HAPPY SECOND BIRTHDAY!

Well, the time has come. I must admit that Sophie is no longer a baby and is her own person.
We went from this (Day 1):














To this:














I both love and loathe this age. Every day her emotions take over. She has at least one fall-down-on-the-floor-kicking-and-screaming-flailing-everything tantrum a day. And it's usually about something completely not important, about wearing pants or having her blanket. I'm not proud how I handle it sometimes, but overall I think I pass the test of a good parent. And the thing is, ten minutes later she wants you to read a book like nothing has happened. She still needs us to help her, but she's old enough to communicate that need to us. ("Help you," she says.) I LOVE that she can tell us if she wants more juice, if she needs a diaper change, if she wants to eat ("Hungry" she says), etc. She is excellent at using colors as adjectives ("big red truck"), making things plural ("One ear, two ears"), and using past tense ("It fell" or "I dropped it"). I am so proud of her! She still literally and figuratively needs to hold our hand , but she also can let go without fear. We're always going to "help you" whether or not she needs it! Overall, Sophie makes everything more beautiful. She opens our eyes to things we don't notice that are right in front of our faces. I'm so grateful she is in my life. She is my life.

I love the sound of her voice. I love her laughter. She loves when you sing and leave out words that she can fill in, and when you do the same with her books. She can spell her name and count to ten. She can say a few words in French and in German. I love her excitement for learning and knowing what things are called.

I also witnessed her playing pretend for the first time a few days ago. She was crawling on the ground saying, "Meow!" It was super cute! She is growing and blossoming into such an amazing girl, and I'm privileged to have her in my life. Happy birthday beautiful girl!