Terrible?

How is my little itty bitty baby almost two?

Seriously, 6 weeks and we’re there. This year went infinitely faster than her first year. I can’t keep up with this child. This two year old.

However, terrible twos – I think not. Man I hate when people say that, and we get it a lot now when people ask how old she is and I say almost two. It really is a pet-peeve of mine. As if she’s going to turn into some kind of terrible child monster. I get it, I guess. We get a little more attitude as the years go on – but terrible. Nope. Not this little girl.

She’s my kind of kid. (Which I suppose is a good thing). She is independent and stubborn. Silly and athletic. Busy and smart.

These days she is doing something new literally every single day. Whether it’s a new word or skill… I can count on her to show me something new. Yesterday she added clock, peas, elbow, and hat to her word repertoire. The words crack me up; we just go about her day and all of a sudden she blurts out something I’ve never heard her say before. I just sit back and say to myself, “alright, so she says elbow now.” Sometimes it really catches me off guard that she’s actually talking to me. Or Kyle.

A while back he was talking to her about a show she watched and said, “Leah, what can I make for you to make you happy?” She replied without missing a beat, “cupcake.” Do you remember that Kyle? We were both like, alright. She’s probably still waiting for him to do it.

She has recently added the “uh” sound to the end of almost any word. For instance, things are not up. They are up-uh. Or Upa. I guess she’s figured she has mastered the English language, now she’s on to creating her own. This morning on the way to gymnastics she talked to me the whole way. I had a moment of, “what was it like when I drove in silence?” And then a moment of, “oh my God, what’s it going to be like when she is asking a gazillion questions?” She talked about her dad, and how Duncan was at home tired, and how she was going to play with the blue ball at gymnastics and that she was going to jump. She talked about Pooh and Tuck and then Duncan some more. She told me about her boo-boo (that she got a week ago and hasn’t ever forgotten). It was pretty fun. A lot sweet. And just a tad…. “Leah, shhhh.”  But mainly fun. I like her little voice. My favorite is when she gets so excited and has so many words that need to come out that she says them all at once on top of each other and it comes out a jumbled mess. Her eyes get so big and she’s so excited. She gives it three or four tries before calming down and forming her thought. Cracks me up.

She is a gymnast extraordinaire. Seriously, you guys, she was made to move. She won’t be stopped. And her mom or not, she is one heck of a coordinated little girl. She is all over the physical milestones. I learn so much about just how athletically inclined she is every week at gymnastics. The class cost an arm and a leg, but I must say – for Leah, it is 100% worth it. She just thrives in that room full of mats and bars and beams. Her favorite thing to do right now is to swing on the uneven bars. The first week I remember me having to help hold her waist and help swing her. Now she leaps from the mat, catches herself on the bar, and swings for as long as she wants. It’s truly incredible. Today she wanted to do the balance beam a lot. She’s always been a little timid up there, but today she just had one hand around my neck. It’s fun to watch her get better and better. But she’s also learning to follow directions, share, stand in line, and perform skills on command and in front of people. Today she was called up in front of everyone and asked to jump from the green circle to the yellow circle… she nailed it. Then was so proud of herself and came running back to me for a big hug. I’m also learning that she is so not a musical kid. Some kids thrive on music, they need it. Leah does not. She needs to be flipping through the air. They have the singing and shaking portion of class – Leah hardly does any of it. She just looks behind her and longs for the uneven bars. She is learning to do it anyways, but I will not be enrolling her in a music class anytime soon. Her Aunt Lauren might make fun of her, but she loves her metallic blue leotard, too. She gets so excited to put it on and show it off. And then gets more excited because she knows it means we are going to gymnastics!

She is potty trained. I know each parent has a different definition of potty trained – but according to the Proebsting definition – we’ve got a potty trained 22 month old. Have I mentioned she’s my favorite kid? She wears underwear every day and 99.9% of those days she only needs to wear one pair. She goes on her own, she goes when she tells me she needs to, she goes when I ask her to try, and she goes in public. What more do you need? I’m helping her with the pulling down of the pants process and the wiping (some parents would say she is not potty trained because of this), but it doesn’t bother me. Again, she’s 22 months, I can’t expect her to wipe her own butt. All I know is – I don’t have to buy diapers anymore. My kid is potty trained.

Here is a summary of Leah at this very moment:

• Anything with feathers is a Duck.
• She is starting to really get into puzzles.
• She loves to read books.
• She likes “everything” bagels.
• Peaches are her new favorite.
• She knows there is a baby in my belly, and is fairly certain there is one in hers.
• She can point out every body part on her body – down to the chin and belly button.
• Winnie the Pooh and Tuck make her happy when nothing else does.
• Duncan is her best friend.
• A burp, a toot, number 1, and number 2 are all Poop. It gets very confusing.
• She puts honey on everything because Pooh does.
• She can answer the question “How old are you?”
• And “What is your name?” (although sometimes her name is 2).
• She would like to live outside.
• Picking flowers is her favorite.
• She likes to pray for herself before bedtime. In addition to her dad and Duncan.
• She loves animals, especially elephants and horses.
• She loves to put her own clothes on.
• She talks all the time.
• She loves to tell strangers Hi.
• She loves Curious George and Daniel Tiger.
• She wants to walk everywhere by herself.
• She likes to somersault off of things (her bed).
• She has really taken a liking to her dad.
• She loves to be silly.
• No is the answer to everything. Everything.

She is not terrible. She is two. And a bucket of fun and a barrel of laughs. She tries to wear me down, some days she can do it. Most days, she has to realize that she is me… 24 years ago. I can put up a fight.