Doots: the second year.

Audrey turned two about a month and a half ago so I am now, finally getting around to a post about her second year. I did year one as a letter to her so that will be the plan for year two as well.

Dear Audrey,

Your second year has been a great one. You continue to be a happy, healthy child. In fact, most of the time you are easy. This makes me think year three will be a bit more of a challenge, but that is OK. We love you to pieces and know growing up is tough on little girls.

This year was filled with all sorts of fun things. You discovered a love for going to the gym with mom and dad, love your rocking chair, enjoyed lots of time in the snow, decided where you will go to college, had a sick day here and there, found your love for cousins and babas, got a new kitten, continued loving playgrounds, water, and bubbles, rode a camel, went on your first bike ride, and found out you will be a big sister to not one but two brothers. Whew, that is quite a year little lady.

Right now you are a daddy's girl to the extreme. If daddy is around you rarely want anything to do with mom. All things considered, this is probably a good time for you to feel this way as the brothers will be coming very soon. It just makes mommy savor every cuddle and hug that much more!

You amaze your dad and I every single day. You are incredibly verbal and have quite an expansive vocabulary, in fact you pretty much never stop talking. Ever. You can do chunky puzzles and you also are really starting to get into pretend play.

You love to play with your dollhouse and play pretend with your stuffed animals. Giraffe is your favorite "baby." You love to change his diaper, put him down for naps, take him for rides in the stroller, and cuddle him. It. Is. Adorable. My favorite examples are you taking Giraffe to your room putting him down for a nap on the diaper bed, covering him with a blanket, kissing him, and saying "goodnight, I love you." And then closing the door, just like when we put you down for a nap. You also have appeared from your room with Giraffe in your stroller, covered with a blanket saying you are going for a walk and Giraffe needs to stay warm. I just can't even, you melt mommy.

You my dear are a little lady of varied interests. You love to play pretend and care for things but you also are wild for diggers, trains, trucks, and buses. One of your favorite games is "superman" which is you counting to three and jumping off the couch. You also love "fixing" your bike and helping with anything and everything, which includes dishes, painting, and cleaning up. Your favorite shows right now are Doc McStuffins, Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, and Sesame Street.

Of course you are not perfect and do have some challenging quirks. You are two so sometimes listening is a challenge. You always want a phone or pod pod which leads to a lot of meltdowns. Sometimes you refuse to get in your car seat without a lot of negotiation, and you never want help until you are ready to ask, and frankly we don't always have time to wait until you are ready to ask because you are also persistent. Sometimes we just need to zip your coat and leave the house now, my darling daughter. Food, of course, is sometimes a battle as well. No two year old understands you have to eat your dinner to get a cookie, but oh my goodness have we had some meltdowns over eating two more bites. You will figure it out someday little lady. Really, what is starting to show up in your personality is a bit of a stubborn streak, unfortunately for you my dear, you get that from mom which means I am just as stubborn. Sorry about your luck.

I cannot wait to see how you are with your little brothers. I know there will be some challenges in adjusting to new siblings, but I think you will be great with them overall. I am so excited to continue to watch you develop and grow miss Audrey. You amaze your dad and me on a weekly basis and we love you to the moon and back.

Happy second year sweet angel baby.