2 Years

Dear Emma,

Woohoo, you are 2! I can hardly believe our second year together has gone by so fast. It’s hard for me to think about this one without recalling our first year, and wow, they are so different. If the first was all about figuring out how to stay afloat, this past year was about finding our way. If I could go back to first-year-mom Sarah, I would encourage her to hold on, to just keep going…because the second year is coming, and the second year is so much more… everything. More crazy, and also more manageable. More frustrating, but also more fun. SO MUCH MORE FUN!

Where before I often felt like we were two parents with a baby, I now feel like we’re a real family of three. We do so many things now without a second thought, things that seemed so much more complicated last year, from eating out to swimming lessons to museum visits. You’re the best sidekick I’ve ever had and I look forward to many, many more adventures.

You continue to grow like a weed, riding the top edge of the height and weight curves and when we go for your 2-year checkup next week, I expect to see ~33 pounds on the scale. You’re wearing anywhere from 2T to 4T clothes, depending on the brand, and size 7 shoes, which seem so small until I see them sitting next to a pair you’ve outgrown that are even tinier. You can use utensils. You can drink from a normal cup. The list goes on and on.

And you can talk! Oh my goodness! The ability to communicate is so totally, completely underrated, because now that it’s here, it’s a game changer. You can talk to me, and ask for things, and sometimes even tell me why you’re upset. When I realize that last year at this point you hadn’t even said a real word, and then think about the running commentary you provide for various things now, I am stunned. The difference from newborn to 1 is huge, but I would argue that the difference from 1 to 2 is even bigger.

Your Gima and I have had a running joke since you were born about learning your alphabet. Yours truly knew all her letters by the time she was 2…and guess what? While your pronunciation still needs work (“ba doo” is not really the same as “double you”), I’m happy to report that you know all your letters and numbers, and have for nearly two months now. In mid-June as we were driving home from school one afternoon, I suddenly realized that your babbles from the back seat were not just babbles — you were counting. I listened in awe as you went from 1 all the way to 10 without hesitation.

And as much as I’d love to take the credit for this development, I’m not sure I can. You are just very observant, and very interested in learning new things. I suppose that is a truism about kids in general, but it seems to apply particularly to you. Last weekend at the pool. you noticed a man on the other side lying down on a lounge chair, and somehow this man was the most fascinating thing you’d seen all day. You watched him laying there. You watched him get up. When we went over to the baby pool, you continued to look back clear across the pool complex to make sure this random man was still there, that he hadn’t moved. It was all very concerning, and while I can’t pretend to understand why, I like that you notice things. I like that you are curious about the world around you.

One happy side effect of your curiosity right now is your willingness to help with basically everything. When I sit down to sew, you run to get your stool so you can stand next to me touching the fabric as I feed it through the machine. When I unload the dishwasher, you reach for the tupperware so you can put it in the proper cabinet. When I get the mail, you hold the mailbox key, and remind me that our box is #3. You even (most of the time) like to help clean up your toys!

Of all the things you do right now, I think my favorite is the way you give kisses before bedtime. You reach out with both hands to touch my face and then lean in. You kiss one cheek, then the other cheek, then my mouth — and they’re all air kisses, as if you went on a little European vacation without me noticing. I don’t know where you picked it up, but I hope you continue to do it for a long, long time because it never fails to make me smile.

As we wrap up our second year together, I’m relieved to say that I feel more like me — calmer, happier, more confident in my role as your mom. And this year, you are no longer a baby and more like a “you” — a quantifiable, undeniable, inimitable YOU. There is so much personality packed into your still-tiny little body, and it’s amazing. We “get” each other now in a way we didn’t last year. In a way that wasn’t yet possible last year.

Happy Birthday Emma. I love you so very, very much.

Love,
Mama