so this is two

Elida loves to respond with an enthusiastic "I do" when we ask her to raise her hand for something.  The other day, we asked, "raise your hand if you like ice cream."  We got a very enthusiastic "I do!" with both hands in the air.  On a different day, in a moment to attempt to neutralize some of my frustration with some unsafe toddler action she was refusing to stop I asked her to raise her hand if she was the age of two.  She stopped, looked straight into my eyes and shouted "I do!" and then ran away to continue her devious plots.  

Elida is definitely "doing two".  She is very good at it, and yes sometimes I can relate to the phrase the terrible twos. We have many ups and downs.  She can go from acting like the sweetest little thing on earth to throwing herself onto the ground and shouting "no mama. no!"  This can happen in a matter of seconds.  It baffles me.  There is often no reasoning with her and sometimes no trigger or precipitating event for either the up or the down.  I know this is not uncommon, and I am sure there are moms around the world taking deep breaths and continuing to try and negotiate with their two year olds.  

Despite the down moments (often down on the ground moments), I find that the up moments trump them all.  For that,  I am so grateful.  And I AM grateful that she is two.  I do not want to wish it away.   The time is already going too quickly.  

Elida loves being two, and in fact her favorite number is... yep, you guessed it... two.  When asked how many blueberries she would like, she will always respond with "two", even if she wants a huge handful.  When she sees a herd of horses, I ask her how many horses she sees, and her answer is always "two".  Her imaginary friend Puppis who lives in Minnesota (and is often sleeping for some reason) is two years old.  She has two favorite stuffed friends- Baby Doll and Bunny.  And of course, Elida has two parents who love her very very much (times two).

Two is also going to be how many little ones we will have in our home by the end of this year.  My growing belly who is housing #2 amazes Elida and she often asks me "What's that, mama?" as she points to my belly.  More and more each day, our family embraces this time in life.   And the number two is something I am growing very fond of...