Birthday girl

Dear BeeBee,

Today is your 2nd birthday. I am amazed at all of the new talents you have and how you fit our family like a pair of comfy slippers or the nicest pair of gloves. You are the daughter I always wanted and have made our family complete. As you enter your second year you have many likes and dislikes and are not shy about how you feel. You love animals especially your nonnie's dog gug (chug) and our puppy stewey. You have a recent attraction to all things motherly. You could spend all day walking your babies in your stroller. When you pick them up you pat them on the back and kiss them lovingly. You like trains and cars and horties (horses). As we pass choo choos in the car you blow them kisses. You give all of us love on your terms and give kisses and hugs sparingly. You keep them like a fine treasure, we feel quite honored when we get love. You love to give family hugs and will give those out any day, any time. We have bought a potty for you but you will only sit on it fully clothed and I am not ready to push the issue quite yet. You are starting to build a vocabulary and you surprise me with words you know each day. You are also starting to put words together. You will tell us Dada milk or all done. You say please and thank you although for some reason thank you sounds like monkey. It makes daddy and I laugh when we hand you something and you smile and say monkey. You have an infectious giggle and when you get really tired you laugh at almost anything. The moments before I put you to bed are the moments I treasure the most. First you get super giggly and daddy and I play with you then you tell dada milk and you sit in my arms and drink your milk. (It's in a sippy cup, I promise) You are so cuddly in those moments and it is hard to let you go to bed. Most nights as I lay you to bed you give me a kiss and tell me two two. Which means you want me to cover you with your two blankets. Then you say night night and most nights there is not a tear shed. (Most nights.) You are a strong willed little being and when we ask you to do something, you don't want to do, there may be no changing your mind. I know I have my hands full. You have learned to scream at the top of your lungs. It is a shriek really that pierces my ears and is so hard to ignore. I am trying my best not to give in to that shriek but I must say I want it to stop. Most of the time you prefer to be carried and my arm has gone numb on many a shopping trip. But even with your strong will you are a quiet one and it takes a while for you to warm up to people which is a behavior I understand as I am the same way.



Around this time of year I think often of your birth mother Petrona. I wonder if she is well and I know she must be thinking of you. I want to tell her what an amazing spirit you have and let her know you are all right and that she has given our family this gift we can not even begin to put into words. You have your birthmothers eyes. Sometimes I see her in photos I take of you. I wonder how much you will resemble her. I wonder how much you will wonder about her. I want to do this right and hope that we will be able to navigate our family ship in the right direction. The direction that makes you feel whole and complete even with so much loss and so much unknown. So on this day of your birth I want you to know my dearest beetle bop that mommy and daddy are truly greatful for your presense in our lives. Truly honored to be your parents. And truly hopeful that we can give and be enough. Love Mommy


Today we took Lily to a pumpkin patch a little out of town but well worth the trip. We rode a train, toured a petting zoo, and had a hay ride where we picked our very own pumpkins. Lily like the hay ride the best. She found some pumkins just her size. It was the perfect day spent as a family oh and I played hookie from work shhhhhhhhhhh.