memoirs of a twenty something, freckled faced mama: Letters to Genevieve... 2 years.

Dear genevieve,

Is it true, you have been here on this earth for two whole years? What was life like without you? My mama heart is full of emotion as I think back to that fall evening I went in to the hospital. I was completely unaware of how much my life would change or my heart would grow. You will understand when you are a mother yourself the roller coaster ride that comes with raising a child, especially your first. I apologize now that you are our experiment. You weren't born with an instruction manual, so your dad and I carefully tread the waters of parenthood as we try to do everything ever so perfect for you. So, please understand that we love you and are just trying to figure things out, especially in fifteen years when your curfew is 9:00 on a Saturday night.

Genevieve you are quite the character, very emotional, quite the ham with a ginormous heart. Your grandparents think you act just like I did when I was your age... if this is true your dad and I are going to be in a heap of trouble in the future. You feel everything to the extreme, from shear excitement and happiness to heartbroken, there is not very many emotions in between. That is ok, I understand, and that is what makes you interesting and ever so special. When I turn off the lights and cuddle you into my arms at night to "rocka baby" you lay your chubby little hand on my cheek and quietly say "hi mom." It truly can't get any better than that. As we rock, I stroke your head and tell you all the people that love you.

"Mommy loves you, did you know that?"

"uh huh"

"and daddy loves you"

"grammie loves you and grandad"

"uh huh"

"papa loves you and grandma"

You softly stroke my cheek as I comb through your hair and we look into each others eyes. Your little gap tooth grin gleaming back at me. I tell you to close your eyes and your eyes shut quickly as you try fiercely not to open them, your eyelids shuttering. We rock for a few more minutes in quiet. Then I whisk you up and drop you into bed. I tuck your piggy under one arm and your water in the other, and that it is that. You look up and say a muffled "night" in between sucks on your binky. Those few moments we spend together at night are some of my favorites.

Potty training has commenced. It is a harder transition for your dad and I than I think for you. I just don't think we want to commit to underwear ALL THE TIME. So, we let you run around in "princess and choo choo panties" and discretely tell you your pull up is underwear when we leave the house. Accidents do occur but are fewer and fewer.

Every time you successfully make it into the toilet you scream "I did it, I did it!" and clap your hands.

Dad and I are ever so proud.

I wish I could write down every funny thing you said or did but since Finley's birth I feel like you have been on the fast track to little girlhood and there are just too many things you say and do to keep track of. One day you were signing and saying a few words and the next you are rabbling on in sentences.

some of my favorite that come to mind:

"my bruder finee" (my brother finley)

what do we tell Sophi?

"no bawking" (no barking)

"I wanna sanwich"

Genevieve how do we ask?

"sanwich peese"

"where my binky go?"

Genevieve you don't need a binky, you're a big girl

"oooh"

"the moon went night night" (the sun went night night)

"gaggy go on the choo choo" (daddy go on the train)

"i wanna go hunter's house"

Genevieve did you hit in daycare?

"uh huh"

why did you hit?

"my vroom vroom" (my car)

you need to share your vroom vroom, can you say share please

"peese share"

"peekaka" (peekaboo)

"abc's" (pointing to any letters)

"I wanna watch pincess show" (I want to watch Tangled)

Genevieve what does a train say?

"chuggington" (singing a song from her favorite train show)

"i wanna go gammie's house" (I want to go to grammie's house)

"granma" (grandad)

upon hearing a baby cry

"uh oh, baby's sad"

"i wanna a jumping house" (I want a bounce house)

"my gammie shoes" (her sparkly shoes grammie gave her for her birthday)

"buush a hair, buush a hair" (brush a hair)

"I need medicine, my tummy hurt"

"I wanna dwa a picture" (I want to draw a picture)

genevieve who is that (pointing at a picture of her)

"it's you, it's you" (meaning it's her, because we say "it's you")

a mirror is called a "picture"

you know opposites now:

"up high"/ "down"

up side down

big/ "baby"

mine/ "mommy's, finley's etc"

light/ "dawk"

"oo" (on) "oo" (off)

happy/ sad

you love to read and can sit through really long books

your imagination is really starting to emerge.

The other day you were eating bread and you kept saying "shoe, shoe"

I had no idea what you were talking about until I watched you walk your bread around like a shoe and I guess it did kind of look like a shoe.

Just as quick as it was a shoe you flipped it upside down and said "slide, wee"

We have limited the binky addiction to bedtime and the car but dad and I don't want to give it up just as much as you don't want to. Can you go to college with it?

Along with the binky comes the blanky, it's usually a package deal, you can't have one without the other.

Your blankies are thread barren because you love to pick and pick and pull the strings out of the blanky and then carefully lay them in between your binky and your lip. When I come in to get you up in the morning it usually looks like you have whiskers from all the strings poking out.