She's Two...

Here I sit, 1am September 26, 2007...my baby girl is sleeping, my husband is sleeping and I'm sitting out here in the living room getting all teary at the realization that she is 2. She is 2. I can literally bring back every moment of the day she was born, waiting in the hospital that morning for everything to begin...delivering her...watching D take endless pictures of her as they cleaned her up...making phone calls...seeing her for the first time, feeding her for the first time, watching the absolute love of my life holding her while time stopped as we experienced an instant and unconditional love for that tiny baby girl.

She was healthy, beautiful, quiet, peaceful, alert, kicking, watching, cone-heading & a little gunky. She was moving, staring, precious, amazing...a miracle...a miracle. Her first cry was beautiful, her first bath was messy. Her wrist was no bigger around than the size of D's ring finger, her feet no longer than a few inches. We held her, kissed her, took pictures of her, kissed her some more, stared at her and stared at her. We watched her sleep, watched her eat, celebrated her first meal & her first diaper. We felt her kick, felt her wiggle, felt her settle in, felt her relax...felt her breath on our faces. We cried over her, prayed with her, talked to her, sang to her & rocked her. Within moments we knew her cry amidst other cries & had memorized every feature of her tiny, gorgeous face. We let her hold tight to our finger as we held tight to her & each other. We assured her that no one on this Earth will ever be able to love her as much as we do.

Today she's healthy, beautiful, excitable, vibrant, happy, peaceful, & busy. She loves to shout and she loves to whisper. She gets a big thrill out of running and bouncing and 'jumping' without ever leaving the ground. I still watch time stand still when I see the man I'm so blessed to call husband scoop her up and hold her after a day at work. Her baths are still messy & we do occasionally still go in to watch her sleep. We still kiss her and kiss her and kiss her and LOVE it when she kisses us back and doesn't wipe them off! Her eyes dance with a brilliance of joy, her body dances with the moves inherited by her two non-rhythmic parents. We still occasionally feel her kick, often feel her wiggle and love the feeling of her relaxing on us. We still cry over her every now and then, pray with her nightly and she prays with us. We sing to her and she sings to us. We still know her cry in the midst of others, we still have every feature of her adorable face memorized. We love to hold her tight and feel her squeezing us back. We love her fake smiles, her belly laugh, her ornery glances & her thrill for 'fun.' We appreciate her attitude most of the time and are thankful for the timeout chair during those other times. We have seen how fast she has gone from being able to do nothing but eat, sleep & go to the bathroom. We will never get tired of watching Dora, working puzzles, coloring, "partying" or playing in the sandbox b/c we know that all-to-soon she'll have moved on. We love her scribbles & her 'lines.' We could listen to her sing or read books out loud all day long. She is still amazing to us whether she's counting in Spanish or putting pants on her head. We love finding dinosaurs in the toilet and crayon marks on the furniture. We love seeing stickers mysteriously stuck to the bottom of our sock or pants & finding toys in our bed. She has created so many memories for us and so much life in our happy home. And she is still assured daily that only God loves her more than we do.

So to C we'd like to say simply - we love you. We love you when you're happy and when you're sad. We love your celebrations & your tantrums, we love your laughter & your song. We love how beautiful you are on the inside & how much fun you like to have on the outside. We love your pickiness & your independence. We love your spirit both feisty & calm. We love your messy hair & your vibrant eyes; your hand rubbing our shoulder and your multiple requests for us to clap for you. We love it when you need us and even when you think you've had enough. We love watching how sweet you are with your toys & 'pretending' with you. We love it when you ask us to sing along as well as when you say, "no sing momma." We think it's precious that your bunny is always 'sad' and every kitten you see is 'crying.' We love your growing compassion for others and the way that you stop and pray. You are growing & your personality is developing & in it all we find ourselves blessed.

Someday in the future when you're reading this you'll probably think I'm just a sappy mom who was way too emotional tonight...and you're right...but it's only because I know that day will come all too quickly.