TT - Today You are 2

To my beautiful TT,  today you woke up crying just after midnight.  Usually, I would let you cry for a few minutes, and then perhaps rub your back until you dozed off again.  But this time, I walked in your room, and you stood up and said, "Sleep Mama," and I grabbed you so quickly and brought you into bed with me.  (which meant I kicked your Baba out of the bed and banished him to the guestroom)  The thought of getting to spend every moment with you on your 2nd birthday was exactly what I wanted.

At 5:30am, you started waking up slowly, playing with my hair, and talking gently, I rolled over and said, "Happy Birthday TT" and you screamed in delight, and yelled "TT birthday!!!"

Yes my beautiful daughter. . . today you are 2. 

We walked into the kitchen, and you saw this, and screamed, "Wow!"

When I told you that you needed to wait until Nur and your Baba were up to open presents, you quickly started yelling their names, until they finally got up.  You loved opening your presents, and when you were finished, you looked at Baba and asked, "More presents?"

We then spent a few hours at the zoo looking at animals and eating unhealthy foods, and enjoying our time as a family.

As I write this, you are sleeping soundly in your bed, and I am thinking of how much I love you.

I love your independence, and how strong willed you are.  I love that even though my "baby" is 2, you still indulge me in acting like my baby.  You are most likely going to be my last child, and you must know how badly I want to keep you young, and you indulge me daily in cuddles, and kisses, and you insist on being held by me.  I'll never tire of this sweet child.  I will hold you as long as you'll let me. 

I love the bond you have created with your brother.  I love how you don't even remember a life where the two of you weren't joined in the bonds of sister and brotherhood.  I love your kindness towards him, and how you make sure he is included in absolutely everything.

I love how excited you get about things.  Such as when Nana and Gidu come to the door, you schriek and scream with delight.  Or at the zoo today, when I told you we were going to see a lion, you were so excited, that you turned around, and started saying goodbye to all the other animals we had just visited.  "Bye Bears!!!"  "Bye Tigers." 

You have enriched my life and everyone's life you have touched in so many ways.  You are pure joy, wrapped up in this little spunky package, with crazy Egyptian hair.  It's hard to believe that you're 2.  I can hardly believe it.  It seemed like you were just born.

I love you, and I hope you have the best birthday yet baby girl! :)

TT - 23 Months

My baby girl will be 2 in less than a month!  (July 6th!!!)  I will have 2 TWO year olds in less than a month.  I'm a bit scared. 

TT amazes me in every way.  She can count to 10, she knows the majority of her colors and shapes, she talks constantly in actual sentences.  Oh, and she negotiates.  Her favorite thing to do when I tell her it's time to be done with something is look at me and hold 5 fingers up, and ask, "5 more minutes?"  (Where do they learn this stuff?)

TT's health has been great.  She is supposed to have a follow up appointment at the Mayo Clinic in July, but I think I'll cancel.  Her hair has completely grown back.  This and gorgeous.  I don't know if the meds Mayo prescribed helped, or if this was always going to resolve itself eventually, but my girl is no longer bald.  And that makes me very happy.

And speaking of hair. . . a funny story about TT's hair.  T asked our nanny to start brushing TT's hair in the morning.  Well, our nanny took out a brush, and brushed TT's hair, and this was the result.

I laughed so hard when I saw this picture.  You see, you can't actually brush ethnic hair.  I always dampen TT's hair, then I spray a ton of detangler in it, and brush through it.  And when I'm done with that, I then put a leave in conditioner in it.  Here is TT helping me with the daily routine.

TT loves playing outside.  We go to the park often and we often play with our water table and sprinkler.  This girl would live outside if we let her.

TT has an amazing imagination.  She is always feeding her babies, pretending to wash her hands in her little kitchen, pretending to be an animal running through the house.  I don't know where this girl comes up with things, but I find myself constantly laughing at everything she says and does. 

Now onto planning her 2nd birthday birthday, which will no doubt end up being a Caillou theme, cause, she is OBSESSED!!!

Happy Monday! :)

Nur - 30 Months

Nur is officially 2 and a half!

I love this son of mine.  He is smart, sweet, independent, playful, brave, and so funny.

He talks more than I ever thought was going to be possible at this age for Nur.  He talks constantly.  Never quits!  And it makes sense.  I don't know how in the past few months he went from hardly no words at all to speaking in 3-5 word sentences.  It amazes me. 

One of his favorite things to do is to go to the park and go on the swing.  When he is swinging, he giggles and tells me that he is as high as an airplane!

This past weekend, Nur had his last day of school.  He is officially on summer break! Nur loved school.  He got used to socializing with other children, sharing toys, sitting patiently in a circle singing songs, and a lot of other skills that will prepare this son of mine to be ready for school someday. 

Nur loves talking about all the people in his life.  He is constantly naming relatives, and will say Grandpa Bye bye?  Grandma Bye bye?  Etc.  .  .  He is so confident in his love for people, and in their love for him.

Nur is really enjoying his summer so far.  Lots planned.  Trips to the cabin, running through the sprinkler, swimming, celebrating a sister's 2nd birthday, and so much more. 

Happy 2 and a half years old Nur!

TT - 22 Months

My youngest is almost 2.  How is this going so fast?  And how can I slow this all down?!?

What can I say about TT?  Well, she is full of personality.  She talks constantly, learns at least 100 words a day, no joke, and is pretty much fully communicative.  She is strong-willed, knows what she wants, and usually knows how to get it. 

She is on the move constantly.  I mean. . . she never rests.  Ever.  (Don't let the above picture fool you!) This past weekend we went to a restaurant for Cinco De Mayo, and there was a live DJ, and TT danced on the tables.  She loves to go to the park, play with her cousins, go for walks, play outside, and her new favorite thing to do is movie night! We watched the Lion King the other night and she loved it.

This girl keeps me on my toes.  Sometimes at night, I'm so relieved when she finally is sleeping! And finally quiet and sitting still!  But then I miss her, and sometimes sneak in her room and just look at her.  Here she is. . . passed out, sleeping peacefully.

Oh, and I need to get serious about the potty training.  She now takes her diaper off after she goes to the bathroom in it, and throws it away, and then asks for a new diaper.  Yeah, she's ready.

I love being TT's mama! :)

Nur is 29 Months

Hard to believe that next month, my son will be 2 and a half years old.

One of the many advantages of having Egyptian in-laws.  All the galabayas a person could possible want. :)

Nur is a remarkable child.  He is sweet, and thoughtful.  He loves to give affection, although he can't be held for long because he is much too busy for that.  He loves his mama and baba fiercely, and his sister too.  He also loves his extended family, and is always ready for a hug when he sees them. 

Nur is also a thinker.  He thinks things through before doing them, and is very deliberate in all he does. He communicates so well, he is great at sharing toys, and he has found the ability to calm himself down so quickly.  When he gets hurt, he'll run to me and wimper, and say, "Mama kiss it."  I'll kiss whatever he injured, and he'll say, "All better."

I am amazed at how intellegent Nur is.  And not only that, but I'm so grateful that he's gained the confidence to try new things.  Nur had a speech therapy appointment last week, and the therapist brought a whistle shaped as lips.  She said that Nur should practice whistling, and that it would also help his other oral skills by mastering this craft.  Nur had no idea what to do with it.  But he kept trying, and by the next day, he had it mastered.  He is a sponge who picks up on so much. 

And not to play into stereotypes, but I'm pretty sure Nur has a future in long distance running.  He LOVES to run.  And run. . . and run.  He can already outlast me (which okay, isn't that difficult) and he just laughs and laughs as he does it.  He will say, "Nur run fast."  It's adorable.

And I also want to point out that on May 4th, our 2 year "referral-versary" came and went.  And it didn't occur to me once that day that this was a day to celebrate. I felt horrible when it occured to me a day later.  So, we didn't celebrate in the traditional sense.  But then again. . . we don't celebrate the day we found out we were expecting TT.  I guess as a family we just need to figure out what days will be celebrated and work on those.

Happy Monday!

TT - 21 Months

And the months keep passing by!

TT is a talking machine.  She asks for what she wants. . . which usually sound something like, Caillou? Mickey? Baby? Cracker? Juice? Milk? Mama? Baba?  Oh, and my personal favorite, "Sissy?"  Yes, she calls her big brother sissy!  He started calling her that, and she started calling him that.  Which beats what she used to call him. . . cock.  This girl LOVES her brother.  She doesn't like being apart from him ever. 

TT is possesive of me!  I am hers.  She'll be playing, and Nur will want to come sit on my lap, and she appears out of nowhere to force herself on my lap.  She is strong willed and determined.  And I'm constantly setting limits with this girl.  (And I think I will be for as long as I'm raising her)

TT is starting to do so much better with separating, and during our Saturday morning school, she barely cries for 5 seconds when I say see you later.  She's starting to be more social, and continues to adore older girls.  The other day, we were at our local park, and there was a girl playing their with her dad and siblings.  This girl was immediately drawn to TT, and would help her down the slide, and hold her hand while walking to the swing.  The girl didn't speak much english, but kept referring to TT as baby.  And TT was EATING up the attention. 

TT is big into dressing up and making wardrobe decisions for herself.  I'm trying to let her have fashion freedom, but man, this girl should not be allowed out of the house in some of her outfits.  Ha!

TT has started "sleeping in" until 5:30am, and this mama is enjoying the 30 minutes alone I get in the mornings.  I'm actually going to work looking put together.

TT has a great sense of humor.  She is always acting like a clown and making that brother of hers laugh.  She loves to laugh, and joke, and have fun.  She is really becoming a little girl!

Funny TT story.  While at my parent's house for Easter, I was "lucky" enough to share a bed with her.  She woke up in the middle of the night, rolled over, and said right to me, "chicken?"  Then she started giggling and fell back asleep. 

This girl will forever keep me on my toes!

Nur - 28 Months

Nurl is so many things.  One of the many things I see in Nur is his kindness.  This boy has the kindest and sweetest heart I've ever seen in a child.  He will gladly give hugs and kisses to those who ask for them.  But his affection is no longer misguided.  He knows who his family is, and he knows when someone is a stranger.

As I get ready for work, Nur will come up to me, hug my leg, and say "love you mama."  When TT is sad, he'll give her a hug and say, "Cry Sissy."  When he does something he knows he's not supposed to he'll say, "sorry mama."  He plays gentle, gives love unconditionally, and just has a very kind soul.

Nur is so vocal these days.  I'm amazed.  This  boy went from knowing about 5 words just a couple of months ago, to knowing and speaking well over a hundred words.  I don't know if his therapist is just that amazing, or if something just clicked in him.  But he speaks constantly.  And he initiates the words.  He is actually communicating!  I'm trying to implement some parenting techniques I've read about and watched on the Super Nanny.  Last night, Nur was whining.  He was standing next to the door of the pantry, just whining.  I got down to his level and told him that we use words in our family, and that if he wanted something, he needed to use words and not whine.  He looked at me, silently and confused, and I instantly felt bad for Nur.  He looked frustrated, and I realized he probably doesn't have the word for what it is he wants.  And a few seconds later, he said, "raisin please."  He communicated what he wanted! This may not sound huge, but as we've been dealing with awful tantrums the past few months, Nur's ability to communicate verbally with us is HUGE.

Nur continues to love cars, and trucks, and buses, and balls.  He can just sit and play with these things all day.  He is so incredible.  He also loves brushing his teeth, and of course meal times! :)

Nur also loves going to the park.  His favorite thing to do there is to go on the swing.  I'll push him high, and he'll say, "airplane mama!" He loves when I tell him that he is as high as an airplane. 

Nur is such a joy in my life.

TT - 20 Months

TT is 20 months old, and growing right before my very eyes!

TT is smart, and funny.  She can be so outgoing, yet so shy.  She reminds me a lot of myself when I was young.  TT will shy away from people she knows well.  People she sees pictures of and smiles, and asks about.  Yet when they are right in front of us, she plays hard to get.  Very hard get.

TT is fiercely independent, and she's at that age where she can pretty much accurately communicate her wants, yet she doesn't always get what she wants, and then freaks out.  Oh, I can't wait until no's are handled better!  TT always wants to dress herself, which includes a lot of jewelry on most days.

TT is also in a stripping stage.  Yes, she takes her clothes off all the time.  I was home with the kids yesterday and she ate her lunch completely naked. . . Oh, except for socks and jelly shoes.

This girl is a sponge.  Today when she woke up, she pointed to the fan and said fan.  Then pointed to Nur's bedroom door, and said, "night night.  Shh." I don't know where she hears these things, but I'm at this amazing point of motherhood now that my kids can somewhat communicate with me.  It's remarkable.  They are becoming real people. 

TT loves to be held a lot, and she's getting heavy.  Far too heavy to carry around everywhere.  She loves to cuddle, and her biggest soother is playing with hair. . . either her hair or someone else's.  She loves watching a cartoon called Calliou and gets to watch it before bed each night. 

20 months for TT is a pretty difficult age.  But it's also been a really fun age.  I love watching TT discover new things on a daily basis.  I love how independent this girl is, and how she'll just go play independently for a few minutes at a time.  I love peaking in a room that is quiet, and findingTT picking out a book to read.

My heart and my hands are very full with TT.  She is the most wonderful daughter I could have ever imagined.