Adorability

Ok, so maybe adorability isn't a real word.  But it sure fits.  Because this little miss two-year-old's adorability skyrockets when her older siblings are all away at school.  She is seriously waaaay cuter when I don't have 5 children trying to ask me/tell me/complain to me about something all at the same time.

I'm loving my peaceful days with this little girl.  With every other two-year-old, I either had a newborn or I was pregnant.  It's a beautiful feeling knowing that my family is complete.  That we are all present and accounted for.  And I can focus all the more on enjoying B's crazy, quirky personality.  It seems her whirlwind days are calming down a little, which is a welcome relief.  Now she's merely a handful.  And she makes me laugh.  Everyday.  I love that.

She's my constant shadow, moving from room to room to play or help with the housework.  Which is quite often not all that helpful.  But she's so very proud of herself for helping, regardless of the outcome.  

She's oh-so fun to tickle.  And spin.  And cuddle with.  And chase, even though she doesn't always run away very well.  I think she likes to be caught.  Because then she gets tickled some more or smothered with kisses.

Her grasp on language has exploded.  I knew that sitting captive next to K & S on our coast to coast road trip would make her smarter.  I love how she puts sentences together in whatever order the words come to mind.  I love how she asks, "Whasat, huh, Mommy?" in exactly those same words every time she hears a sound she doesn't recognize.  I love how she mimics a southern drawl when she says, "Haw, Daddy!" when he comes home from work.  And that she sounds Italian when she sees spiders on the porch and proclaims them "bada buggie" just before she steps on them and says emphatically, "deada buggie!"  I love how she always wants to know what color things are when she doesn't get it right on her own.  I love her version of "Like this?" (galis) and "Like that?" (galat) when she's trying to figure out how to do something.  I love how she looked out the window one day and saw a deer in the backyard and breathlessly said, "Deer!  Oh, hi deer!"  And how she is so excited when it's a "nice day, Mommy!" and that it always means we simply must go outside for a while.

But my very favorite phrase happens when she races right in front of me, holds out her arms and demands, "Hold it, me!" 

 And I'm so very grateful that I realized, after the recent unfortunate birthday, that my camera wasn't completely broken.  It was only the lens that died.  Ironic that I only had to change lenses to avoid half the frustrations from that day.

But I'm glad that I still have the means to capture these days, because they are beautiful.