Nadia Version 2.5

Dear Nadia,

Yesterday you turned 2.5 years, or 30 months, old. And no, we didn't give you this crown to celebrate - it, along with the cute bag, is a take-home treat from a birthday party you attended recently. I love that the two parties we went to in August both sent home cool toys instead of candy. Very health-conscious.

Oh Mooper, where do I begin? First off, let me apologize for not writing a letter when you turned 2. I really have no excuse. Sure we were in the middle of life craziness ie. your dad finding out he could stay in the navy, trying to buy a house, and surviving the first trimester of pregnancy, but I I'm sure there were a few minutes here and there I could have taken to sit down and write some...thing. So like I said, no excuse. I can't promise I won't lapse in the future, especially now that there will be two of you for whom to capture memories.

(Your first horsey ride at a recent bday party. A bit apprehensive at first, but you seemed to dig it.)

You have become a bit of a daredevil at playgrounds and such. Here you are at the end of a slide ride that involved you stopping yourself several times in the tube and giggling, calling out for "dada." For someone who used to be so cautious, I am amazed (and freaked) at how eagerly you clammer for ladders, rock walls, and spiral apparati you can climb to the top of. What I'm not surprised by, however, is your ability to accomplish such feats. You've always been an athlete and are continuing to hone your skills, what with running around our backyard and sitting room, saying you're running "faster yike mama and dada." Notice I wrote "yike" instead of "like." Ok, so you have some pronunciation problems like the letters "l" and "r" especially, you end words that end with "k" with a "t" instead, and you just generally have interesting ways of articulating words, but your ability to have conversations all...day....long, as well as your ability to understand and relate concepts kinda makes up for it. And you are always improving. Though you still refer to yourself as "yaya", you now are no longer a "mop", but a "moop." Just like we taught you;)

Your favorite questions these days are "why?" "why cause?" and "what's he doing? - when pointing to a picture of something, say, a boy in a book, for instance - my response, um, just standing there, being a boy " (Not so creative, your mother.) I'm glad you're curious, but dang girl, sometimes it can be exhausting!

You love making not only your animals and dolls talk (after 2.5 years of us doing it for you), but also pieces of food. A strawberry was recently told it was nap time by her strawberry mother, for instance. I've noticed the conversations always start with the child saying, "mama?" and the mama snapping back, "WHAT?" Um, wow, do I really sound like that? Things like this make me realize just how much you are observing and taking in. Oh, and other things like you relating back stories (sometimes with the details a little skewed, sometimes combining two events) your father and I have told each other over dinner. Adult stories. About people. About work. Things a two year old probably shouldn't be talking about - like a recent court case. Good thing we don't watch TV while you're awake, who knows what would be swirling around in that brain of yours!

You also love to tell me that you're "Dora", I'm "Boots," and your father is "Diego." (Favorite show perhaps?) For some reason, though, whenever we play Bert and Ernie you always refuse to be Bert. Funny cause I didn't like him either as a kid. Ernie was always WAY cooler.

You are a really good kid, definitely a little Canadian. I mean, you say sorry to the wall if you happen to bump into it. How's that for polite? I don't worry much about how you'll be as a sister. You have already made a picture for your baby sister (that we framed) and talk often about how you're going to "help with the baby." Oh, and apparently now you're having "just one girl, like mama." Before you were having 2 boys and 2 girls, quadruplets that were constantly having to have their heartbeats monitored by a doctor. (Attending midwife visits has had quite an impact apparently.)

You have shot up in height over the past few months and not so much in weight and as a result are really starting to look like a little girl. You are still breathtakingly beautiful and I can only hope that we get this lucky a second time, especially since for someone with possibly the most boring, non-kid-entertaining-mother-there-has-ever-been, you seem quite happy. Keep being your fine, entertaining self.

Love,

Mama.

(Oh, and p.s. - you are now night potty-trained as well- accidents here and there occasionally, but I'm very happy with how well you have done with the whole process.)

P.P.S. - Favorite expressions: - "You're wopen!" (you're welcome)

-"You want to pay in 'Ya's room?" -This is more an order than a request and is most often asked of your father after dinner. It seems it has become his sworn duty to play with you between dinner and bedtime and you will not have it any other way. So his choices are your room or the backyard. Sometimes, if it's not too hot, he'll take you to the "part." (park)

-"There, now you're all pitty." (This after doing me the beauty favor of brushing a piece of hair into my eyes.)