Abby Kate is 2 Years Old!!

Dear Abby Kate,

Two years ago today, I was holding you in my arms for the first day of your life. Your birth was such a range of emotions - excitement at being induced on Sept. 1, followed by fear that I'd picked the wrong hospital to deliver you at after a rocky start, followed by patient waiting and reassurance by my sweet nurse, followed by wondering if inducing you was a mistake after I "labored" painlessly and ineffectively for 12 hours with no sign of progress. Between 7pm and 8pm, the night nurse noticed signs of progress, and at 5:12am on Sept. 2, you made your grand debut, missing the kindergarten cut-off date by exactly 5 hours and 12 minutes! You are bright, and very independent, so I've put you in the 2-year-old class at your "school" even though that means we will have to "hold you back" one year before you start kindergarten.
You have been independent and squirmy and opinionated and wonderful from the very beginning. None of my babies kicked me as much or as often or made me quite as uncomfortable as you managed to. You were the smiliest baby ever your first year of life, but squirmed your way through every poopy diaper you had (and there were LOTS!). You were the baby I discovered my nursing supply issues with, and that was a challenge for months. But you were and are so so loved by me, your daddy, your big sister who adores you and who you adore, and now your little sister.
At two years old, you are a very "easy" toddler so far. Because you were so independent your first year of life, you do many things that I never would have let your sister do at this age. You have been walking up and down the stairs for months by yourself, without me even close by. You follow Christa everywhere and play with all of her toys - even Barbie dolls with tiny pieces. You consistently come to me and say, "Sita (Christa) not sharing." You are so sweet to share with her, even though she isn't always as eager to share with you. You are always expressing your sense of fashion with a pair of sunglasses, a hat, a necklace, or a bracelet or awareness band of some sort. You verbalize everything you want or need very clearly.
You love to laugh and run around the room, waving your arms up and down. You "chop" your feet when you run and it is adorable! You have beautiful, short, brown hair, but there isn't much of it. You are starting to express a desire to wear hair bows, but they just won't stay in for long. You love to swim and line up your princess figurine toys. At school, they tell me you love the dinosaurs, and you line those up, too! You think you're a lot older than you are, and you join in with the older kids when they're around.
You are learning your numbers, thanks to Daddy spending hours reading to you and reviewing the page numbers on your Super Why book before bed at night. You are picking up on a few of your letters, too. You are very smart and know different things than your sister did at this age. You are still in your crib, and I plan to keep you there as long as it works. It took us a long time to get you to sleep well, and we are finally on a good schedule with that, with you sleeping through the night and taking a good nap most days.
You love to watch TV and your favorites are Jake and the Neverland Pirates, Strawberry Shortcake, Bubble Guppies, Dora the Explorer, and Go Diego, Go. Luckily, most of these attempt to be educational :) Plus, they're cute shows.
You are a picky eater these days. You used to eat anything and everything, but lately, it doesn't seem like you eat much at all. I'm sure it's just a phase. You like to be held, and come up to me, saying, "hold you," which means, "hold me." You give me "noses" and kisses every night before bed, and I love having a few minutes to give you my attention while we rock and sing a song before bed.
You are beautiful and wonderful and smart and funny and loved more than I can describe! I thank God for giving you to us 2 years ago today and I pray that you will always know how much we love you and how much He loves you.

Happy Birthday my sweet girl!
Love,
Mommy