Tuesday, June 30, 2009

Our Two Year Old

Dearest Abigail Faith,

Two years ago today you entered our world. You have brought so much joy, laughter, and love that we could never have imagined. Your smile and sense of humor brighten my days. I am so blessed that God chose me to be your mommy. What a wonderful addition you are to our family.

Abigail, you love life! You absolutely love your family, asking to pray for people by name every night. You light up whenever we say we are going to see your grandparents or your aunts and uncles. When they come into view, you excitedly say, "Hey!!!" You also love our neighbors, the Harneds. You actually seem to be drawn to older folks. You enjoy your peers as well, but family trumps all. Some of your friends are Eli, Ethan, Marcus, Halle, Lizzy, Gabby, Abigail, Madeline, Lucy and Ben. You also love our neighbor girls, Leecy and Ali. You always go over to the fence to talk to them. I have absolutely loved seeing you with your new baby sister. We can tell that Kenzie loves you already. You have shown nothing but kindness to her. There has been no signs of jealousy at all. You try and make her happier when she is sad. You are independent when mommy is taking care of her needs. You are quick to help with her. You want to give her hugs and kisses often and tell us to do the same. I could not ask you to be a better sister to her. Your love for this new addition blows my mind.

You wake almost every morning with a huge smile on your face. You go to bed with that same smile. You sleep really well and go to bed without a hassle. That's been such a blessing to us. You normally sleep from 8 p.m. - 7 a.m. The night time routine is normally done with daddy and consists of brushing your teeth, changing into pajamas, reading a couple books and praying. We pray every night before bed and you contribute. You love your books. Right now you are into your "God book" (beginning Bible) and are especially intrigued with the "guy who bonked on head" (David and Goliath). You also like "Are You My Mother?" and "Dr. Seuss ABC."

Abigail, you adapt to new situations really well. With some new activities you are hesitant very briefly. However, just a little exposure and you enjoy whatever the new activity is. You especially love music and nursery rhymes that are set to music. You love your little piano and sit at it often singing your favorite songs: I'm a Little Tea Pot, Happy Birthday, ABC's, Jesus Loves Me and the Itsy Bitsy Spider. You also seem to love art. You sit at your table by the window and color, do sticker books, and stamping. You enjoy any craft project I put together for us to do. You enjoy puzzles and books. Taking care of your baby doll is a new favorite and you are so sweet to her. You love to be outdoors. Throwing rocks in the water is always requested, as well as bubbles and playing in the water. You are so much fun!

You are an independent soul. You love to be in the same room as people, but you can easily entertain yourself. You also would wander away if I let you. You are not afraid of anything, and I can tell you want to explore the world and don't need anyone there to assist you...or so you think. It's nice to have you want to be near me because you often do. However, I do not need to entertain you constantly. You can easily do that yourself. Your independence has really shown itself lately with you saying, "Abby do it." You want to do and try everything by yourself. You're unaware that you would be incapable of driving a car or trying your own shoe. You always insist, "Abby do it." It's hard to sometimes let "Abby do it," but I love that you are ready to conquer anything.

Abigail, you are goofy. I love that about you. You make us laugh by your randomness all the time. You can put on funny outfits or say things that are so weird. Often times we can watch you when you don't know we're watching, and we are completely entertained. The whole family loves your random humor. You understand and contribute to our jokes. I love that you have such a strong sense of humor.

You have a bit of a strong will that has shown itself lately. You are a pretty obedient child, but lately you've been pushing the limits a bit to try and see if you can get everything your little heart desires. We love you too much to let that happen. We are working to stear your strong will in a way that is going to benefit your throughout your life. There has also been a bit more whining and crying lately, so we are working on that.

You are such a smart girl, Abby. I am amazed at your memory. You constantly bring things up that I have almost forgotten about. Grandma Kern is convinced that I talk to you about all your memories together before we go see her because you always talk about everything special you've done with her right when you walk into her house. You remember it all. You basically know all of your capital letters and are working on your sounds. You know how to count to 20 and are working on counting actual items. Shapes have been mastered - even the octogon. You are pretty good at knowing your colors as well. We played Candyland for the first time today (Auntie Julie gave it to you for your birthday), and I was impressed at how quickly you picked it up...3+ - Ha! You can do a lot of activities that are labelled for the 3+ age group. Your vocabulary is insane. You know too many words to count. You easily piece words together. Full sentences with articles (all the small words like a, an, the...) are developing rapidly.

Eating is not very interesting to you, although you love sweets. Your favorites, besides sweets, are fruits and vegis. You also like adult food. When I try to give you bland kid food, you have no interest. However, you'll eat ethnic food easily. We have been into dipping things and letting you eat things with a toothpick to try and promote more of an interest in this activity.

Abby, I am so impressed with how potty training is developing. You were showing some interest over the last two months, but we've let it be self-initiating. You received big girl panties at your birthday and have been determined ever since. I let you be in your big girl underwear yesterday and you went to the bathroom a number of times with no accidents. I put you in a diaper for your nap but you stayed dry and went pee after the nap. We went out and about after that, so you were in a diaper the rest of the day. Today, you were in big girl underwear all day. You had one accident while we were outside, but you've been great the rest of the time. You've got this thing, Girl!

Abigail Faith, I cannot imagine life without you. You are loved. Thank you for always offering up your hugs and kisses. Thank you for working so hard at being obedient. Thank you for working so hard at saying "please" and "thank you." Thank you for loving so genuinely. Thank you for the smiles. Thank you for the joy.

1 comment: