I can not believe this sweet girl is already two years old! It's funny that this pregnancy is very paralleled to my pregnancy with her. My due date this time is only days apart from my due date then, so it's easy for me to compare notes on what was happening exactly two years ago at this same moment. The time is flying by.
I think back to how many doctors told us we should not go on to have more children after Hailey because of the complications I experienced with her. I'm sometimes haunted at the thought of not having brought Lauren into this world. I thank God every day that they were wrong. Obviously the Lord had other plans for our family, and they included Lauren. The last two years have been wonderful ones and I'm so grateful to be her mommy! Here are a few things about her at this point in her life.
-She was the easiest going baby. And then she turned about 15 months old. She is so full of drama and attitude! She thinks the world revolves around her and most of the time it does. All she has to do is make a sad face and one of us comes running to see how we can fix the situation. She especially has Ethan wipped.
-She can snap her fingers. I am very impressed with this skill! When she hears a good beat she starts snapping right along. Her sense of rhythm is very good and she'll be getting a musical instrument set for her birthday.
-She has CRAZY hair. It is very curly in places, but then straight in other places. Each morning we have a bad time combing out tangles. But when it's all done up with a little styling product it looks fabulous!
-She has big feet. She is in a size 6 which is big for the rest of her size. She has what look like duck feet because the rest of her is so tiny.
-She is fearless in the water. I have to keep a very close eye on her whenever we are around water. This summer at Mom and Dad's if we weren't watching her, she'd jump right off the edge with no one waiting to catch her. So far all three kids have been water bugs.
-She climbs on EVERYTHING. I have never had a kid climb like she does. And again, she likes to climb and then jump off whatever it is.
-Her favorite thing to do lately is when I'm sitting on the couch, she comes over says "Wanna look!" Then she pulls my shirt up to see my stomach and pokes me in the belly button saying "ding dong!"
-She bears a strong resemblance to my Dad's side of the family. When she was about eight months old I found an old photo of my dad at the same age. The resemblance was uncanny. Joseph looked a LOT like my dad when he was little, therefore Lauren looks a like like Uncle Joseph did as a toddler.
-She barely eats anything, yet she poops at least three times a day. Seems to defy all laws of physics! She has never been a big eater though, so this is not new. Even as an infant she would nurse for 10-15 minutes and be completely satisfied for three hours.
-She loves the piano. I constantly find her plinking away at the keys in the front room.
-On most nights she goes down in her crib with out a problem. She makes her rounds of saying goodnight to everyone and I lay her in her crib on her comfy pillow, she holds her sippy cup tightly, squeezes her eyes shut with a slight grin, and pulls her "bink" (blanket) up around her. As I turn off the light she says "Good night, Mama". It is the cutest thing!
-She has started taking her turn in saying prayers at bed time and meal time. Her little gibberish is adorable.
-She says a lot of words. There are too many to count. She can be very quiet around other people, so I get a lot of comments like "She doesn't say much, does she." I laugh and say they should hear her at home! Most of what comes out of her mouth is a command. Her favorites are:
"Get it!"
"Give me that!"
"Mine!"
"Do it!"
-Baby dolls are her favorite toys. She loves to nurture and mother them. She can always be found in her room tucking her babies in their beds. She also loves to push the doll strollers all over the house. And sometimes she thinks it's great when Hailey pushes HER in the strollers.
-When she gets me a book to read, I start reading it but she gets so excited by the pictures that she starts clapping and pointing and "telling" me about the story. Then she quickly flips through to the end, slams it shut, and goes to grab another book. We never really get through the whole story.
-She really wants to ride a tricycle, but her legs are so short and she can't reach the pedals! It frustrates her like nothing else.
-She is the politeness police. She always says please, thank you, no thanks, and excuse me. It's so funny because she always says "No thanks" when I tell her to do something she doesn't want to do. Then when I insist, she throws a tantrum. Yesterday she burped and actually said "Excuse me, I burped." What two year old does that?
-She LOVES princesses. She has two princess pictures on her walls and on most mornings when I go in there to get her from bed, she is standing in her crib pointing at the pictures saying "Hi Pincess Pincess!!" What a great way to wake up.
-She loves to have her fingernails painted. She asks me all the time to do it for her.
-She sings the "Go Away" song all the time to be cute. It goes "Go way, go way go way!" And then she dies laughing.
-When we are driving in the car and a song ends that we're listening to, she'll say "Mom, I wike it!" She is quite the music critic.
-She keeps us laughing all the time! She is our entertainment at almost every meal. Like I said, she doesn't eat much. While we are eating, she stands in her chair and dances and laughs. No wonder she is so small. No calories get ingested!
-Hailey is her best friend. I love it that they are only 20 months apart. They have a real love hate for each other, though. One second they are best friends and the next second they are enemies. Hmmm, that sounds familiar! Just like Evelyn and me. When I drop Hailey off at preschool Lauren gets very sad because her buddy is gone. I hope they are always close like they are now.
We love you, Lauren! We can't imagine our lives with out you.
