Two Years Old

Wow! If Grace's first year was fast, her second year was honestly even faster.
12 months old to 24 months old is really such a huge difference.  From a practically still a baby at 12 months, and only saying "ma' and "da" and "bu" (bunny), to speaking full sentences and paragraphs.

Every single day I am reminded of how lucky I am to be her mommy.  There is no better feeling than holding her in my arms.  I know she's a big 27 pound toddler, but I will gladly cuddle her in my arms any time she wants.

Grace at 24 months old is silly, funny, clingy to mommy still, smart, and so so sweet.

The biggest update would be that her language is now clearer and more complex than ever.
We can have actual two-sided conversations with her.

Me: "Who did you play with at school today, Grace?"
Grace: "Hadrian, Olive, August.  Hadrian cried."
Me: "Why did Hadrian cry?"
Grace: "he bumped his knee."

I love that I can get brief updates from her about her own day, instead of only relying on the narrative written by her daycare teachers.

She loves her newfound ability to negotiate, and she negotiates with us every chance she gets.  Before bed, it's "one more book! one more water! need the other blanket!  need my hair in a ponytail!"

In addition, she's now very opinionated about her clothes, which has not been easy on me.  She prefers comfort over all else (like her mama) and wants to wear only her fleece sweatpants everywhere.  This is mostly fine, since she's still a toddler! But, I don't necessarily want her wearing fleece sweats for a for a fancy Santa brunch or church!
 In addition, once she becomes attached to a clothing item, she doesn't want to wear anything else, even when she's outgrown it.

I do miss the days when I could dress her in cute outfits (or even just any outfit) without her crying out for some other clothing item that isn't seasonally appropriate or that no longer fits.

Anyway, my goal is to find some clothes that she and I both love (maybe letting her choose them), so that getting out the door will become somewhat easier.

Grace is still fully committed and attached to her Bunny (as noticeable in our fall family photos).  I had a minor fiasco in which I tried to switch Bunny to a fresh new clean one, but she wasn't having it and I caved, so we now have two Bunnies.

Grace can give us a tough time in the house (not wanting diaper changes, trying to stand up on the couch, not wanting to go into bath), but when it really counts, she can behave perfectly.  She behaves so so well when we are out and about, for example at church, at restaurants, at Meijer, and with friends.

Grace has sat on the potty many times to go pee and poo, but we haven't moved on to the next step yet in potty training.  She doesn't seem to want to sit on the potty very much, and since she only just turned two, I'm not pushing it heavily quite yet.

Daddy's busy season at work is over for the moment, and so she's had more than usual daddy-daughter time lately, and she is loving all the special time with him.  He gives her piggy back rides around our house and reads her endless books again and again.
I will be sad when he becomes "favorite parent", but I've had a nice long run of it and I love seeing their relationship blossom.


Grace truly is my sun, my moon, and my stars.  Her smile lights up my day from the moment she wakes up (5am lately - BUT she's sleeping through the night, so I'll take it) until the moment she goes to sleep.

Two years old is absolutely exhausting.  When I had a newborn, I thought "Toddlers must be so easy.  They can WALK and they can TALK!  Newborn is what's the hardest!"  But now I'm truly learning that every single age is hard.  Two years old is so hard.  But it's also absolutely amazing.  She is absolutely amazing.  She's everything I ever could have dreamed of in a daughter.  I can't wait to see what the year ahead has in store.