2 Years Old!

Caitlin turns two today. This shouldn't really come as a shock, but sometimes I just look at her and think "where did you come from?" After all, I gave birth to a chubby little baby. Now I have a full-fledged girl. She wants to wear my lip gloss and my shoes, but also thinks trains and fire trucks are equally as impressive. When Brandon was little (as in baby), I was in no hurry for him to grow up. He was my first, and I really didn't know what stages came next. Unfortunately for him, he's still to the experimental, wait-and-see-what-happens next kid. It's that whole stupid birth-order thing, I guess. Caitlin was different. She cried a lot as a baby, and I couldn't wait for her to get a little older. Having a massive case of PPD didn't help, either. I could barely drag myself out of bed each morning, and would fall off to sleep each night dreading the next day. It was fun when Caitlin started crawling at 6 months. Crazy, but fun. I was happy when she reached that stage. Even better was the sleep-through-the-night phase. That made this mommy's life a heck of a lot easier! Even though it has been occasionally punctuated by nightmares and much screaming, Caitlin's been an easy sleeper. At 9 months she started to walk. She was seemly made of jello and couldn't stand. That soon changed, and my second little baby become a toddler. And my, how she toddled! Into every wall there is. Still a klutz, even after over a year of walking.

A couple of weeks ago Caitlin looked at me and said "Mommy pretty flowers on the wall." At first I didn't know what she was talking about. Then I realized that she'd seen the new flowers in the wall vases. I'd taken out the Christmas decorations and replaced them with red flowers. Smart girl. Nice sentence structure. She says a lot, and her sentences are better formed than most kids. She's not as easy to understand as Brandon was at the same age, but she's getting there. She wants to wear her "boops" (boots) every time it snows, and pronounces "train" like "bean".


Our celebration this year was small. Brian is in San Diego for work for a week and a half. Love it when his job combines things. Single parenting is really my thing (not!). He travels a lot. After our 10 days of traveling over the Christmas holiday, I just couldn't bring myself to do anything for Caitlin's birthday. I'm tired. And besides, we really don't know anyone. I could have invited Emily and Ethan over, but didn't. We did have a little celebration this morning when she opened her presents, and the three of us headed over to Chuck-E-Cheese's for lunch and play time. It's waaaayyy to cold to be outside (hovered around 5 degrees). Besides, the kids love it there. And they can't escape, which is nice for me. Brandon and I made a cake for her during her nap, and we'll have that after dinner tonight. I know that I shouldn't worry too much about having a party. She is, after all, only two. But I still feel a little bit guilty. I'll have to do something next year. I'm sure by then she'll know what a birthday party is, and will want one of her own! But for now, this is okay. She's happy. She's had fun with her toys. And I'm sure she'll love her cake. Now... on to wake up my napping girl!