Two Years + 6 Months

Genevieve my sweet and funny little girl.

My what a large personality you have. Opinionated and wonderful! I marvel at the girl you are becoming. Each day brings something new and I wake up excited to see what you have in store for me. Your heart is tender and you have a deep seeded need to do the right thing, even if it takes a bit of guidance. You are constantly concerned about others feelings and ask frequently if you make me happy. "I make you happy mommy?" I reply "you always make me happy genevieve". Each morning you ask each member of the family if they slept well "you sleep good mommy, finley sleep good, daddy sleep good?" I then ask how you slept and your reply is usually the same "I wake up mommy." Each morning I wonder what you dreamt of the night before and each morning is always the same, "princesses".

You are a very good and dear big sister.  You always try to love on Finley, give him toys, teach him new things.  If he cries you ask "you break sinee's heart?"  and I melt.  

Besides a million and one things you say. You are learning your colors and pretty much have them all down.  You know A B and C and can count to ten, sometimes "1, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 9, 10, 13, 16".  You know most animals and the sounds they make. You have a few chores you are responsible for each day: clearing the table after each meal, picking up the toys in your playroom and picking up your bedroom.  Your dad and I are happy to say at this point you love to help.  I am sure that will change over time.  

Genevieve you are now officially sleeping in a big girl bed but it is a day bed so I flipped the entrance into it against the wall so you can't get out.  I couldn't handle loosing my freedom.  We have also had to unscrew the light bulbs in your room to keep you from turning on and off the lights.  We threaten you each night if you get out of your covers we will take your babies away.  I have had to take them away once or twice which caused many tears.  Potty training is still in the works and I seriously might loose all my hair over it.  You are pretty much peed trained unless you get busy playing with friends or outside and then accidents usually occur.  We are having much more success in the "number two" area and you have successfully done it almost every day for the past few weeks.  However, you still have accidents in your pull up when we put you down for bed.  There has also been multiply times I have wiped pooh up off the kitchen floor.  Agghhhh!! Really, this has been one of the most frustrating things so far in my parenthood journey.  I don't like it!

Genevieve my girl, each and every day you say something new and always come up with different things to keep dad and I laughing.  You have the strongest personality which is what we love most about you but it also makes our jobs difficult.  You are always pushing boundaries, getting your feelings hurt and asserting your independence.  However, you are always quick to try and do the right thing, make amends, apologize and give kisses.  You have such a good soul and are learning quickly about your Savior.  You are very good at kneeling to pray, folding your little arms and repeating the end of each sentence as we coax you with what to say.  

Genevieve, I am sure you are teaching me as much as I am teaching you.  I learn something new about myself every day I am with you but mostly you show me what unconditional love is.  I love looking at the world through your eyes, it is magical... as are you.  What I did to deserve you I will never know but thank you for choosing us.  

~mom

twinkle toes and letters

Letters to Genevieve

Sweet girl, 

My how you are growing.  One moment I was nuzzling your soft newborn head and with one blink I found myself taking you to your first dance class.  I stood outside the doorway as you made your way into class.  It didn't matter that you were the youngest or the shortest you found your spot and were happy to be there.  I quietly watched as you bounced and ran about.  You didn't quite understand all of the directions and your attention span was short but I know you'll get there.  My how you are growing my sweet girl, my how you are growing.

~mom

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. 

Genevieve you love outside, and I hope you always will.

you are messy and a tomboy but want to do it all with a string of pearls around your neck

you love "hoppas" (grasshoppers)

and the boys next door (Hunter and Aaron)

you love to run around naked (especially outside) and yell "nakie girl"

you are vivacious and silly, crazy and loving

everything you do you do with excitement and soul

Genevieve, you are perfectly you...

 my two year old, my sweet, spunky girl.

I love you.

~mom

Letters to genevieve.

(your "muckee hat")

Dear genevieve,
Last night was one of those moments as a mother that takes your breath away. As you sat across the table from me, eating your dinner, you unexpectedly looked up from your plate and said, for the first time "I love you mommy".  My heart melted, I cried, it was so perfect... I love you too genevieve, more than you know.