Two!

Today is Eleanor Kate's second birthday and as her Mama, I am allowed some excitement, and nostalgia as I reflect on the past 2 years and what life has been like with my girl. It has been wonderful and exhausting, fun and funny. Some highlights (and there have been many as of late) include: She has become the best big sister. Recently, she started calling Jack "Boo" because her mom and dad call him that (a morph of Brother, Baby, and Buddy, we think...). She sees him after school and says "Hi Boo" and proceeds to do or say whatever it takes to make him giggle. You know the giggle, that of a seven month old boy....I swear there is no other sound like it in the whole world and it'll make you smile the widest smile.

She has the best smiles and she knows when she is being bad because she'll wait for you to notice. All of a sudden, she also says, "Sorry Mama" after she has done something I don't like and it about breaks my heart. It is the best thing to see her talking so much, understanding right and wrong, and seeing the buds of empathy take root.
Nora Kate makes us laugh every day. Here is she wearing her daddy's slippers (she loves putting our shoes on) and running away from me taking her picture. Today I got dressed while she and Jack were chatting in bed. I came in and he is stark naked and giggling and Nora was saying "uh-oh" which is what she says anytime Jack drools, spits up, pees, or otherwise makes a mess.
And, she lets you know when she is mad or needs snugglin. She is our baby and I keep thinking about how she will not always call me Mama, will not always search us out in the room, will not even keep running to us after school everyday with that wild excitement in her eyes.
We love her growing independence (she now dresses herself, feeds herself, drinks out of any cup around, and is mastering the potty slowly, but surely, celebrates her successes by telling us "Did it!") and yet, today, on her birthday, I have to admit, her babyhood is behind us now. Still, while I miss that baby stuff, I am so excited for her life. What will she be when she grows up? What will her passions be? Who will she love? It's all going fast enough, but still, this life of hers....I'm just happy I get to be a part of it.
Eleanor is growing into a kid who can socialize, who can feel for others, and who is soaking up every piece of her world with reckless abandon---exactly what I had hoped for her when she was born.

Oh, and she loves coffee. I know what some of you must be thinking, but really, I can't help it. Both her Dad and I are addicts, so it naturally happens that she loves it too (and not mochas, my friends, real coffee). Anyway, Happy Birthday Bean, you are my sunshine, my lovebug, my baby love, my girl. And I couldn't be happier to be your Mama.