Happy Merry Christmas!

Little!

First off,  Happy Merry Christmas! (That's how you say it.) Today was your 3rd Christmas, but it was your first  with your baby sister! You had a wonderful day! You love love love Christmas. You love presents, obviously, but you are so sweet because you always said thank you after every gift you opened (and there were a lot of gifts. The grandparents spoiled you, as they should). You are finally starting to understand Santa. It's still a bit confusing to you that a big fat guy brings you presents while you're sleeping and there are flying reindeer involved, which isn't surprising because that sounds really weird. But you get really excited by the whole idea of Christmas. Your big present was a Thomas train set, and you loved it.

So it has been a while since I've written. I have been very busy since having your sister. Two little girls can create a lot of work for a mommy, but I have loved every moment. Seeing you be such a sweet big sister has brought me so much joy. You are only two and a half and yet you are so loving and patient (most of the time...) and willing to to share your life with this small thing that eats and cries all the time. Before Penelope, you had me all to yourself all day, basically, and then all of a sudden, I have this very needy creature that takes up a lot of my time, and yet you are so understanding. You are a remarkable little girl. You are freaky smart. You speak so well and understand concepts so well. It's a bit scary. You are also so respectful. You have such a genuinely kind heart. You actually amaze me. And I'm not just saying this because I'm your mom. People tell me all the time how sweet and polite and smart you are. I could not be prouder.

Right now you are obsessed with ballet. You listen to Tchaikovsky all day and twirl around. You watched a documentary (yes, a documentary. Not a kids show but a boring documentary) about ballet with me one night while I lay in bed with you and since then you have been hooked. You have watched that movie dozens of times and you mimic the ballerina's dance moves. It's incredible. You are a very disciplined 2 year old,I must say.

Except when it comes to potty training. You understand how to use the potty perfectly, and yet you refuse to do it. It is of no interest to you. You have too much Tchaikovsky to dance to. You can't be bothered with pooping in a toilet. So that kind of sucks for me, but in every other way, basically, you are exceptional so I can handle some potty training woes.

You have major sass at times. When you decide you are pissed (which usually happens when you are tired), you will stop at nothing to get what you want. Your tenacity is both admirable and completely infuriating. I actually spanked you once, which I didn't think I would ever do. But you drove me to madness ( plus I was tired too...) and I spanked you. You freaked out and forbid me to enter your room. When I did, you wailed and hid from me. I felt awful. I left you alone. It took at least an hour for you to calm down enough to let me in. Finally I got you sane and then you hit Penelope later for pulling your hair ( one of her favorite hobbies). I realized right then that spanking you wouldn't work and wasn't right. You pick up on things so quickly and emulate me so much that I really have to watch myself with you. You make me work hard to be a better mother.

I need to go to bed. I love you so much Little. You make me a better woman. I'm proud of you. You aren't perfect (because no one is) but you are perfect for me. I will always see you that way.

Love,
Mom

Some more Little Lessons and a 21 Month Check-in

Little!

     Hey sweet girl. I just wanted to check in really quick with you. You are now 21 months old. As of today, actually. Crazy! You will be two soon, which is incredibly dumb. Just yesterday you were just a wad of pooping and crying cuteness. Now, though, you walk, talk (really well for your age, if I may say so), dance (of course), sing, and let's not forget, fight back. You are now old enough to resist and fight when you don't want to do something. It's.... cute? Sometimes it is a little adorable and slightly hilarious to watch you throw a tantrum that ends with you flailing yourself to the floor and repeating the word "no" over and over and over and over and over again. Sometimes, though, it's stressful and I just roll my eyes and let it happen.

LIFE LESSON TIME! YAY! So, first off, there will be times in our lives together that you will, for lack of a better phrase, piss me off. And I will snap at you, probably. Or I will roll my eyes and ignore you. And you will get mad at me, and we will argue, and there will be tons of stress and you may even think to yourself (or you may even say to me), "I hate you, mom!" And while that will devastate me in that moment, I understand that you and I will have our differences. We will not always agree. You will not always just follow me around and adore everything I do like you do now. Sometimes you won't like me, but know that I will always love you and you have to always love me, whether you like it or not, because I birthed you and you took a really long time to come out so you owe me.

Plus I'm awesome, so it's hard not to love me. Right? No? Yeah?

Second life lesson, don't eat out of the trash can. You just grabbed a cereal bar that you threw away and took another bite.... I mean... It was on top and in a wrapper so it's not as bad as it could have been, I guess. But, still... just... don't do that.


Ok. Enough life lessons for today. I love you, Little. You've given my life purpose and meaning and limitless love, and for that I will always be grateful.



Love always,
Mommy