So much to love at 2 years, 10 months

1. I love that you are coming around to having a baby brother. Every once in awhile you'll say something like, "I'll share this with my baby brother when he is here." Or the other day at school, your teachers told me that you said over and over again, "My mommy has a baby boy in her tummy." Yay! The first step is to admit it, right?

2. I love when you put on performances for daddy and me. You'll arrange us on the couch and dance and sing until we clap. And when we do clap, you'll contend that your not done yet keep going and going.

3. I love your problem solving skills. You come up with the most clever ideas when you're stuck in a rut. The other day at the park, you joined a little girl in her quest to dig a hole in the sand. Pretty soon, you grew tired of digging and wanted to jump in the hole. The little girl was upset by this and told you not to get in her hole (can you blame her?). What did you do? You said, "I'll just dig my own hole and jump in." Well played.

4. I love sitting back and watching you make new friends at places like the park. Your social skills are getting up there and you are starting to venture out on your own without needing me to speak for you. SUCH a little girl!

5. I love your smarts! The other day we were listening to a CD with stories and songs on it. It was new and I wasn't sure what was on it. After hearing a story you asked what story was next? I said, "I'm not sure. I don't know if there are any other stories, we just heard one." You immediately replied, "There are more! It said to listen to the storIES, not story!" Sure enough there were more. You were so smart to listen to the narrator at the beginning of the CD and hear him say enjoy the songs and storIES (plural).

6. I love when you make accidental shapes out of something, like a cracker and excitedly tell me what they look like. You've been doing this for awhile now, something is triggered in your creative spirit.

7. I love when you just randomly call "Mommy?" or "Daddy?" and say "I love you."

8. I love snuggling you at night before bed. You love to have your books read, stories told, and a back rub. Oh, and a little lullaby helps too.

9. I love your curiousness. Everything is "I wonder" or "What's that?" or "Why?" Naturally at this age, you have a yearning to learn more.

10. I love your applications. What I mean is if you've read a book and another book reminds you of that one, how you can apply the same basic premise across those books. Moreover, when you use real-world applications and associate it with a text or experience, I melt. For example, you love the story Strega Nona and her endless supply of pasta. When we had more pasta than we knew what to do with the other night, you realized that was just like Strega Nona. And then we heard a story of the Popcorn Girl who couldn't make the popcorn stop and you said, "Just like Strega Nona!" It's just the beginning of early literacy and you don't even know it. You are just being smart little you.