A letter to my two year old on her birthday…

Dear Layla Grace,

You are two today! I can’t believe how quickly the year has come and gone. You have gotten so big and have grown so much intellectually, emotionally, and mentally. Here are a few lists to sum you up right now:

Your favorite things:

-Your papa, Dora, helping Mommy with everything from sewing to cooking, stickers, broccoli cheese soup from Panera, going to play park (you call it that because of Dora), Olivia Jane, bathtime (you would live in the bathtub if I would let you), riding in the car-cart at Publix and Home Depot, soft things like your pink blanket, lotion (I cannot figure out why, but you love this so much you are convinced its taste matches the smell and will attempt eating it any time you can get your hands on it)

Things you dislike:

-shopping, Mommy singing or humming anything at anytime, bread

Things that haven’t changed since you were born:

-You still do not like bread or any carby food like pasta (I think this is totally wierd, and I’m not sure where you get this from); you still do not like to snuggle- when you were born you hated being swaddled and slept completely stretched out with your arms above your head and your legs straight out- you still do this; you are as independent as ever, fearing absolutely nothing, and speaking your mind (you get this one from me)

Things you have accomplished since your last birthday:

-You talk more than any other child your age that I’ve met. You started out saying 30 words at age one and now say hundreds very clearly. You have no lack of things to say; You are completely potty trained; You have started speaking in English and Spanish, often counting more in Spanish than English; You know all of your ABC’s, even though your started out with saying “and a little p” instead of “L, M, N, O, P” haha; Your blonde hair is getting long, though its still pretty fine; You can now get anywhere you want to go, if you can’t reach it, you will climb until you get it.

Funny things you say (you are such an expressive child, putting emotion into every word you say):

-“The moon is gorgeous!”  :  You always “need” things rather than “want” them- “I need that candy, Mommy!”  :  You say “enemins” instead of “M&Ms”  :  For a full week when you had a really bad diaper rash, you referred to your butt as your “hinyback” when you would say, “My hinyback hurts!”  :  You refer to Grandma as “Mamala”. This is potentially my fault for saying things like “Are you ready to go see Abby Dabby” or “Papa Doodle is coming to see you!” I am a dork for this, but you must not mind because you added the “la” to the end of grandma without me suggesting it  :  When we leave Papa and Mamala’s house and I say “Bye, Daddy” to my Daddy you say “That’s my daddy” and I say, “No, that’s my daddy” and you say, “That’s my Papa. Justin Daniel is my daddy.”

My favorite things about you:

-Your one-armed tight hugs that resemble a headlock, your laugh when you will actually give a real laugh (you have never been easily impressed, and it took you forever to laugh for the first time- I think you would make a great comedian as you can say, do, or witness the most hilarious thing and remain completely stone-faced), when you sing the “Sunny Day” song from Sesame Street or the “Imagine” song from the 90s Barney movie, when you say “one more” of something eight times or when you say you want to have something “a little bit later” but you really mean immediately, how easy you are to communicate with and I never have to guess what you are saying, your desire to help me with even the most monotonous chores, when you say something to me in Spanish and have to act it out for me to understand what it is you are saying…

I could go on and on my little Pumpkin, but I just want you to know this on your birthday: I love you so much and I know I will love you even more tomorrow. I’m so excited to see you grow over the next year. Don’t stop being you, even for a second!

Love,

Mommy

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