2 years old!

Libby,

Well little muffin...you're 2 years old! I can hardly believe it. It seems like Daddy and I just brought you home from the hospital. The past 2 years have been a joy with you. You make our lives better and we thank God that He brought you into our family. Sometimes it's easy to be sad that you are growing up so quickly but you are so much fun at this age and it just keeps getting better! I am so thankful that I get to spend my days with you. You're my little buddy and you seriously make me laugh all the time with your cuteness and funny ways. You are the spunkiest, busiest, silliest, chattiest, sweetest, girl I know. You are soaking up everything lately and learning so much that I am constantly amazed. There are so many things I want to remember about you at this age so I'm going to do my best to document them!

So let's start with your 2 year stats:

-22.6 pounds (5th percentile) - still just a peanut!

-33 inches (30th percentile)

-size 3 diapers

-12-18 month clothes in shorts/pants, 18-24 month in tops and most dresses

-loves all food! Eats with a fork and spoon for the most part.

-sleeps 12 hours at night...usually 8:30pm-8:30am. You are still a good sleeper and mommy is so thankful!

-1 nap from about 1:30-4/4:30pm

-still has paci for nap and bed time

-just moved to a big girl bed two weeks ago and you love it (thank goodness)!! More room for all your stuffed animals...or "friends" as you call them :)

**Huge thanks to Lori Wilson Photography for these sweet pics of Libby!**

Here's what I want to remember:

You love your Daddy A LOT. And he loves you too. He was just out of town for a week and you could barely stand it. You would wake up every morning and ask "where daddy go?" and then proceed to answer your own question - "He at work. I miss him." You want to mow with him. Cuddle with him. Dance with him. I love seeing you two together...it makes my heart happy.

I love how you pronounce every syllable in certain words. For example: brocc-o-li or chic-o-late

I love how you tell me and Daddy to "sit by you" and pat the seat or floor.

And if anyone gets up, walks away, etc. you immediately tell them to "come back here".

You get excited about and are amazed by everything. It's the best. You see the moon or a plane in the sky and immediately exclaim "Oooh amazing!" It's as if you've never seen such a thing before. And if you eat something good it's always "Delicious!". You also love to exclaim "can't believe it!" as well as "best ever!" at times and it is just the best. No idea where you get this stuff! 

You randomly ask for guacamole and chips. A lot. And you pronounce it perfectly.

You ask "whattayou doing?" about 100 times a day in the squeakiest little voice. And you don't just ask me - you ask EVERYONE everywhere we go. The checkout girl at Target, the man in line behind us at the post office, the people dining next to us at a restaurant, etc.

Actually, you just love talking to people period. You are always saying "Hi, I Libby" to random people wherever we go. And if you walk by a group of big girls you confidently throw out a "hey girls". You totally brighten people's day, sweet girl!

If someone compliments you, you give a very sincere "thank you!" without being told anymore. You also never miss an opportunity to say "bless you" after a sneeze. We're still working on consistently saying please instead of demanding things. :) 

You'll grab a book and say "I read" and then proceed to list random letters with complete confidence. "L, B, D, R"

You are all about picnics. Picnics outside at your table or inside on the living room floor. You think they are awesome and always ask "mommy, have a picnic?" with a big squeal.

I love that if I ask you if you want something you often say "No thank you, I'm fine." very matter-of-factly like a little grown up.

I love that you bounce when you run. And side note: you're seriously fast, especially for your very pregnant mama.

I love that sometimes you gently rub my back when I hold you. Melt my heart.

I love that sometimes you grab our faces with two hands to give a kiss.

You ask mommy to "scratch a back?" now. Sounds like me when I was little!

I love that you ask to pray to Jesus now. I love that you took the top off the little tea pot that came with your play kitchen and when there was nothing inside you said "mommy, tomb empty - hallelujah! praise the Lord". It brought tears to my eyes to know that what you learned at Easter was stored up in that little brain of yours. I love that you're learning these truths already and pray that they take root in your heart early on! 

I love that you are concerned for others. If you hear a baby crying you immediately ask me "baby crying?" and then you usually tell them "don't worry". It's the sweetest. And one night Uncle Chris was pretending that you were pushing him over and you kept saying "you ok?" You are also regularly concerned about Bubble Puppy after one episode where he got sick and had to go to the doctor.

I love that you hold your puppy like a baby and sing Rock a Bye Baby. Precious.

I love that you ask me to hold your hand. Even though you're getting so big that you don't really need my help with stairs or playgrounds anymore. Tear.

I love that you really think our kisses heal your boo-boos.

You now have opinions about the radio. Ever since we turned your car seat around you have had no problem announcing "no like-a this song" whenever you don't approve of what's playing. It's rather hilarious but also a bit demanding. If it's a slow song...forget about it. You need a dance beat. So we're working on you not always getting your way, which can be interesting :) 

You regularly instruct me to "mommy, dance" while in the car. I love that you proceed to say "go mommy....go mommy" to encourage my moves. I'm sure other drivers think I'm nuts, but it's ok.

You LOVE to dance. Anywhere, anytime. And you have some moves. One of your favorite things is for us to play Pandora on the patio. You literally pull me and daddy up if we are sitting down. You want full participation. And if the music stops you immediately ask for "more songs".

You also love to sing. Currently Twinkle, Twinkle is your favorite. And I am amazed by how well you sing the words now! Sounds about like "Twinkle, Twinkle, little star, How are you what you are, up above, like a diamond in the sky." Another favorite is Wheels on the Bus :)

You love a microphone (could you be any more like your daddy? ha). You actually sang Twinkle, Twinkle on a microphone at Uncle Michael & Aunt Holly's rehearsal dinner as well as at your birthday party when the Manos's and Fedro's got you a princess karaoke machine. You were beside yourself with happiness.

I love that when we put you in a dress, you immediately say "I a princess". Which is immediately followed by "I go show daddy." Sweetest thing.

You love princess everything. Princess tiaras. Princess wands. Princess jammies. Accessories.

You compliment people. You love to tell mommy "ooooh pretty" when I get dressed and if I have a dress on you say "mommy like a princess". 

I love when walk around the house saying "moooommmyyyy, where aaaarrreee yooouuu?" or when you call this out after you've woken up from your nap.

No idea why but sometimes when we ask you a question you say "hmmm maybe" and put your little finger up to your mouth. So random and hilarious.

I love that you informed your stuffed animals of the rules around here by telling them "be sweet, be kind, listen and obey" the other day. So hilarious. I guess something is sinking in? :)

You love babies now! Hooray!! You were not a fan a few months ago but I do believe baby Vivian changed your mind. You just look at her and say "awww baby, cuuuuute". You love to help give her a paci or brush her hair. And you talk about her a lot . It's adorable. 

You love to randomly list people according to their family association. For instance, you'll be in the back seat just listing off "Alli, Hatch, Vivian, Blake" or "YiaYia, Nicki, Papa, Howie, Peter" and most recently after a trip to OKC "Russell, Lindsay, Kenna and baby too!" got added to the rotation. 

I love that you rarely say bye without a "see you soon!"

I love that you've started saying "awesome, dude...totally" out of nowhere.

I love that you will bring me my phone or my shoes or a snack from your kitchen and say "mommy, I got for you."

I love that as I put you down for a nap a few weeks ago we sang Jesus loves me and you stopped and said "Jesus" - so I said "yes, Jesus loves you". And you said "and daddy loves mommy....we a family". My heart about burst at the seams. 

I love that when we picked you up at church last week, Mrs. Suzy asked me if I was having another girl and if her name was going to be Ellie? When I replied yes, she told me that Libby kept telling the class "Mommy having a baby. baby sister Ellie." Cue the tears. What a sweet big sister you're going to be. You have finally warmed up to the idea which is an answer to prayer. You love to say "hi sister" and "my Ellie" and kiss my tummy now too. Major progress from "no baby, mommy" a few months ago :) 

I love that you are fearless. Although it scares me sometimes, I love that you are so brave and will try anything. This is especially evident at your swim lessons where you just learned to swim under water for 10 seconds! I'm sure it helped that your daddy was there with you. 

And just the other night you were watching kids jump off the diving board at Northwood and after each one would swim to the edge you'd walk over, clap and tell them "I so proud of you!". I mean, could you be any sweeter?

I'm sure there are a million other sweet and funny things that I'm forgetting but this will have to do! What a gift it is to be your mommy. You are such a reminder of God's love for me. He is so gracious to allow us to experience the joy & blessing of parenthood. Daddy and I pray that we will teach you and lead you well and daily point you to Jesus who you were created to know and worship. We won't be perfect by any means and we already have to apologize sometimes, but we love you more than you could ever know. God has made you to be so special and I know it will continue to be a joy to watch you grow!! 

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On your actual birthday, daddy took the morning off and when you woke up you got to see the play kitchen that mommy and daddy spent 4.5 hours putting together the night before! Then we took you to Crossroads Diner to get birthday pancakes before daddy had to go to work. You're really into headbands right now so I found one at Target that had a birthday cupcake on it and you sported it proudly in your princess jammies!! We had such a special morning celebrating you and the 2 years God's given us with you!