Rose Turns TWO!

Dearest Rose,

Happy 2nd birthday!  You sure are growing up! If anyone asks you how old you are, you will happily respond, "TWO!!" You are becoming such an independent little one, wanting to do everything yourself and even attempting the crazy antics of your big brothers.

You are eager to be a big kid, just like your brothers.  Whatever your brothers ask for, you quickly chime in with "ME TOOOOOO!!!"  You love chasing them around the house, climbing up on the couch, and even tackling them.  You can definitely hold your own up against someone twice your size!

"I wanna see too!!"

"You're squishing me!"

"I can do that too!!"

While you have your tough tom-boy side, you are also a very girly girl!  You love playing dress-up, combing your hair, making pretend meals in your toy kitchen, and taking care of all your baby dolls.  You even love shopping!  If we are out shopping for clothes and I pick up something to try on, you will take a good look at it and respond, "Oh, yeah!"

Speaking of clothes, you are a huge help with laundry! You're the only one in the house that helps!! You love filling up the washer with clothes and moving the wet clothes into the dryer. You even know how to turn the washer and dryer on and off, although you haven't quite mastered knowing the appropriate time to do so - sometimes the washer is turned off half-way through the cycle (whoops!!)

You are our ray of sunshine! You are such a sweet, smart little girl. You love giving kisses to your entire family. And when anyone sees your kissy face, they can not resist! You are adorable!!

"Pucker up!"

You love animals, but dogs are by far your favorite!  We can't pass a dog walking down the street without you trying to get some puppy love.  I always remind you that we need to ask before petting an unknown dog, but you don't seem to care.  All you want is to get close to the puppy!  You are obsessed with dogs!!

One of your new favorite books is "Go, Dog. Go!"  It was your Mama's favorite book when I was little.  We read the book every afternoon before your nap and every night before bed.  Your favorite page is when the little bird says "Stop, dogs. Stop! The light is red now."  You will put your hand up just like the bird and yell "BOP!! BOP!!"

You still love your elephant blankie.  You can not sleep without it!  And no other blankie can replace it.  You bring it everywhere - even to the sand box!

At bedtime, your little fingers automatically find the tag on your elephant blankie and while one hand clings to the tag, the other hand is up at your mouth as you suck away on your middle and ring fingers.  You've always used those two fingers to comfort yourself when you're tired.  We even have a few photos of you at FANA sucking away on your two little fingers.

6 months old at FANA

And still sucking those cute little fingers a year later

You are a great sleeper, that is, when you are sleeping in your crib.  You love to sleep in!! You sleep until at least 9:00 am nearly every morning!   Our bedtime routine always includes a book, followed by being put in your crib and covered by two specific blankets in the proper order - the first you call "nana" (the pink blanket Nana Bev knit just for you) and the second you call "baby" (one of Cole's old baby blankets).  You manage to mess up your blankets at least a few times and quickly say "help, help" until I get them placed just so.  After you are properly tucked in, you always ask to be sung "Twinkle, Twinkle" by opening and closing your hand (just like the motions for the song).  And after singing it once, you ask for it again and again.  I probably sing "Twinkle, Twinkle" at least 10 times a night!

A few months ago you decided to scale your crib walls when you were supposed to be napping and make a run for it.  I heard a huge thud and came running up to see you opening your door!  This was a first for me as your brothers had never climbed out of their cribs. But you see, you can not sleep if you are not in your crib.  We've tried it on vacation and you are always up past 11:00 am.  You just can't settle down without the calming and containing 4 walls of your crib.  So I knew we were in trouble!  Luckily with a bit of ingenuity, I modified your crib by pulling out the mattress spring and lowering your mattress 6" onto the floor.  That should give you (and the rest of us!) at least another year of rest before you're able to hike over the wall!

You have become such a picky eater!  One day you love broccoli, the next day you hate it.  And if you take a bite of something and you don't like it, whoever's sitting next to you better watch out because you will spit it right on out! You love helping yourself to whatever treats you can reach in the pantry.  After grabbing a bag of something yummy, you like to wander around the house nibbling as you go and leaving a trail of crumbs behind you.

Long gone are the days of you sitting contently in your high chair for meals.  You are now a big girl who doesn't like to be confined.  You've taken over the entire booth and have chased both of your brothers out of their designated spots! Your number one request at meal time is "whole", as in "I need the whole entire thing!"  Whether it's an entire bottle of your favorite Green Machine juice, or an entire box of crackers, or an entire piece of pizza, it had better be "whole"!!  You've also developed a taste for carbonated flavored water.  You call it "bubble" and request "bubble" at least once a day.  You love it!!

You are independent and you have a mind all of your own.  You are quick to tell us "NO!" when you don't want to do something and are known to throw a temper tantrum from time to time.  It's times like those when your sassy attitude is out in full force, earning you the nickname "Miss Sassafras".  You definitely know what you want and how to get it!

You love being outside - playing on the swing set, spraying the hose, digging in the dirt.  You are not afraid of getting dirty.  You always manage to find a small dirt or sand pile and before I know it, you are a muddy mess.

But that's alright because you also love water - swimming and bath time are two of your favorite activities!  You'd probably spend an hour in the water if I let you.  You love splashing around, blowing bubbles, and yes, even drinking it!  And the water must constantly be flowing.  The moment I turn it off, you eagerly ask for more.

You are learning new words every day.  You recently learned how to say your brothers' names.  You have "Cole" down perfect and your version of Owen (or "Ho" as you call him) is oh-so cute.  I've even caught you counting, albeit, in your own language.  But I knew exactly what you were doing - and of course, so did you!  Check out the video below...



Between your words and baby signs (some of which you made up all on your own), you can nearly always get across exactly what you want.  And when those don't work, you will take me by the hand to show me.

You're favorite TV shows are Care Bears and Clifford.  You ask to watch "Woof Woof" (aka, Clifford) all the time!  You sure love that big red dog.  While you can't say "Care Bears" just yet, I know exactly what you want when you rock your head from side to side - it's your very own baby sign for Care Bears because that's the way we dance to the Care Bears song!

You are quite the little dancer!  You've got some great moves and when you hear a song you like, watch out!  Your head starts bobbing, your feet start moving, your arms start swaying, and soon you're spinning around and around!  You especially like the song from Doc McStuffin's.  I even caught you on video grooving to the music...

You are such a beautiful, silly, sassy, sweet little peanut!  Your laugh is contagious.  Your smile lights up the room.  Your hugs and kisses melt our hearts.  We are so very thankful that we get to share this very special day with you.  Happy 2nd birthday, baby girl!  We love you!!