happy birthday, sweet goo

just so you know. this is long. and serious. not a lot of funny. grab a snack and a beverage and sit back and relax. or go tend to your household chores.

goo. i love you so much. seriously? two? is that possible? and am i dorky for using "mom statements" like 'how has the time gone by so fast?'

i can remember the day you arrived like it was yesterday. we didn't know if you were a boy or girl. and oh my, the minute they said 'girl,' i cried such tears of joy. i was thrilled. and then, i saw you. gorgeous. daddy and mommy's friend weentrab were there to witness your arrival.

and we brought you home. and we have been smitten with you ever since.

this year has been such a big year for you. in november, you had surgery to correct the muscles in your eyes. what a trooper. surprisingly, it was one of the best moments i have had with you. daddy and big h went to run errands after we brought you home, and you and i just cuddled for hours under a blanket while i texted everyone i could think of to inform them of your recovery. and then we cuddled some more.

february was a scary time. you took a fall right into the fireplace and busted your head open. we took you to the ER where they 'glued' your forehead. seriously, goo, they GLUED your forehead. modern medicine.

several weeks after that, dr. g suggested we take you to have a head CT to rule out any head trauma. OH MY. i don't think mommy and daddy have ever been so scared. they sedated you, and we really loved and trusted all who were with you. you did fine. and the results came back totally normal. praise Jesus!

and several weeks after that, you had tubes put in your ears. goo, you are such a trooper. what a wonderful fighting spirit you have. they said it went fine. and you have yet to have an ear infection since. (well, except for the one you got the day after surgery. we STILL don't get that.)

then, you had some strange things go on. you were NOT sleeping at night. and you have always been a great sleeper. first, it was the ear infection. then, it was your two year molars. but we couldn't ever figure out what was wrong. we finally decided to take you off milk. and guess what? that did the trick. we even took you to a chiropractor against the advice of so many. we felt good about our decision. you loved it. we took you several times. we really noticed more of a difference with the elimination of milk, however, so we stopped seeing the chiropractor. and ever since then, you have not been to the doctor. little miracles that we are making sure we thank God for.

goo, you are the light of our lives. big h LOVES you. he doesn't, however, care for when you play with his team geotrax. he does this strange jump up and down move that means he is REALLY unhappy. and you are totally oblivious. what's funny is that you stop playing with his stuff after about two minutes anyway, so we're still not sure why he gets so upset.

this summer has been fun for us. you took swim lessons, and you loved walking the big float and jumping off. you held your breath when you and i put our faces (and bodies) under water. but you'd still rather walk around the pool in a very dangerous way and eat snacks by the stairs.

ever since you started walking, you have been an accident constantly waiting to happen. literally. one bump after another. more skinned knees than your brother. but your ability to bounce back is truly remarkable. hoss.

goo, your personality has really come alive. you are either really, really happy or aloof. for a while, we had to work at getting you to smile. but now. oh man. your smiles light up a room. you love to say cheese, which is weird because i try my best NOT to have you or your brother say cheese. hmmm...

we have had ECI (early childhood intervention) coming out to our house for the past six months for speech therapy. at your eighteen month checkup, dr. g recommended it. we had ECI with your brother two different times (one for not crawling until late and one for his speech), so we were very familiar with the program. our early intervention specialist is leaving to go teach school, and she whispered under her breath on her last visit, "i don't think your daughter is developmentally delayed. i think her personality is such that she just doesn't want to talk." i laughed so hard. you do things in your own time. and you are adamant about it.

you are starting to say so many more things. nothing like what's going to be on dr. g's "scale," but we are proud nonetheless. you say big h's name perfectly. it is your first word out of bed either in the morning or right after your nap.

you wake up around 7:15 and lay in your bed reading books or playing with your baby tad until about 7:45 or 8. (there are so many moms reading this that will stop talking to me.) big h goes in your room and says, "hi goo. how was your rest?" he says it in the sweetest of voices. but i have to admit. you light up when i come around the corner. i get the biggest hug, and we walk into mommy's room. all three of us pile under mommy's covers and watch an episode of curious george. you love it. we all cuddle and play footsie.

we head in the living room where your brother INSISTS on having breakfast. you? yeah, you don't care. really, if you could have your dream breakfast, i'd serve you up a pile of bacon and sausage and some fruit (blueberries, cherries, grapes, and plums). and some orange juice. definitely orange juice. but you'd eat us out of house and home if we had enough bacon to do so.

i'd like to say you're not a sweets girl. but c'mon. you like dibs ice cream bites, little halloween-sized snickers, and nerds. yes, nerds. and the best part? you'd prefer to eat nerds out of a bowl with a spoon. it's not that there are that many. but i guess you figure you'll get the most at a time with a spoon. you're my kind of girl.

hurch on sundays is hard. first of all, it's been so fun to dress you in little smocked outfits and dresses that are monogrammed. and white mary janes. and now bows. surprisingly, i LOVE bows. i know. in twenty years, we'll both laugh about that together. but we get you and big h some form of pastry from starbucks on the way to church. that's your weekend treat. you love it. we walk into church and you and big h have a great time walking in together, holding hands. (you LOVE holding hands with big h.) when we get to your class, you start crying. hard cries. they pry you out of my arms. and i walk away, and it breaks my heart. but i come to get you, and they always say you have so much fun. last weekend, you walked in with big h, and you were wearing his diego sunglasses. you walked right into your class, and didn't cry. not one bit. your teachers said you kept those glasses on the entire hour and a half. whatever works, sister.

you normally take a two hour nap during the nap anywhere from noon until three. when you nap, i take a shower and pick up the house, and big h and i have our own quiet times. if he's had a good day, and he's behaved well, he gets to play some computer games at the end of quiet time. one of your (and his) favorite things to do is sit next to him in the chair while he plays computer games. when you wake up, i go and get you and you call out his name. i take you in, and you guys sit together for about thirty minutes. and he explains what he's doing with each game. man, that kid is in love with you. consider that SUCH a compliment.

as far as food, you LOVE fruit, pasta, hot dogs, and cheese. but you are willing to try ANYTHING, which is so fun for me. seeing as how your brother basically eats chicken nuggets and any other carb. and won't touch anything else with a ten-foot pole. you tried a popsicle today, and you loved it. i loved watching you eat it.

you say your brother's name the best out of ALL of your words. and there is a reason for that. you are his best friend, and he is yours. when someone (usually big h) is sad, you say with a serious face, "ohh. uh-hay. uh-hay."

some of your other words are: juice, shoes, nye-nye, bye-bye, i YUH (i love you -- you say it SO LOUD while squeezing the person as tight as possible), choo choo, truck, all the animals in word world, ouch, toe, papa (shhh...don't tell nana, grandma, or grandpa), baby, doll, doo doo (thank you -- my personal favorite), amen, pees (please), and OH NO (said extraordinarily loud). there are definitely more, but these are the ones i love to hear.

you haven't been in a high chair in so long. it's fun having our little family of four sitting together at the table. but you are a bit of a stinker because you get down pretty soon after eating. you're not one to linger for the after-dinner conversation.

after dinner, we head to the bath. daddy says you give him fits about getting in. but surprisingly, once i come into the bathroom, you're good to go. i can't tell you how much i love our relationship. i have to say -- you seem to be a mama's girl. and i LOVE it. you do NOT like to have your hair washed because we have to put in your ear plugs to do so. funny, because you do fine with going swimming. interesting. quirky. when you get out of the bath, you always choose either your duck towel or your kitty towel.

we all go into big h's room and get jammies on. you NEVER lay down to have your diaper or clothes put on anymore. haven't in a while. we either all build lego stuff for a while and then read stories. or we read several stories. or we watch big h's story time theater. when it's finished, you grab your "muh" (pink blankie) and walk towards me, so i can pick you up and take you into your room. and when we leave his room, you wave to daddy and big h and say "nigh nigh."

you and i go into your room, where it is REALLY DARK, we pray and then i lay you in your bed. while baby tad sings (for six minutes), you and i giggle. sometimes i pretend to dance with muh. sometimes i count your toes. sometimes i kiss them a lot. sometimes (when you're really tired), i just stroke your legs and hair. and you bite the silky parts of your muh (which, by the way, smells really, really bad). and i shut the door. and that's it. you sleep until the next morning.

goo. you are a dream come true. you are a sweet loving little girl. you share with big h, which is remarkable. you hug all the time. you give big wet slobbery kisses. when you pretend play, all of your dolls are giving each other hugs and saying, "ohhh."

in about a month and a half, you'll be going to big h's school one day a week. you are going to be so excited. of course, not so excited on the days you won't go to school, but we'll have to drop him off. oh well. we'll cross that bridge when we come to it.

on a random note, it's well documented how much i love your third toe on your left foot. it sticks up above the rest. there. i've said it. some things that dad just added:

• you always take something besides your muh wherever you go (mall, bed, etc.). the other day it was a shovel.


• you have a way of finding any writing utensil in the house. it's uncanny, really.


• you like to sit in your chair and say, "SHOW" really loud with a huge smile when you're ready to watch something with big h.


• you can create enough saliva to make your muh drip when we wring it out.


• you like to come with me to get the mail, even though you say "ouch" the entire time because you never take the time to put on shoes.


• you'll never need to own a curling iron because your hair defies gravity.


• you have a dimple.


• like me, you've never made it through a day without staining a white shirt. and i continue to buy them.

i really want to write more. but these people reading this? they have other things to do.

i love you, goo. you make me happy every day. i praise God for you every day. all three of us do.