Dear Kenna,

Dear Kenna,

My goodness, I can't believe it.  You're two.  I've been so nostalgic all day thinking about everything that was happening at this time two years ago.  You cried so hard when you came into the world.  You were so mad but only for a little bit.  By the time you were carried over to me you were calm and quiet.  You just had to make yourself known.  That's been the trend with you much of the time.  You make sure we know if you're hurt or sad or have a need we can fix.  But once we know and we hug and kiss you, it's usually all better pretty quickly.  

You've had quite the year, Miss Kenna.  You've grown and learned so much.  You talk SO much.  Last year it was just a word or two and now you've got complete sentences.  You love to learn new words and parrot like a pro.  Just a couple of days ago I made some poppyseed bread for an after school snack and after you had a piece you wanted "mo mo pease?"  I tried to distract you and said, "Let's have a banana first, okay?"  You stopped for a minute, and said, "First....and THEN I will have more cake!"  And in that little pause I saw your mind working out, "Hey, I know what 'first' means now and I'm gonna use it!"  Your little mind is so quick and your dad and I both love to watch the wheels spinning behind those beautiful chocolate eyes of yours.

You're getting much better at being patient with your sister.  You've got a pretty quick temper sometimes and learning to share or take turns is SO hard when you're little.  But you're figuring out that hitting and pulling hair hurts.  You're usually the one dishing out the smacks between the two of you but a couple of times lately I've watched you be so quick to regret your swats and apologize and hug Taryn right away because you feel sorry that you had a mean impulse.  It's actually pretty impressive to see one so little start to understand empathy even a little bit.  You and your sister can talk and sing across the room from your cribs.  You can hold hands and dance and snuggle up briefly to share a book.  You're still pretty independent but those moments when there's an unprompted hug or snug are becoming more frequent.  You two love each other and you just get each other.  You know how to push each other's buttons but you also know how to comfort each other and that makes my momma heart smile.  You're so very lucky to have each other.  You love your brothers too and it's sweet to see you play with them and seek their approval.  They both adore you and it makes them so happy when you say their names or give them hugs, or see them off on the bus to school.

You can be a little stickler for the rules.  You try to make sure that Taryn is not getting into trouble and you run to tell me when she is...unless you're joining her.  I was around the corner the other day when I overheard this conversation between the two of you:

Kenna: "Teh-in a tubble?"  Taryn, are you getting in trouble?

Taryn: "Yeah"

Kenna: "Dit down." (Taryn was on a chair getting into my diaper bag)

Taryn: "Okay"

I think there's something about having responsibility and being in charge that really makes you happy.  You've started saying, "I help you!  I help you!" several times a day.  You love to stir things and wipe things and do any little part of a job I'll let you do.  You take such pride in helping.  It's darling.

You LOVE music.  You've always perked up when you hear music but this year you've started dancing and singing.  Your favorite is probably "tuppins a bag" (feed the birds from Mary Poppins) but you also know all the words to "Sing-a Wain" and "Do way meeee" and "cuckoo" (So Long, Farewell).  But honestly, I think if we listened to any song for very long you'd pick it up and fall in love with it.  You love to sing and prompt us to applaud after a phrase and the smile on your face when we tell you it's beautiful would make flowers bloom.  It's so sunny!

You're a pretty good eater but I think you're getting pickier as you get older.  You and your sister have wanted to be more independent and eating more big kid food way sooner than your brothers did.  Probably because you see them eating normal food and you KNOW there's a difference!  You're pretty good with fruit but don't like many vegetables.  You chew up and spit out food you don't like very much.  You favorites are probably pancakes, pizza, bananas, and maybe raisins.  If something looks or smells too different we can't even bribe you to put it in your mouth. 

You've been introduced to a couple of shows for little kids this year!  That's the tricky thing with being the littlest.  Usually if we're watching TV, which isn't very often, it's something the boys like.  And as a result, for the most part you haven't been interested in TV yet.  But this year you've really liked "Little Einsteins".  You call it "Pat Pat" because they pat their legs to get rocket to fly.  You answer the questions and follow the characters directions.  It's adorable.  And most recently you've discovered "Elsa Anna" (Frozen).  You really like Frozen and you'd watching it every day if we'd let you.

You've been all over the place this year.  We traveled to Spain, Dubai, the USA, Italy, Greece, Croatia, Austria, and then Disney World just a couple of weeks ago.  This year traveling has been an entirely different challenge with two moving toddlers.  You don't love staying in your stroller for long periods of time.  You don't nap well or for very long when we're out and about all day.   You're getting tricky to feed while we're out and about.  For the first year it was all formula and a few small things but now you're eating real food and you have many opinions about which foods you want!  And there's something going on with you and your sister getting sick while we're on vacation.  Either we've just had rotten luck during our last two vacations, or you and your sis get motion sickness or maybe you just get sick when you're super tired.  I don't know but our trip before Christmas to Austria and after Christmas to Disney World were riddled with random vomiting.  Hopefully that trend doesn't continue because it's super stressful to have little ones not feeling well when we're out of our element and we're not sure what's wrong. 

You loved being around your cousins and family in Disney World.  It was fun to see you old enough to play with them a little more.  You adore your cousin, Senny and couldn't leave her be.  You reacted to Uncle Cody's teasing and flirted with Uncle Trevan and snuggled up to your Aunties.  You take just a minute to warm up to people but once you do you can be a total ham.  You're so funny when you're showing off on facetime or in person.  Your little personality is just bursting with fun.  You love girly things.  Toy makeup, jewelry, princesses and sparkles and twirling in dresses all make you light up and it's just so cute.

You can be a little sass and you're learning to throw a first rate tantrum.  You know how to scream really loudly and when you throw yourself on the floor with so much drama I just can't keep the giggles back.  Luckily they're mostly when you're tired or when you're trying to tell me something very important and I'm not understanding it quickly enough.  Most of the time you're a pretty happy little miss.  

You LOVE being outside.  You love swimming or "riding your bike" which means pushing some sort of little vehicle around the cul-de-sac while your brothers are riding.  You love going to parks and climbing and sliding.  You're a very active, physical little lady.

You love stories and whenever I'm sitting down you'll hurry to get a book and sit with me.  Finn and I do a little reading time every morning and it's so tricky sometimes when you just want to be right in the middle of it.  You're a little monkey just climbing all over us while he's trying to look around you to get a glimpse of the words he has to read.

Kenna girl I can't believe you're already two years old!  You were so tiny.  You and your sister were such teensy little babies.  I'd never seen anything so small before and I couldn't believe how much my heart just swelled with love for these two tiny people.  You're a strong, smart, lovely little person.  I love you so much it's just unreal.  I didn't have any idea how much fun it would be to be the mom of two little girls but it's such a dream.  It's busier and has way more ups an downs than it did before, but man, I love being your mom, Kenna.  I love watching your mind work and seeing you learn how to direct that spunk and spice of yours and love with your enormous heart.  

I love you so much.  And while I wish time would slow down a little bit, I'm also really excited to see what happens next because, little lady, you are going to light up the world.

The world is yours, little birthday princess.

Love,

Mom