2 years, 2 months

Dear K,

Sometimes you drive me nuts. But far more often these days, I catch myself wishing I could hold you at this age for a little longer. You can run, and jump -- your primary form of locomotion for a while, jump, jump, jump instead of boring old walking -- and give spontaneous hugs and tackles and tickles, and best of all you can TALK!

You rarely stop talking, whether you're narrating a Thomas adventure as you push your engines around the track or singing the song you learned at school (which, as far as I can tell, consists of the words "Hello Lucas" repeated fifty times). You can have entire conversations with yourself, incorporating my usual responses. "I see an airplane! Yes, that plane is flying high in the sky. I see it too!" But you still need me around sometimes. Otherwise, who would explain when, halfway through your animal book, you point at a picture and announce, "That is NOT an animal. That is a porcupine!"

You have learned the house rules and like to talk about those too, like yesterday when you paced around the deck, keeping your distance from the grill and repeating, "Very hot. Get burned! That's why the oven is hot, to cook our food." Or, "Hitting is bad. Pushing is bad. Kicking is bad. But licking is silly!" Then you chase me around with your tongue out, and if you catch me you lick my pants.

I don't REALLY want you to be two forever. Eventually it would be nice to have you potty trained. But you are so sweet right now that I'm feeling my first pang of wishing you didn't have to grow up so quickly.

Love,
Mommy