Your Second Birthday

Audrey,

My now 2 year old. Happy Birthday little one! I can’t believe you’re already two. What a year this has been! You still sleep until we wake you up, You are always so excited to wake up but you love being cozy. When we wake you up you bring your baby blanket with you to your changing table since it doesn’t leave your room and cuddle with it until you’re almost dressed. You now sleep with 3-4 blankets, your lion Goliath who you call “Baby” and the bear we made you, also… a moose your dad brought you home from Colorado. You now have a video monitor in your room and sometimes I catch your dad randomly watching you sleep and you sleep in the funniest positions but at least you’re comfortable and usually get 10-12 hours every night… we are blessed!

Thus far, you’ve mastered everything a two year old should know according to the CDC and so much more according to your pediatrician. You don’t stop talking actually, I kept a word document documenting all the words you knew… and stopped counting, at 12 months you had 11 words, 14, 23 words, and 16 months you were speaking over 30, and now… at 24 months… Complete sentences understood by strangers. Some of my favorite things you say are “ Mom, can I cook with you on the high chair” Or when you’re frustrated… instead of biting or hitting you now say “Walk away now please” When we ask you your name you’ve learned to say “Audrey Kaydence Thomas” and when you wake up, if your dad doesn’t run to you fast enough you say “DREW, WHERE ARE YOU?!” You tell your Bama “RUN with me” and all members of our family; biological and extended… are at your beckon call due to your cuteness, Pray that never wears off.

You have long curly blonde hair with very light highlights. When your hair is wet it hits past your shoulder blades. Your eyes are still blue but they change everyday; sometimes gray, sometimes a little yellowish green blue, but around water… you’re still our blue eyed mermaid.

Speaking of mermaid; YOU love to swim. At about 18 months you learned to jump into the pool (wearing  floating vest) and though it scared your dad half to death, it made your day! You started Gymnastics around 14 months and impressed most of the parents of older toddlers and your teachers, you hang off of everything unsafely… like you may be in a cirque show on the strip when you grow up. As long as you’re happy, I don’t mind. You love to color anything, not limited to paper… and not excluding furniture and floors. You got a fun art table this year and it’s one of your favorite things to do at home. You LOVE “cheeks.” One of my best friends and a member of your family, your auntie Bri is a makeup artist, one innocent trip to her house while she was cleaning her makeup brushes started a heart for makeup with you. We made you homemade pretend “makeup” and purchased your first set of brushes after hearing a good report from your teachers and you play with it weekly. You can apply makeup on yourself, your baby dolls, and even your dad and I. You’re also in love with dogs. Your favorite dogs are named Rocky (you share everything with him) , Bentley (even though you call him coco) and Olivia (love hate relationship there.)

As far as television and movies are concerned you watch a lot more than I care to admit than you used to, probably factoring in mom’s heavy amout of rest due to a much needed hernia surgery this year but your favorite shows are Bubble Guppies, Team Umi Zoomi, and Sofia the First. Your favorite movies are Frozen, Moana, and The Princess and the Frog. Your first live action movie with humans was Nine Lives, and it could be because of your prior obsession with cats but you still love that movie to this day. You’ll watch Disneyland parades and fashion shows on Youtube TV. You blow kisses and wave at the parade characters and the fashion models and it’s one of the cutest things we’ve ever seen.

Your mood fluctuates. You’re the sweetest girl with the kindest demeanor when you want to be. You also go from 0-100 really quickly. This year you developed a biting problem at school, had a few reports of bad days especially when your close friend Aurora was taken from your classroom. It made you sad and in return you bit others. Speaking of Aurora; your best friends by how you call them are Rora (Aurora), Megan, Fia (Sofia), Cawtah (Carter), Yoey (Joey) Bae (Skyler; We DO NOT know how he got this nickname, you chose it on your own) and Paiswee (Paislee). You’re a light to be around when you’re in a good mood. I hear so much from the other parents how welcoming you are and gentle and kind you are. As a matter of fact before you began biting your teachers raved about how kind and patient you were because of how gracious you always were. I pray that comes back next year for your sake and ours.

Your favorite toys are baby dolls, you have quite the collection. Your papa says you have a tribe, your Dad says you could run a daycare. Nothing makes you happier than baby dolls and I don’t mind it one bit. I, your mom played with babydolls almost until the 5^th grade so play on sweet girl, you have YEARS before it gets weird. You love Bubble Water (Sparkling Water) and actually request it every chance you get. Your favorite foods are still Pasta, Garlic Bread, and Cake… again, just like your mom.

This year you met your first horse at your Birthday Photoshoot. Not the one in the pictures, you actually look emotionless meeting that horse. You met another horse who was there for moral support (we took the pictures at Mary Jane Falls in Mt. Charleston) and you pet him willingly, and LOVED it… begged us to let you touch him again but the caretakers weren’t fond of the idea since they weren’t supervising, so by the time it got to your actual pictures… you were sour. You also rode your first horse this year at my work Christmas party & Tree lighting. You LOVED it and every time you see a horse on TV or on the side of the road you scream with excitement and ask to sit on them.

I can’t wait to see what the next year has in store for us, I love you my girl.