Two Years Old

My dear Evalie,

Happy 2^nd Birthday my love. As I even begin to write this I am tearing up with an intensity of love I never imagined I could feel for another person. I have had the great pleasure of watching you and your personality develop unfettered over the last year(since your first birthday). It has been quite an adventure, as opposed to the first year year where you physically transformed from a squirmy newborn to a more stable walker by One, the last year has been a whirlwind of so many milestones and you have not only achieved them but you have surpassed all of them and done it with such humor! 

You have become an even brighter light in our lives than you had been last year. You are funny and honest, sharp and thoughtful, you love and play with all your heart, you are sweet as they come and have yet to encounter any hurdles you won’t dare to traverse. You love to sing and you often do, everything from nursery rhymes to tunes you hear on the radio and somehow are able to retain the words or some version of them. You are bursting with enthusiasm for life and have had no problems learning the lessons you need in your second year of life, the alphabet, counting to 20, primary colors and good manners. You often respond to my requests with a snarky “of course” and are always able to get a laugh out of us when you pretend to answer the phone in your funny accent “halllow?”  

I never tire of hearing your high pitched little voice asking me all sorts of questions with such cadence, one can’t help but smile. You are truly unique, I regularly ask myself why I was so nervous to have another baby girl. On the contrary, you make me wish to have another one just like you but I know it’s not possible because you are like no other and that is what I am most proud of, you will always be something special to me and, I am confident you will to the world in the future.

From the moment I met you at 3:49 am on July 11^th 2012, I knew I could not imagine my life without you but now 2 years later, you have compounded those feelings in my heart. You are such a lovely and funny little girl, you leave me wondering everyday where this comes from. Your ability to love and take care of your sister and daddy is also so uncanny for a person your size and age. Over the last year, you have marveled everyone you meet with your outgoing, witty boisterous personality, I’m regularly asked how old you are because of your vocabulary, your ability to process concepts and your profound ability to express yourself. Some of the funniest moments remain in my mind but some we have caught on video and shared with many others who also take part in the pleasure of watching you grow. You are still walking on your tippy toes at all times (even on the balance beam during your gymnastics class!) You love to play outside and are very daring and brave, conquering the highest windy slides and running up and down as fast as you can. I love your sweet smile and how squinty your eyes become, I love how you make yourself laugh, I love your chubby little feet, I love your spunky nature, I love the little dance you do (when you bend over, pull your elbows into your belly and wiggle), I love how friendly your are, I love your big belly, I love that you still need to cuddle up to me at night to fall asleep. I love you little girl. Happy Birthday.
Love mum.

So I knew Evie’s birthday was on a Friday and she had been talking about it for days already so I felt bad that I wouldn’t be there with her like I was last year. But I decided that if we could at least come home from work a bit early and have her two favorite people (her cousins) come over and have a little cake then she’d at least feel like we did something. We had all planned to go to Sesame place for her birthday the following week but I still wanted to do something without doing a big party and getting completely frustrated like last year. So I planned to get pizza, make the cake myself and have a fun evening. I then decided to ask my sister and my nephew if they could come over even though it was kind of late on a Sunday and she accepted, I then felt bad because my uncle and his kids were visiting and I had to invite them as well. This little get together turned into a party of sorts.

From the moment I got home from work, she was wearing the felt crown I made her and saying “happy birthday mommy”, “happy birthday to my little daddy”..it was so funny! I could tell she had a good day, her nanny had taken them to the park and they had time to play in the sandbox as well.

I ordered some finger food for dinner and I made chocolate devils and a three tier birthday cake (which tasted better than it looked). I served cookies, donuts and watermelon slices. I made little favors of shortbread..because Evie loves shortbread cookies and that was it. I did get her the giant balloon I got last year because she had so much fun with it last time.  

The party turned out much better than I expected, we even opened quite a few gifts and you got to blow out your two candle twice (because your sister and cousin blew them out the first time), by the end of the evening, you were exhausted and went to sleep even before everyone had gone home. 

I am still reeling from Friday, I can't beleive my baby girl tuned two years old! Its amazing how fast year two has gone.