Almost Two

More than the curve of her lips or her chubby cheeks, I want to remember bits of her. I want to document the brightness of our almost two year old. While I was writing Christmas tags, she was amusing herself with a black crayon and a her own tiny tag, when she called me over, "Look, Mama! I drew a "C'!" And there on the bitty white tag was a < . Not quite as round as a traditional C, but the most beautiful crayon marking that has ever been named a letter.

Every evening that we climb into the car (darkness setting in long before dinner time these days), she squeals, "Christmas lights!" Her passion doesn't peter out as we travel. Every new, festive house gets the same level of excitement.

She sings to herself, "Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, there's just something about that name. Kings and kingdoms, will all pass away, but there's something about that name." In the car, she requests that Matt and I sing, "I've got peace like a river, I've got peace like a river, I've got peace like a river in my soul..." Her favorite part of that song is the "joy like a fountain" verse and the end of the song when we all (her tiny voice included) repeat "In my SOOOOOOOUUUUUULLL."

She'd force me to read Inch by Inch, Shrewbettina's Birthday, Winnie-the-Pooh, and Madeline all day, every day if I were up for it.

When she doesn't know the answer, she'll repeat the question back at you.

She loves when you joke about stinky feet during diaper change: all the belly laughs.

She greets me with, "Hello, pretty lady!", something she learned from her daddy, and the sentence she says that I love best.

Lately, when we're getting her ready for bed she says, "I wake up! I wake up! I woke up! I'm awake!" with hopes of avoiding the pending sleep.

She stuffs "tiny baby" (pictured above) down her shirt from the top, normally leaving her head and arms poking out, and then refers to her as "tummy baby" or "Portia." We can't wait to see her as a sister, but we're also thankful for these last three months as a family of three.