Wednesday, September 8, 2010

23 Months

Dear Jillian,

It is so hard for me to believe that we are only a month away from your second birthday. So close in fact that I have stopped referring to you in months, because somehow saying 23 months sounds silly. Instead I say my almost-two-year-old, but of course that kind of sounds silly too. I could just keep it simple and say my two year old, but I can't quite do it. God knows that it would be a pretty accurate statement, as it feels like we are in the terrible two's already.

These days our biggest challenge is that your cognitive skills haven't caught up with your motor skills. You have learned to jump, but don't yet understand that jumping on the couch is not appropriate. You know where your ears are, but don't realize that jamming a Q-tip in them will hurt. You know how to take off all clothes (onesies and diapers included) and love to be naked. Unfortunately you don't yet understand the concept of the potty despite our efforts, and so you pee on the floor. You are bringing back memories of housetraining Cujo, and let me tell you that was a very stressful time for me that I'd rather not repeat.

You love your baby sister very much. You call her "baby" and "sissy". When we ask you who Hayden is you point to her, but you will not say her name. If we start the bath, you will grab Hayden's tub so that she can join you. You love your baby doll, and we often find you feeding her a bottle, swinging her (rather roughly) in the swing, or setting her in the bouncy seat or jumperoo. Last night when I put you in your crib you handed your baby to me. Apparently you do not co-sleep.

95% of the time you are a walking disaster. Your face is dirty. Your hair is wild. Water has been poured down your front side because you insist on drinking from our cup or water bottle with no help from mom or dad thankyouverymuch. Food stains are everywhere. I refuse to buy white clothes, and in fact I'm not sure why they make anything white for toddlers at all. You have recently learned to wash your hands, so maybe this situation will improve at some point.

Daddy calls you a walking techno because you are always on the move. Despite that you are a snuggler too offering hugs and kisses to everybody around you. My favorite times are when you are tired and snuggled up in my lap watching TV. Before you were born I could never have comprehended how much I enjoy holding you and loving you.

The one thing I ask of you is that perhaps you could cooperate a little more when I'm taking pictures, so I get fewer photos like this:


Love,

Mom

6 comments:

Barb said...

Love love love that photo. hahaha. Your other one is a BIG girl!

Julie, Todd, Kate and Miles said...

what a great pic! I love photos like that. It's amazing how fast she's growing up...it feels like it was just a few months ago that i was reading about her birth!

Jaime said...

I must be a cruel, cruel aunt because I LOVE Jillian crying pics. They crack me up.

Judy Schwartz Haley | CoffeeJitters.Net said...

I can't for the life of me figure out why they make white clothes for toddlers either. I put mine in a white dress for two hours to get a picture and it didn't even make it to the picture without getting stained.

Sunny said...

*snort* Great post, even better picture. Jillian is awesome!

Jamie said...

Love the post and the picture! As a matter of fact, that is one of my favorite things about your blog - you're not afraid to post a pic of a crying baby and have a laugh about it. Because, sometimes, that's all you can do.