, Eric and Kim. Grandpa Mike, Natalie, Chase and Boston came to visit in December and you loved playing with “Bossy.” In March, Grandpa Mike retired and we went to Indianapolis to have a party and you got to play with Boston again. In April and May we visited Door County. In June, Daddy took a trip to California and Beth came to visit us and then we went to Indianapolis to see Great Grandma and Great Grandpa. Every couple of weeks, we have play group and you play with your best friend, Sam. He’s a few months older than you, but you guys have a great time together and are always happy to see each other. And Sam’s mommy makes yummy snacks that you love.

You have changed our lives. They are so much richer now with your hugs and kisses, play time and chatter. Even with the “terrible twos” I’m excited to see you every morning and it’s such a joy to watch you grow and explore. We love every little thing about you, always have, and always will.



Happy Birthday, sweet girl!
Love,
Mommy and Daddy