27 Months

We started her 27th month preparing a place outside for her chickens. Outside, you say? Aren't chickens always outside? Yes, except for the first two months, which we learned after we purchased them. And by two months, they were so big that they almost filled their cage. We have them in a coup on the side of our house, but try to let them roam the backyard a few times a week. Baby A loved trying to catch them, and it is so cute how they always stick together! We were very sad to learn later in the month that Nemo is a rooster. We are not allowed to keep roosters in our neighborhood due to a noise ordnance, but luckily the store will re-home him for a fee. We also got on the wait-list for a hen, so that Dory would not be all alone.

Baby A is becoming increasingly aware of her environment, and will usually say "It's cold" when we leave in the morning and "It's dark" at night before bed. Her best sentence so far was "Mommy, I go plane Portugal pppeassse!" She has also learned to say "Not appropriate" which we are really having fun with. When prompted, she will sternly and enthusiastically tell just about anyone "Not appropriate!"

This month brought with it the return to school, and an increase in my mileage as training for the Long Beach half marathon. Baby A is doing really well with both of these. A year ago, she cried in the beginning of the new school year at drop off. Not this year! She walks right in and either starts playing, or sits at the table to finish her cup of milk. I sometimes need to reminder her I need a hug and a kiss! This allowed me to work back in some lunch visits, which I stopped doing last year when my leaving upset her. She made the transition to the "big playground" when she moved up into the 2 1/2-3 year old group. I have been able to visit her a few times when she's playing out there and after a few "Mommy has to leave in 5 minutes" warnings, she offers up a chipper "Bye Mommy!"

Leaving her for my long runs has also been easier than expected! For at least a year, my Dad and brother have been coming to visit every weekend. Although my Dad is enrolled in college full time and very busy, they never miss a weekend. When I tell her that "GranpaGlennie" are coming, she often lets out a squeal of excitement, and runs around repeating "GranpaGlennie!" I had the idea to let them watch her as I was increasing my mileage to 6. When that went well, I ran 8 the following week. She asked for me once, Glen explained I was running and she went back to playing. Since then, I did a 10 mile run (since I'm slow, this takes nearly 2 hours plus drive time!) and have plans for a 12 miler. Before this, she had never been left with anyone (other than at daycare) before! When training is over, we may even utilize them for a day-date.

One of my favorite things about this month is that she has started to sing "Beauty and the Beast." It is just about the sweetest thing ever. She most often does it at night time, when I am laying next to her in her bed, and get out her book by the same title. Tale as old as time, song as old as rhyme...beauty and the beast.

Fourth anniversary gift!

We bought her a 15 foot trampoline and she has been using it every day. She exclaims "Look at me!" as she's bouncing. She's often out of breath and always smiling. I love that it is such great exercise for her! While she's playing, I have an opportunity to practice piano. 

Piano? I've never played an instrument in my life, but signed up for weekly lessons in our home. I thought we could replace the un-tunable, un-fixable one we had later on. But my husband bought me a beautiful one off Craigslist and had it delivered before I knew what hit me. There's no backing out now! While A is too young for lessons, it is important to both of us for her to grow up with me playing. I want to be a little ahead of her and be able to teacher her. And, if later on in life she finds something difficult or challenging I can tell her that it's not nearly as tough as learning piano at my age! Forget about reading music, my fingers are just not used to moving independently of each other.

This month, A gave up her bottle completely, without even noticing or caring for the first few days. She had her last bottle on 9/17 and at the time I didn't know it was her last, or I probably would have cried. She was already only down to one in the evening. The next night, it was getting late and she had not asked for one. I asked my husband Should I give her that thing which we do not speak of, or skip it? He suggested skipping it, and so I did. The next night, the same thing happened; she did not mention it. After a few days, she did cry once or twice in the evening and ask for it, along with a very persuasive "Peeease?" but I remained strong. As it turns out, getting her off the bottle was a lot tougher on me than it was on her. Real evidence of her no longer being a baby. 
Is it possible to feel nostalgic about last year? I realized recently that I'm not able to watch baby videos of her without getting tears in my eyes or actually even crying! While I am enamored by the toddler she has become, I just miss that baby so much. Not just any baby, but her as a baby. And I know in a year or two, I'll be looking back on today and missing the toddler she is now. I just wish that every year with her lasted a decade, and that she would not turn 3 until 9 more years from now.

Alas, that's not how it works, and a huge part of what makes this time so precious. Plus, when she was a baby, she couldn't make faces like this:

Things I don't want to forget about this month:

• Her excitement to me bringing Beast to daycare to pick her up.
• Tuesday evenings at Round Table
• "Beast so funny, Mommy! Funny guy."
• "Watch me!"
• Surprise visit to her daycare on 9/26 when she was rolling playdough into a snake and cutting it with a pizza wheel.
• When I'm driving, she will say "catch it" about a bus, or other car.