Two months late and filled with my whole heart…
Avery turned two. We made it to two. One and then two. How am I sitting here today and when did my baby reach TWO?

She is beautiful. She is kind. She is smart. She is energetic. She is wild. She is emotional. She is whacky. She is a deep thinker. She is a lover of cheese, bread and chocolate. She is an incredible judge of character. She is a lover of Disney movies. She is a singer. She is a dancer. She is a lady of many, yet limited words. She is an entertainer. She is Avery.

Year two was an incredible journey. It was a year in which Avery came out of her shell and showed her full rainbow of emotion. As stated plenty previous times, Avery was a very chill baby. She was easy going, went with the flow and had no extreme emotions. She laughed and she cried, but she never screamed. Oh, in year two we met the darker colors of her rainbow and the bright vibrant colors, they became electric. I very quickly learned that children feed completely off of our energy and that their ability to learn how to manipulate emotions to get what they want is a new and quite valuable part of their thought process and emotional barometer.

No. No has been a very special word. It was the first word Avery chose to repeat and repeat and repeat. “I did it mommy” was Avery’s first complete phrase. And every sentence ends with the word me, “Chocolate milk mommy, please, ah me.” Tantrums have entered the household environment. Laying on the floor, where sometimes not ideal, is a tactic that is used and ignored frequently. Bed time ever remains a challenge. The truth and fact of the matter is her schedule is consistently inconsistent and her ever changing routines between houses has put us at a disadvantage in conquering the bed time blues and challenges.

In the past year many more likes and loves have developed. We now watch far more than the movie “Up”. There is a love for Shrek, Toy Story, Brother Bear and Tangled. TV, though limited, remains on PBS. Although she is my girl and we fit episodes of The Chew and Friends. Cereal and milk are fan favorites. Elmo and babies are becoming her toys of choice. Her guitar is an object of complete pride. And exploring anything new, from opening a tic tac container to laying out dominoes, has become a journey of exploration and adventure.

To Avery I say… thank you. Thank you for choosing me to be your mommy. You will never know the gift and blessing that you have been to my life. You will never be able to understand the courage you have taught me. You will never know just how much you make me smile, your heart fills mine to the brim and your soul is magical. You are an incredible young lady and I will continue to strive to be the mommy you need me to be, the woman that honors you and teaches you. The woman who shows you courage and independence, who will fall down laughing and is not afraid to cry. I will continue to strive to be the woman that loves you without condition and who will allow your every quirk to shine brightly and beautifully. I am so in love with you Avery Grace. You are magical. Thank you for picking me. xoxo