you and your sister: Juliet turns Two! (Three weeks ago)

Dear Juliet -

Please do not take it personally that this post comes three weeks after your birthday. I've been ruminating over it for weeks, trying to think about how I can pin down who you are at two, and I have come to no good way to wrap it up. Kid, you are a dynamo.

Frankly, I have a hard time believing that you are only two. Know why? You.don't.stop.talking. I'm sure someday you'll be a sullen teen, and I'll be pining away for the days when you talked to us. But now, it's exhilarating and exhausting how much you talk. You just want to comment on everything, know about everything. My favorite thing is to get you out of your crib in the morning after I've been on a run because I know exactly what you'll say: "You go jogging? Your back sweaty?" You say it with such a lovely little lilt that I just want to hug you and squeeze you, but you are, rightly, grossed out by my sweat, so the hugs come later.

And, you are a hugger. For all the hitting (grrr) you have been doing as of late, there are just as many hugs and kisses. You are already trying to push our buttons, declaring "I love you, Mommy" and giving a big hug when I'm struggling to get you to take medicine or I am holding you down on the couch during a time out. You are free with your love, hugs, kisses and affection, and you already understand the power that they have over us.

Your biggest hugs (and your biggest hits) are reserved for Charlie, your Cha-Chi, your very best friend. Man, you love your big sister. On a recent trip the two of you got to share a room, and when you woke up and saw Charlie there, you were overcome with excitement. In fact, you said, "How about a fist bump?" to show how awesome it was that the two of you were together. You look so much like Charlie did at this age, and you have many of the same likes and dislikes (love books, love music), but in other ways you are so different. Like, in the princesses. Kiddo, you love princesses. That is why Charlie and I made you, at your request, a purple princess Ariel cake for your birthday.

And why your grandparents bought you a full-on princess costume for your birthday.

You love princesses, dolls, stuffed animals, and playing doctor for them all. You love to dance - particularly twirling in tutus. Your favorite game right now is the "running game" where you and Charlie race and race around the basement in a circle. You like to ride your bike, would love to be able to ride your scooter, and want to do what the big kids on the block do. After Charlie, your biggest idol on the block is Kyra - mainly because she is always wearing sparkly shoes and has a lot of bling.

You are very interested in other people. You want to know every child's name, and if you can get close enough, you will ask that child yourself. You might follow up that question with "What's your Daddy's name?". In books, you ask everyone's names, and then you ask the names of their parents, and their Cha-Chi's names (sister and Cha-Chi are synonymous in your mind). You also want to know where everyone's Mommy and Daddy are in books.

You know all your colors (although you have recently started mixing up red and yellow, which we can't understand). You can recite your ABCs and identify a few of the letters (J, B, and O this morning). You can count to 15 in English and to 10 in Spanish. You understand Spanish when Yessie, your nanny (Nana) speaks to you, and you know some of your colors in Spanish too. You like to pretend to read. You have a half dozen songs memorized, and you're often singing or talking to yourself or your dolls. You love television - yes, yes, you shouldn't have even watched any before two, but you do love Curious George and the Wonder Pets.

You hardly eat these days, but you are a sucker for desserts. Anything sweet is what you want. That and peas. Ask you what you want to eat for dinner and 9 out of 10 times it's peas. You have long since graduated to being able to feed yourself with fork and spoon, but we often feed you just to get the bites in your mouth. We have a little game that you make us play where you ask the bite of food, "Where's your Mommy?". We have to answer for the bite, "In your tummy". And then, you will take the bite. See, I told you that you were concerned about where Mommies are!