Dear Taryn,
Oh Tarynie my little pipsqueak I love you so. I can't believe you're already three! This year has been a big year. You and your sister have been two years old and all the it implies and it's been loud and passionate and crazy. Thankfully there are also moment of sweet snuggles, sweet interactions with siblings, and glimpses of deep, good, strong, roots. We love you two little crazies in all your exhausting, ear-covering, patience-trying glory.
This year of your life you've traveled to Sri Lanka, Kuwait, Germany, France, and the U.S., Bahrain, and Saudi. Your dad and I have figured out that you and your sister get motion sickness which causes vomit on long car rides. You also get sick when you're over-tired. If we miss a nap, or are even late for a nap, if we have a hard over-night flight, we're pretty much guaranteed to see vomit out of at least one of you. In the car, in the airport, in a restaurant or store. It doesn't matter. If we've pushed you too hard, it pretty much always ends in throw up.
You had a great time in Sri Lanka. We spent a lot of time at the beach which you loved. You were crazy brave at the beach. You love swimming. You're a little more hesitant about getting all the way under the surface than your sister but I think you're a little braver in the waves of the ocean. We did have one incident at the sea turtle hatchery. The man in charge handed you a baby sea turtle. Little 2-year-old you all by yourself while Dad was helping Kenna and I was taking some pictures of the boys. You were a little worried about it but thought it was cute until it twitched its flipper and then you threw it up in the air out of fear. It fell pretty hard and swam just a little slower after that. Eesh we felt so bad, but you just panicked and it's funny now!
Our Christmas trip to Germany and France was pretty rough. You and Kenna were really out of sorts. You wanted to be carried all the time, and even though you're a teensy little peanut, you still get heavy after a long day. And you only wanted your Daddy to carry you. No one else. So many tantrums and so much screaming. You wanted nothing to do with Auntie Mallo which broke her heart. I think all the changes of traveling finally caught up to you and it was just too much. Luckily, you warmed up a lot once we got back to our own house and your own room. It's made your Dad and I very thoughtful about how much traveling we can do and how to make sure you ladies feel safe and stable while we're on the move.
You're still sleepy and ready for nap time every day. You often tell us, "I'm so tired. I need to go to bed." You've always been sleepier than Kenna but lately you've been waking up in the mornings before Kenna. You sit in bed around 6 every day no matter what time we get you to bed and yell "I want to get out. I want to get out." And you'll keep yelling it until we come get you out.
You and your sister get along beautifully most of the time. You know how to tease your siblings but you don't do it unless we're busy getting things done like practicing or cooking meals and you're not getting enough attention. You and your sister have done a lot of vocal strengthening this year. Your screams are well-practiced. It's been a very different year 2 than we had with either of your brothers. When you play together nicely, holding hands while "dancing" (running in a circle until you fall down or hit something), singing songs, pretending to be characters, it's just magical. We put you two in big girl beds right before Christmas and we've had to start putting Kenna in Finn's bed across the hall for nap time because you both sleep for hours still but if we have you in the same room during nap time you just can't stop talking to each other.
You're a pretty persnickety eater. Your dad and I often ponder how you're surviving day to day on how little you eat. You pretty much always eat pineapple, melons, apples, bananas, pears, certain chicken nuggets, macaroni and cheese. Sometimes you'll eat eggs, turkey, pancakes, french toast, strawberries. You don't like tomatoes, most chicken, never bread. You'll lick the peanut butter off the sandwiches but don't want the bread. You have a major sweet tooth but unfortunately you're not usually interested in bribery. If you try something and then change your mind you just spit it right out on your plate. You LOVE to help in the kitchen. Almost every morning I get you and your sister up and before I can even get to the kitchen you've climbed on the counter to help me with the shake. You love pushing buttons, dumping ingredients, and you take great pride in telling people that you helped make something.
You love an opportunity to help people with anything. You were SO excited when I said you were old enough to help clean the toilet. You could hardly stand how happy you were to put on a glove and wipe down a toilet. You love to hand out the vitamins in the morning and you've taken a lot of pride this year in the phrase, "I can do it. I can do it." Feeling big and needed and important means a lot to you.
You've been sick a lot this year. If someone in our family is sick, you always catch it. You've been in the hospital a couple of times just because we can't get you to stop throwing up long enough to keep you hydrated. It's scary because you get so limp and you're so teensy. Luckily they take good care of you and a visit always gets things turned around.
You love to snuggle and be held when you're feeling low or tired or sick. You're also good for a full body squeeze when you're really happy. Christmas was so fun this year. You were SO grateful and happy and kept telling everyone, "Oh thank you SO much! You're the BEST!" You're becoming more affectionate which has been SO nice. You're still very shy and standoffish with non-family members but you love our crew. It's a big problem if you're not out of your booster seat in the morning to hug and wave to your brothers when they get on the bus. My favorite thing you say is, "You're the best mom EVER!" Which comes out when I do something you love like announce a park trip or give you a treat. Every once in a while your little teensy voice gets so excited that the only way to describe it is that it sounds like all caps. SO full of happy! Of course, you also have a pretty serious all caps angry voice. You often tell us off by saying something like, "And you will not EVER EVER DO THAT TO ME AGAIN!" As if you're the boss of the world, and my brushing your hair was the most horrible crime that has ever occurred. Sometimes I laugh. Sometimes it makes me a little flustered how boldly you sass me. You and your sister are going to push us like crazy but we hope we can eventually help you learn how to use kinder voices, even when you're frustrated and to be respectful and nice as a first instinct. I love your strength. Your passion and frustration sometimes seem to just blast from your little body like you just can't keep it in. It's resulted in some epic stubborn tantrums this year. We know better than to get in a stubborn-off with you. You win every time. You're gonna need that toughness in this crazy world. We just gotta fine tune it a little bit.
You're go through phases of getting into trouble every single time you're out of sight. Stealing brothers candy from valentines or stockings or halloween (that sweet tooth), climbing on chairs to get to pens or scissors without permission, coloring with marker or pencil on every single piano key, putting a penny in the cracks of the piano keys, or my personal favorite, trying to shove all my belts into the AC intake vent. You're constantly thinking. It's kind of genius the ideas you come up with. Sometimes I wish they weren't all geared toward what seems to be just trying to be naughty. But again, fine tuning.
Little T, you are a marvel. I love you so much. You've got so much happening in that tiny body and brain of yours and I honestly can't wait to see what you're going to do. It's gonna be big. This year has been a bit crazy and I'm doing my best to mother you and your sister. I'm still very new to this twin momma thing and I think I'll be scrambling to figure it out your whole lives. But I love you two so much and I can't imagine what we would be like without you. You are a busy, strong, energetic little peanut. I'm so glad I get to be your Momma. I'm trying my best to help you recognize and grow all the amazing things you are.
I love you to pieces, little T-cup.
The world is yours, sweet girl.
Love,
Mom
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