Mila Grace- 2 years and 2 months.

Mila,

Oh my sweet Mila. November came and went and while I watched and treasured every minute of every day with wonderful and precious things you do and say… I neglected to write them down in your official You’ve Turned 2 post. So now I have to try and catch up. The only bummer to being a bit behind is that I’m pretty sure, that had I written this in November… I would have been ONLY full of gush and praise. You are delightful. But it’s January. You’re 2 and 2 months, my dear… and you have definitely entered the _________ twos.

Here are some snippets on YOU.

Favorite Foods: MILK--- Sophia never drank it, so I wasn’t prepared to slow you down and now you’re a bit of a milkaholic. I’ve just started to wonder if you’re really eating anything throughout the day (besides car snacks) or if you just push it around your plate a little, smear some on your face for good measure, and then ask for more milk when I’m too busy to remember to say no. You’re a smart one--- waiting for the right frazzled-mommy moment to pounce. Or maybe it’s just that I’m a frazzled-mommy far too often. Who knows anymore? We started the nasty habit of letting you go down with milk a while back and have FAILED to kick it, so you have my permission to blame me for any ongoing teeth problems when you’re older. But I think you’ll be fine since you drink it in a few minutes and then sing and talk your way to dreamland. You also love fully decked out grown-up sandwiches with all the fixings when I’m eating one and can down about as much as I can. I just push the jalapenos aside as we go. You love the usuals of course—nuggets, mac and cheese, and pizza. Whole wheat pesto pasta is a healthy-ish one you’ll still down, along with cooked broccoli, berries, and clementines (by the half-dozen or so, but who couldn’t?).

Favorite Movies: I just asked you and you said, TARZAN. No…. Sleeping Beauty. TARZAN. Tow White! (snow white, of course.) You LOVE movies. You do NOT, however, like tv shows. You must have the same nauseous nostalgia that I have to noggin from my first trimester with you or something. I can’t blame you--- but you and Sophia have very different television choices, and that’s a little annoying. (But I’m on your side, I’d rather hear the classic Disney movies in my house over Dora’s voice ANY day.) You learn plenty without Dora’s help. Tarzan really is one you ask for most days--- you like the original and the zoogor one. And that’s what we call it… “the zoogor one.” I love watching you in the rear view mirror as you try desperately to catch the words to Phil Collin’s song and avidly throw in every third or so (JOURNEY…. Nad …d. .ddd …d.d.d.. TAKING …. nadadadada….THINGS WILL COME TO YOU IN TIIIIIIMMMMMMMMMEEEE! (gotta know the song.) Sleeping Beauty, however? You know every word and have been singing that song since before you were REALLY talking. Seriously. I wish I’d written it down, but I’m pretty sure that some of your first words were a perfectly in-tune “I KNOW YOU”… that’s all you did for a while--- now it’s the whole thing—but “that gleam in your eyes is so familiar a gleam” is more like “a leam in your EYES is so a millie a me.” It’s all rather precious.

Favorite Words: All of them. You are SO vocal and you CONSTANTLY amaze me. I can’t think of anything you can’t tell me. A couple of months ago, you still did a lot of the sentence fillers like “I nananddaana Sawyer’s house.” But now you fill up those sentences like you’re a regular little person. “Mom can you rolla my window so I can see the birdies”….. “ no--- too hot--- the sun is in my eyes—rolla back UP.” That was a little conversation from this morning. I’m afraid for you to get older--- I don’t ever want to stop hearing THIS voice, out of your little body, saying these things, right now--- “I’m shaking my booty mommy”… “I missed you SOOO much mommy”, “I’m getting married in the temple mommy” (after putting your blanket over your head like a veil)…. I could listen to you forever.

Favorite Animal: Hand’s down--- doggies. You always loved them, it was one of your first words, then I bought you the cute, soft Ikea dog and you two were inseparable. So much so that it caused some serious problems when I had to throw him in the wash after a bad night involving some foul smelling explosion. You would scream for for him even after I told you he had poopoo on him. “I want my poopy doggy!” So I got you another one. They say you should get dogs in twos anyway so they have a buddy right? Well you quickly realized you had two and demanded to sleep with both of them. This didn’t help with the occasional poopy doggy problem. Now they were both exposed. Luckily the midnight explosion was a phase and it hasn’t been much of a problem lately. Even still, we went to Ikea this past weekend and since you couldn’t go in the kid’s zone with Sophia, I decided to temper your fit with a GIANT doggie. Same dog—new and improved size. You love your giant doggie… and of course, you now sleep with all three. There’s barely room for you in there and that’s just how you like it. Oh and before every nap, we peek out the blinds to see if the neighbor’s REAL three doggies (we call them big, medium, and little tiny) are taking their nap. It’s like your cue that it’s alright to go to sleep. You love dogs.

Favorite Parent: No really--- it’s a real category--- and right now, it’s me. :) Soon enough, you'll figure out that daddy is way more fun. So I'll enjoy it while it lasts. I don’t think Sophia was quite as much of a mama’s girl. You love me and snuggle me and kiss me and call for me “mommy I NEEEEEEED you” all the time. Every time we’re apart for a little while (kid’s club at the gym, nursery at church etc… you run to me and say with those pouty lips “I missed you SOO much mommy, I missed you SO much.” I melt.

Favorite Friend: Sawyer. He lives right behind us which is SO nice and he’s all gentlemen. You’ve got great taste. He lets you have most of what you want and understands when you’re moody or even violent. What a guy. There’s a good chance he’ll be smaller than you as you grow up--- but that’s going to be the case with most boys thanks to your giant parents. Sorry. You’ll learn to appreciate it…. In college if not before.

Favorite DEMANDS: Fruit snacks! Movie! Chocolate milk! Bath! Princesses! These requests are always made with serious passion.

And just a few areas where you’re trying your best to test me: *church--- oh boy. Thank goodness you’re great at going in to nursery, but I never knew that hour and 10 minutes of Sacrament meeting could feel so long. It’s at 1 o’clock this year. In the afternoon. It’s like they decided they had to test the faith of young couples and what better way than seeing if they’d still come to church toting around monstrous, un-napped toddlers. You’re noisy and wild from the moment we step foot in the chapel. And I constantly have people commenting to me after the meeting… “wow--- glad I’m past that stage” “wow, thanks for making me feel better--- I thought mine were bad.” You’re lucky you’re cute. Because you’re loud and proud, miss Mila. *Also- you stink at sharing. But you’re getting better… it’s hard to be two and share your red car. *You usually want whatever your sister has, at the moment she has it. This proposes a problem if there’s only one. Especially the Ariel princess with the fin that can’t stand, not the one in the dress, or the one with the fin that DOES stand. No no. You know what you want. And if you want it--- it’s yours. Duh.

THANK YOU for taking good long naps and sleeping consistently solid 11-12 hour nights for most of your life so far. I have been blessed.
–Thank you for not figuring out how to climb out of your crib after you climbed out of your playpen. I was scared.
-Thank you for having such a wildly funny sense of humor at 2 and making silly faces and annoying but funny noises just to make me or daddy or Sophia laugh.
-Thank you for dancing with the cutest little round-bodied rhythm I’ve ever seen.
-Thank you for giving me the snuggles to push through any sleep-deprived day, and the lippy smooch of a skilled kisser.
-Thank you for promising you’ll keep those kisses for family only ‘till your 20.
-Thank you for loving your sister so much that you throw a gnarly FIT every time we drop her at Kate’s to play after school. My heart aches when you beg for her. Luckily it’s nothing a little left-over Halloween candy can’t fix.
-Thank you---THANK YOU for making this family as complete as it could possibly be right now. We are so thankful that Heavenly Father sent you our way. You are exquisite…..

Love,
Mama