Dear Bex,
What. A. Blur. This summer blew by in an instant, marked in the beginning by the Walk and at the end by our family trip to Georgia and the Jewish Holidays, earlier this year than anyone can ever remember.
And in those months, Baby Girl, you GREW UP. You grew in size, vocabulary, attitude (!) and love. Your legs are longer, hair blonder and thoughts more mind-boggingly complex than at the beginning of the summer. You had so much fun in the sprinkler at the playground in Hoboken, over various weekend stays with Grandma and Grumpa and in Georgia with, as you put it, "everyone."
We have been having SUCH fun with you lately. You are at such a great age, my two-and-a-half-year-old (!), and showcase all of the classic stereotypes of the Terrible Twos, but in the most un-terrible way possible. Hilarity, intelligence, creativity, regressions, curiosity, defiance, tantrums... we cycle through these on a daily, if not hourly, basis.
You loved being outside, but REALLY hated the summer heat with a vengeance. I don't think you realized that it's the heat that made you so upset, because you didn't really let us do anything to relieve the heat for you like put your hair up, take sips of water or come in the shade, and instead opted to just get very flushed and sweaty and irritable. To combat the heat we often took you to the sprinkler, or to play in pools and water tables whenever possible. And when you see any of those, my goodness, you got so giddy that you jumped right in. Literally. You would run straight into the sprinkler's sprays of water, jump tush first (yes, tush first) into pools over and over, and grab whatever receptacle you can find at a water table and proceed to dump that water over your head over and over until you've had enough.
You love going to visit friends, families and the classes in which you are enrolled, asking every morning who you'll see or where you'll go that day. You are very generous with hugs and saying "I love you" to all of your favorite people.
You love to jump now - while crossing the street, while standing on the couch and while climbing down flights of stairs, you are most often in the air. You love to sing even more than you used to, and catching you singing along to the CDs we've listened to (OVER AND OVER AND OVER) in the car is one of my favorite things right now. You love anything on TV - Dora, Diego, Umizoomi, Jake and the Neverland Pirates and Sofia the First. You love Thomas, Clifford, Blue's Clues, Hello Kitty and Minnie Mouse - but you are very particular about what you want to watch at any given time, and with OnDemand, you often get what you want. What can I say, Mommy's a huge sucker...
You love the iPad more than anything else, and I've downloaded tons of apps and games for you that are at least somewhat educational!You do puzzles on there that blow my mind, play Monkey Preschool Lunchbox and get all the puzzles right, watch Dora (obviously) and love the virtual dollhouse too - not to mention the Thomas app.
Georgia was so much fun with you this year! You woke up early the first couple of mornings, and you and I went around exploring the resort. I can't explain how it feels to show you around someplace that means so much to me, having gone there each year since I was your age. It is pretty incredible. We would walk to see the birds in the bird room, who we named Tweeters and Chirpy and I think you thought were your pets. We would get mini muffins there and Mommy would have coffee. One morning you insisted on carrying around an empty cup just like mine. We would then walk out to the dock and see the boat, The Cloister Belle, and then make our way back to our room in time for breakfast with the whole crew. You spent mealtimes laughing with Amanda and Ryan, until you'd had enough and would demand we go to the pool. You LOVED swimming in the pool, both playing on the steps with Ryan and with the lion fountains, and loved when The Daddy or I would bring you into the deeper water and spin you around quickly. The last day on vacation we put you on a boogie board in the pool and you wouldn't get off for at least an hour. You were such a cute little surfer girl! You loved the beach the first day, overcoming your fear of sand quickly to run in and out of the ocean and all around. But after that, it didn't quite do it for you and you were content to just stay in the pool all week. You came out to dinners every night like a champ (thanks to that heavy iPad addiction) and then The Daddy would bring you home after... to do it all over again the next day.
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| The coffee cup. |
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| A moment when we didn't hate the beach! |
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| The same swing I sat on when I was your age! |
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| Doing yoga with Chirpy |
You were a rockstar on the plane, too, and that helped make our vacation that much better. You've recently been asking to go on a plane again, so maybe we'll plan another trip soon...
Your sass has definitely increased lately - The Daddy and I think it may be some of the television shows that you watch, where kids are demanding or mean to teach a lesson, but either way, it's not fun to deal with! At bedtime, or naptime, or mealtime, we hear, "I'm not (tired or hungry) AT ALL!". You've recently started saying, "I don't love you," and even "You're not as good at this as me!" to other kids or us. Oh, and "No way, Jose" is your favorite response to just about anything. We're working through this, and I'm sure it's a phase as everything else, but it's one of my least favorite to date.
Another of my least favorite recent things was potty training. We made our first attempt in August, and took two weeks to try and get you into it - you were NOT. There were a couple of times we thought we made breakthroughs, when The Daddy finally got you to relax and you made your first big peepee in the potty, or when you made your first poop in the potty and told Dina that it looked like a hot dog... but alas, these were short-lived milestones. We had started to get to a pretty good place I think, but then went to Georgia and it all went down the tubes. Back into PullUps you went, and we'll try again soon...
You recently started preschool at Kidville, their Kidville University (KVU) program. The first day you were fine going in because I was with you, and I sat and watched you tentatively play with the toys and follow the teachers' directions. You sat in the chair at the table, and on the letter R (your favorite that you made it a point to find) on the rug, and when the teacher read a story and stood so that all the kids could see her, you made yourself quite comfortable in her chair at the head of the class!
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| First day of school! |
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| May you always be this excited to get there! Running with Mason... |
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| Head of the class! |
All of the other mommies left quickly, and soon it was just one other nanny and I in the room with all of you and your teachers. She took the opportunity to sneak out, while I came over to you and said that I was going to go get coffee, and I'd be back soon. You wanted to come with me, and teared up, but I turned and left and know you were fine. When I came back to get you you were happy to see me and jumped into my arms, and then quickly out of them and into Dina's when you saw her! Wednesday you were much more hesitant going into the classroom. You knew what to expect, and had spent Monday afternoon and Tuesday telling me school wasn't fun. But, I left you quickly, and despite some tears, they said you had a good day. Friday was the same, with the difference being at pickup - it was the first time you ran to me to tell me you had SO MUCH FUN! I was so happy to hear that, and so proud of you, my big girl! This week has been great - they said you've been listening, and participating and you know your colors so well - hearing that feedback about your child is just incredible. I'm sure the day will come when teachers don't have 100% positive reports for me, so I'm going to bask in this for a little while longer... :)
Over the Jewish holidays, we went to Mimi and PopPop's for Rosh Hashana and then Grandma and Grumpa's for Yom Kippur. On Rosh Hashana we made sure you took a break from playing and heard the shofar. While at Grandma and Grumpa's synagogue, we took you upstairs to play in the toy room during services. When the Rabbi's children, who play there all the time, showed up, they stared at you - no one is usually up there with them! It wasn't long before they were completely under your spell. You immediately went up to them and said, "Hello Little Girl, what is your name? Would you like to play with me?" It was so sweet. You then proceeded to play by yourself, as they watched in wonder - at your constant chatter, singing, jumping, dancing and playing. They, and their babysitter, absolutely fell in love with you, as it is impossible to avoid. You are charismatic, funny, gorgeous, silly and amazing - I am so lucky to be your mommy, and see that every day.
I love you, Baby Girl.
Love always,
Mommy
