Happy 2!

Darling darling Pig,

Today you are 2, or "Two, Two, Two!" as you like to chant.

It's been a wild and crazy year for you. You mastered the art of walking upright. You sprouted a a handful more teeth. And of course, you became a big sister.

I'm not really sure where to begin, to try to summarize one year...I could sit for hours describing and analyzing just one day with you so to do so for the year might leave us with more of a multi-volume treatise. So here's what comes to mind now:

You are our champion sleeper, unless you're teething or unhappy about something (e.g. Daddy going on business travel) you go down easily at 8pm and wake up somewhere between 7-8:30 pm.

This year has been the year of Sesame Street characters. Daddy taught you to recognize Cookie Monster, Elmo, Big Bird, Grover, Bert, and Ernie using your Pampers Cruisers as a guide. Since then, you've been crazy about Cookie Monster and Elmo. In fact, at this time, you currently have two Cookie Monsters, from Emo and Nana, an Elmo book, and a small jitter-me Elmo pull cord toy.

You love chanting your ABCs and 123s. The ABC/123 foam mats in your room keep you busy at bedtime. You especially love the They Might be Giants ABCs CD that we play for you in the morning, the song "Q-U" is your favorite and I like to joke that you and Daddy will dance to that at your wedding.

You make me laugh more than any other person in this world. Your antics have Daddy and I and your grandparents and Emo and Emo-boo in stitches. As you'll see in the many videos clips we have of you, you are a comedian.

You like order and organization. When we come into the house and take your shoes and socks off, you run around removing your brother's and Daddy's socks as well. You enjoy being helpful and when we sing the Clean-Up song, you'll put things away and shut all the doors of the house.

You are a morning person. When we come to rescue you from your crib in the morning, you are cheerful, help us fold up your blankets and greet all of us exuberantly...sometimes too exuberantly, Mommy and Daddy aren't morning people unfortunately.

You love singing and dancing. You love hats, especially baseball caps (because Daddy wears them), you love boots.

You have that same twinkly smile you had as an infant and it's just as irresistible now as it was then. I fear that disciplining you may be hard, in the future I may have to just text you when I want to ground you or send you to your room. Daddy and I have a hard time keeping a straight face when we're trying to be stern with you. You look back at us all wide-eyed, cheeks all a -tremble, little rosebud mouth pouting. And lately you've been playing us and fake crying. Worked the first time....nice try, now we know better. Two going on 16 forsooth.

You throw tantrums from time to time, especially when you don't want to get back into your stroller, but thankfully they last only a few seconds. However, you haven't mastered volume control yet so meals are limited to very casual establishments and sometimes Daddy and I curse the great acoustics in the car.

Time stands still for me when I put you down for the night. Usually Daddy does it, but I like to from time to time because we get to remove ourselves from everything else, all worries, distractions, and just focus on the nighttime bottle, the story, and the cuddling. After we finish reading your story (my favorite is Where the Wild Things Are), you pop your binky in your mouth, hand me your bottle. I turn the light off and you turn around, put your squishy little arms around my neck. I pat your little back and rest my cheek on your tousled little head, feel the little belch and we both slowly relax together. It's one of the few times when I really settle into the "now." My pulse slows.

I remember Hal-mee telling Emo and I that being a parent means you love your children no matter what. Nothing could change that, no matter what you did or didn't do. I say the same thing to you...and I'll keep saying it and I hope it brings you comfort when you need it most.

Thank you for brightening our lives little Two, we couldn't do without you.

Sa-rang han da,

Daddy, Mommy, and Moo (and Kirby)