Two Birthdays...

Last week, Emma turned 3, and Kit turned 2.

Oh, little kid birthdays are so much fun!

Emma, at three, has the vocabulary of someone much older. The other day she agreed with a statement I made by saying, “Yes, indeed!”

Say what?

She uses words correctly, in context, and we can have quite the conversations. I used to recount our conversations but rarely do anymore because, reading it, one would just assume I was talking to someone older. Her only sign of being youthful in speech is that she says “Arfur” instead of Arthur. I never correct her on that. It’s too cute.

Emma continues to have plans for her life, and for your life too, if you’ll cooperate. In fact, in anticipation of her birthday, she planned to invite every kid she’d ever met to her party. And we knew this as she named all of them to us. The requested décor was pink flamingos wearing sunglasses, and the menu and venue would be covered as it should all take place at the Dairy Queen. And don’t forget, her favorite color is purple. Put that on the ice cream cake.

For all her expectations, she was surprised and delighted with each person who came, and each gift that was given. She was holding court at party time. Thanking the attendees as they arrived, expressing genuine awe and delight over each gift and ribbon. She even made conversation, asking Aunt Erin about her pet. “How is your pet, Roxy?” And then asking if other guests had pets.

Oh, Emma! You are smart and busy, imaginative and willful, emotional and determined, delightful and sometimes exasperating…but always, always entertaining and SO much fun! We love to hear your stories!

The next day, Kit celebrated being two.

It was obvious that her feelings about having a party were not the same as Emma’s. Kit, our little observer, likes to assess a situation before buying in. Like her mom, she doesn’t relish having all eyes focused on her, so everything at Kit’s party was very low-key so she could enjoy herself. And she did!

Kit is thoroughly sweet, loves her animals, loves her people, loves her Taggie, the stuffy that accompanies her everywhere. Only recently has Kit decided to express disagreement with agendas that are chosen for her, doing the typical toddler maneuvers: falling down in despair, refusing to put her feet on the floor, kicking in hopes that the boots will come off and she can stay longer.

It’s so cute! Okay – exasperating for her mom, but Kit isn’t that committed to objecting. She registers her opinion, but recognizes resistance is futile. We’ll see how long she continues to believe that – but with Kit, that may be it for rebellion. Most of the time she just gives a firm, but polite, “No” when she doesn’t want to do something.

Kit LOVES her horses. Her life is horses, horses, horses – even at this tender age. Her earliest words included “Hi Rhett! Hi SeeDee! Hi ScooDoe!” said while looking out the window at Rhett, Sadie & Scooter out in the pasture. She has toy horses to ride, toy horses to play with, horses in books – and she never tires of them.

She’s putting little sentences together these days, but still babbles off long trails of gibberish with all the right inflection, telling us something important to her. Most of the time, she is telling us clear words for her ideas, and then throwing in a full sentence here and there to surprise us. She throws her head back when delighted, and claps her hands in celebration with a long, “YAYYYYYY!” She has favorite songs she sings, and sometimes ones of her own making.

The Little Observer finds things we can’t, notices things we miss, and solves problems because she takes the time to think about things. She’s tiny, and such an adorable mini-person

She loves her mommy, daddy, Boppas and Gommas…Her smile warms your heart, and her little hugs are just delectable!  

Oh, Kit! You are a sweet little old soul! You love your routine and knowing what to expect, yet you love finding new surprising delights in life! We love discovering with you!

We are so grateful and delighted to have these two wonderful little girls in our lives! They are pure joy and wonder for us! The best of fun to celebrate birthdays with them...and to look forward to two more birthdays to celebrate come February and April! Yes -- both girls will be big sisters soon!

More joy!