Dear Casey: Two Year Letter

Also known as the "We blinked and she was two" post.  Still can't figure out how this happened already!  Last year, I wrote a letter to Casey for her first birthday post,  and I thought I would follow up with another letter this year, so here it goes:

Dear Casey,

Two!  In so many ways it seems like just yesterday that we were celebrating your 1st birthday, and now another year has passed already.  Then, I think about all that you have learned and accomplished in the past year, and how amazing your 2nd year of life has been, and I guess it is no wonder it flew by.  The past year was full of milestones, from crawling, to walking, to now running and climbing.  Your communication has also exploded, and you have quite the growing vocabulary.  Your favorite words are "Help!," "No," which is your preferred answer to most questions, even when you really mean yes, "bump" which is your word for "hurt" (I think it comes from "bump your head," which you transferred to all body parts), and of course "Hi!" which you love to say, especially if you think you will get a response.  You will literally say "Hi!" to anyone and everyone, and on even a short shopping trip, you will say it in the neighborhood of about 100 times.  Luckily most people can't resist your cuteness and are more than willing to give a response.  You have also resorted to using it as a distraction when someone tells you not to do something.  When we get on to you, you will look up at us with those big blue eyes and say, "Hi!," just hoping that it will charm you out of trouble.  You also love to say "Here you go!" both when you are giving us something and when you are asking us for something.  It's pretty much the cutest thing ever!

As much as I will miss the baby stage, I absolutely adore watching your little personality develop.  You love, love, love to play, and quite often you will sweetly ask from your high chair, "Play?" when you are ready to get down.   You adore baby dolls, which you mostly refer to as "bebe" despite our efforts to actually name your babies, and you are often seen carrying one (or three) around.  After your birthday, you officially bid goodbye to your own night-night/nap pacifier (pah-pah), after we explained that you are a big girl and pacifiers are for babies.  You also love to imitate anything and everything mommy does, and after watching me get ready in the mornings, you have started getting into dress up and makeup.  You especially love purses, and several times a day I catch you carrying them or other bags around (although we are still working on getting you to carry them around your arm instead of hanging them around your neck).  Probably your absolute favorite thing these days is shoes, and I think it is safe to say you are a bit obsessed, especially with mine.  Throughout the day, you can be found walking around the house in anywhere from 5-7 different pairs.  It is a losing battle to keep you out of my closet, and I am still looking for at least one shoe that you have absconded with and abandoned somewhere in our house. The other item you absolutely adore is the iPad, which at two years old you are completely adept at operating.  It is amazing to watch you scroll through the screens and find and use all of your different apps.  Your favorites are the Baby Sign and Sing App, Talking Angela (you love to talk and yell at her, and then listen to her mimic you), and Elmo's Monster Maker (although you prefer to just watch the faceless monsters scroll past as they talk and sing, instead of actually selecting faces for them).  You still love music, and you will break out into dance moves when you hear a song that you particularly love (hopefully you will forgive me someday for the video I posted below of you showing off your moves).  You are picking up on and learning new things constantly, and Daddy and I are always saying in amazement, "Did you see that?" or "Did she just _______?" Two is probably my favorite stage so far, but just don't grow up to quickly, Doodle.

You have come so far with your eating in the past year, and you have done so well that you were officially dismissed from Speech this summer, which leaves you with just one therapist left to help you with fine motor and language development.  It's the last big preemie hurdle you have left, and you are blowing through your goals so fast, that even she thinks you won't qualify again at your next re-evaluation.  You are definitely still a picky eater, and you like to stick to a select number of favorites (mostly in the carbohydrate family, particularly cookies and crackers - but can we really blame you?), but you most especially want to eat anything I am eating.  At your two year check up you weighed 23 lbs 2 oz (8 %tile) and you were 32 1/4" tall (12 %tile).  You are definitely petite as you are still comfortably in size 18 month clothes, but looking at you, most people would never know just how tiny you started out, or the amazing odds that you have overcome.  I recently got a new print for your room that says "Though she be but little, she is FIERCE," and it is sure fitting.  You have become quite opinionated about what you do and do not like, and you sure have some strong opinions (I think you must get that from your daddy! Haha!).  You have certainly not lost that strong willed spirit we knew you had from the beginning, and it is that strong will that has recently been the cause of your introduction to time-out. You will go for weeks without needing to go to time-out, and then you will go several times in one day.  There is no denying that you are a mess, but I wouldn't change it for the world.  Every spontaneous hug and all sweet grins you give every day make every one of those tough moments worth it.  You are the biggest blessing to our lives, and we are so lucky that we get to call you ours. We know your third year holds amazing things for you, and I can't wait to see your accomplishments.  Love you more than words, sweet Cay-Cay.

Love,
Mommy


We went a bit more low key this year for your birthday party after last year's blowout bash, and just did a small family get together, but I think it is safe to say you still had a blast! 

 As still as you get these days (and that was only because I set Dancing "Bebe" next to you!

 

 Couldn't get you to look at the camera for anything!

 

 You were less than excited about a family picture

 

 You love to try on glasses

 

 Getting a little help from Meemaw

 

I just adore this pic!

 

 At first you weren't too sure about what to do with the presents

 

 

 Eventually you figured it out, and started to get into it.

 

 

 One of the funniest presents was the Chuckling Monkey.  You mostly wanted to pick it up and hug it, but it was no easy feat!

 

 Gigi and Grandaddy got you a bike!

 

 It was still a little too big for you, but I think you were still a fan.

 

Yummy!

 

 Blowing out your candles!

 

 "Mmmm, Cake!"

 

You were a bit more into the cake eating than last year!

 

You now get very excited and insistent about eating cake every chance you get.

 

Officially Two!

 

 On your actual birthday, you woke up to find your new play kitchen from Mimi (it only took Mommy until 2 a.m. to build it...you're welcome!)

 It was a hit!

 

 You also loved the shopping cart, and you are constantly wheeling it around the house and adding random items (like mommy's shoes and bottles of water) you find to your basket while proclaiming "Shop!"

 

 More presents!

 

 You were a big fan of the princess set

 

Birthday Princess!

 





Your 2nd Birthday Interview.  Disclaimer: It is long, and our dogs go crazy about halfway in, but I thought the end was cute, so I didn't bother editing it.  Also, I did not prep her at all as she had never seen these pictures before, but mostly I wanted to document some of the cute ways she pronounces certain words.

 

Dancing Skills!