For only two days more, I’m the mother of a 2-year-old. I can’t believe in just a couple days my itty bitty baby (OK, she was a big, fat baby) will be 3. Doesn’t that just sound like a whole new lifestage? How did we so quickly go from this:

to this?

I know the 2s get a bad rap, but to be honest, they really have been much more fun than I ever imagined. Sure there have been some ill-timed tantrums, potty training battles (and accidents), earache after earache and food battles, but I wouldn’t trade or wish away a single day.

I’m sure I will love the next phase of her life, but before I bid a final adieu to the 2’s, I thought I’d list some of the things I’ll miss most from this time in her life. It may seem like a random list of sayings and actions, but by next year at this time, I know I’ll barely remember all these uniquely E-isms and I don’t want to forget a thing.

So, here’s my tribute to the Not-So-Terrible Twos:

• The way she still mixes up words and phrases. For example, she’s got a few sniffles right now and we’re all worried she’ll be sick for her party. So, today she says to me, “Mommy, I need to go to the doctor so she’ll feel me better.” It wasn’t just a one-time fluke. Anytime she talks about medicine and seeing the doctor, it’s always because it’ll make her “feel me better.”
• The way she still sings loudly and lustily, not caring who’s listening or how she sounds. Whether it’s at the grocery store, the playground, her play room or in her bed at night, the world is her stage.
• The way she hurdles into my arms every day when I pick her up at school. It’s like a scene out of a movie, every single time. As if we’ve been apart for weeks (and some days it’s feels like it to Mommy too). The second she spots my car if they’re playing outside or when I enter her classroom if they’re inside, a chorus of “Mommy! Mommy! Mommy! Mommmm-ma!” begins. And it’s the best part of my day.
• DadJovi’s absolute favorite thing she does is this sort of waddle walk. Think penguin. He’s trained her like a puppy that she now knows if she does this trick, Daddy will get her anything she wants. (wait a second, maybe she’s the one who’s trained him?!?)
• The way she sometimes sneaks into bed with us in the middle of the night and cuddles up so close to me.
• “Family hug” — I’m sure one of us said it first, but now it’s one of E’s favorite things. If one of us is hugging her and she spots the other parent nearby, she demands a family hug. And of course, we always oblige.
• And the way she still lets me kiss her. I know I’m not that far from the days when I’ll barely get to kiss her cheek without inducing eyerolls or worse. But for now, she still climbs on my lap and lets me cover her face, neck, arms and hair in kisses.
• The way she still thinks I can’t see her if she has her hand over her eyes. I think she’s finally starting to catch on that I actually can still see her but she still reverts to this as soon as I tell her to stop something.
• Baby. Poor Baby. I’m starting to think Baby’s days are numbered. But since E has been a little under a year, Baby, a small, silky white doll, has gone EVERYWHERE with her. Lately, E has been leaving Baby behind more and more. Some nights she doesn’t even want Baby in her bed (and it gives me visions of poor rejected Woody in Toy Story). I’m just amazed Baby has survived the multiple washings, trips to Pennsylvania, West Virginia, DC and day care every day and my half-ass hot glue job that has kept Baby’s stuffing inside. But I think we’ll all miss her when her shelf days arrive.



• The ways she’s still up for nearly anything. “Hey E., want to go to the store?” “How about helping me in the yard?” “Want to help Mommy with a cool game called ‘Match the Socks?'” “It’s Costco and Home Depot day!” You name it, she’s game, usually without any fussing or fighting.
• I remember when E was a few months old, I was reading ahead in “What to Expect: The Toddler Years” and there was this line that said something along the lines: Remember, when your child is driving you crazy because she only wants you to do everything for her and is clinging to you all the time that this is a short-lived phase. For the rest of your life, no one, including your child, will love you as much as she does right now. I wish I was exaggerating when I say that that line made me sob. But it did. How sad and true is that statement? So on nights when she begs me to lay down with her for “two more minutes” or wants me to sit down and play Memory for the 600th time while I’m trying to clean up, I always remind myself of that haunting phrase and I give in to whatever she wants me to do. My days of reverence are numbered, but for now, DadJovi and I are still the sun and moon to her and we try to never forget that.

I know this will be a exciting year for E, filled with new discoveries, so I’m trying not to mourn the transition from babyhood to childhood too much but it’s hard to not feel a little sad.

So what have I missed? What else do I need to savor? If yours are older, what do you miss most about the 2s?