we had the best birthday week. we had a Little Mermaid themed party for her at her grandparents' house when we could get all the families together (she was happy, but a little put-out that the decorations featured stupid Ariel and not Ursula, her favorite character).
then for her actual birthday day, we took her to an indoor adventure center thing and then later that night out again with some good friends to a hip restaurant (bar. it was a bar. just own it) where she got to again hang with her favorite people and eat both french fries AND pizza.
what is this amazing goofball like at age 2? well...
this weekend in swim class her swimming instructor kept shaking his head while she repeatedly turned herself around and let her body float out into the abyss of the pool and away from the safety of the steps where here little friends were. even after several synus-filling plunges. 'she's brave, man,' he said. she could give two hoots about what is safe or easy or what everybody else is doing.
as young as she is, i've heard A LOT that she will one day be some sort of executive (and then they usually whisper in an aside, or in jail for racketeering). she knows what she wants and is fearless in its pursuit. and she really, REALLY likes villains. we continue to make jokes about building her an evil lair in the basement. with beanbag chairs, of course.
at age two, she has quick smiles and a defiant chin, a stocky little body and cheeks that are like a ripe nectarine filled with the best kind of jello, she's a trip. when i think about her, i find myself also grinning and shaking my head.
i've been saying since she was tiny that, with her, i'm just sort of along for the ride. i say that with more excitement and respect and less panic than i did earlier in her life. she's sharp and driven and i also suspect might brain her way into some pretty cool stuff. i'm pretty happy to be on that ride. i also kind of want to be her when i grow up. i pray she stays this sure-footed.
driving grandma in a jeep at an adventure center.
she has a lot of words and uses them all the time. she shocks us with her full sentences and her deliberate practice of those words she's not quite getting right. you can tell it bugs her and she's trying to fix it. it's kind of amazing. she won't be dismissed.
she does everything with passion and authority. she has one of the greatest laughs in the history of laughs. she is clever and mischevious. it's a daily thing to hear her maniacally laughing and racing across the house away from our commands....usually pantsless.
she's very loving. especially toward henry. she tells us 'i love you, daddy. i love you, mommy. i love you, henry.' while she says most things loudly (SO LOUDLY), those words of affection she drops quietly on us, almost shyly. maybe she's afraid anyone will hear and think she's soft.
everyone keeps going, "ugh, 2 year-olds. emiright??" but in her case, actually, i'm excited for this next phase. she's been sort of 2-ing for a while with the feisty sassy stuff and things are getting a little easier now that she has words that we can mostly understand. i'm sure she has a whole other level of beast mode to reveal to us as she angles for more and more independence, but she's already getting less violent and more reasonable than she was 6 months ago. i write this and consider whether i should addend it to include how she drew blood from robb's finger just last week. no, i still think, overall, there is less screaming and less blood and more reasonable conversations and fun and peace than there has been. i'm anxious to see how 2 looks on her. so far so good.
Happy Birthday, Anna! I wish we lived closer to each other. I think you and Fallon would be great friends. :) Hug your mommy for me!
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