212 Baby

You’re two.

I know, I’m surprised too!

It happened a few weeks ago but the time since your big birthday bash (which I will at some point write-up on this site just as soon as I find 20 minutes to myself) has been particularly hectic.

I’m opening a new business, in a field I know very little about. When you read this in 10 or 15 years it will be obvious to you whether or not the business worked out. It’s either something mama does or it’s something mama talks about having done a long time ago. Or hey, maybe it’s something mama did for a little while and then sold to someone for a lot of money and you’re reading this from our fourth home in Turks&Caicos. Whichever way it works out it’s been a busy, crazy, exciting time for me and though I still spend a whole lot of time with you it never seems like enough.

In addition to the upcoming business (which, believe me dear readers, you’ll be hearing about a lot soon) I’m also writing so much. All the places that have been paying me to write make it really hard to write (basically) for free on this blog. But I enjoy it, as I’ve always enjoyed blogging, so I don’t want to completely stop. It’s just a great outlet for me to pause and talk about you, congregate with other parents, share things I’m reading or buying or thinking about.

Ok, ok, back to you:

Your very first honest-to-goodness tantrum was on your second birthday. It was kind of funny. You refused to get dressed. It’s as if you read the Babycenter, or whatever, email about 2-year old behavior and realized that’s what was expected of you. We’ve been laying down the law, even your pushover aba, and you’ve been better. You’re still pretty good, in general, and still the kind of kid we can take places. And we do. You went to Philadelphia last weekend and had a great time. You swam in a pool and drank milkshakes.

You had breakfast in bed:

You carried around your new bag (thanks Kai and Lookie) like a little lady:

And yes we made you pose with the Rocky statue:

The night we came back from Philadelphia was a milestone for you: you told your first official lie. You were hanging out with your father in the bedroom and when you came out to the living room I said “where’s aba?” And then you said “Aba in bedroom. He said to watch Sunny Days.” Sunny Days is what you call Sesame Street and you had already been told you’d reached your TV allotment for the day. We both cracked up in different rooms. You little fibber! The best part was that even after we started laughing you tried to keep a straight face. Good strategy.

You show a troubling propensity for being most interested in those not interested in you. I know the fastest way to get a kiss is to tell you I don’t want a kiss. You fall for that every time!

You’re pretty smart otherwise, very talkative, still really into music. You request Bob Dylan more than anything else these days. Three days after your 2nd birthday you had this tantrum:

I not-so-secretly love that you were crying because you got the wrong Bob Dylan song. I did not play you the song you wanted (“Sara”). You’ll learn.

My only worry for your immediate future is that you’ve pretty suddenly become shy. Even just a few months ago you’d make sure to talk to everyone and now it’s getting harder to get you to engage with people. You won’t talk to anyone until you get very comfortable, even if you’ve met them before and already went through the getting comfortable stage. I know I have no control but I’d rather you not be shy. I had a crippling shyness for a lot of my early life and it was so, so much better when I finally outgrew it (I still show flashes of it sometimes but I work to overcome it).

Enjoy being two, kiddo. Pre-school will be here before you know it and whole days carrying around your guitar and singing songs in various languages with your safta and baba will be interrupted by 3 hours twice a week of coloring, song-singing and play-doh molding in a building far, far away (within 10 blocks, anyway). You’re not a baby anymore, “I’m a little girl” you keep telling me. I know, little girl, I know.

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