TWO.

Our chunky, squashy newborn with the rubber band wrists is no longer. These is no baby in this household anymore. Because this baby girl is TWO:

At two, Annika is a wonder. She runs everywhere. She loves horses and dogs and dolls and fire trucks and Legos. She sings and dances frequently. She loves to watch football, and gets very angry and yells "MORE BRONCOS!" whenever a commercial comes on. She is obsessed with her brother and wants to do everything he does. She is very physical and loves to jump and horse around. If she falls down and hurts herself, you can usually avert the meltdown by saying, "Can you say..." and her face will light up and she will shout, "BOINK!" She is so, so happy, nearly all of the time.

She talks up a storm. She says four-word sentences, has her "me/I" and "you" pronouns down (alas), uses subjects and verbs correctly, and has just in the last day or two started figuring out to invert subject and verb to ask a question (this morning she asked me, "Can you help me?"). She has very firm opinions on every topic (also this morning, when I went in her room I said "happy birthday!" and she said "NO HAPPY BIRTHDAY"--but changed her tune after opening a couple gifts). If you ask her if she's a muffin, she will loudly say, "No, I a NUT NUT BEAR." She sang "happy birthday" to herself all the way to preschool today.

She is a creature of habit, and likes her routine, but is getting better and better at rolling with the punches. We have learned that she needs to be informed about things in advance so that she has time to process--not just that bedtime or whatever is in a few minutes, but also what is going to happen over the course of the day, especially anything out of the ordinary. Armed with that information, though, she can handle everything, but is definitely a verbal processor, as we will hear her talking about any upcoming plans or changes in routine pretty much nonstop.

Her hair is definitely curly. Her eye color is still undetermined... they are not as blue as they once were, and seem to be turning to green or gray or maybe hazel? She remains near the top of the charts for size. She always wants to pick out her own clothes and her own bowl and spoon, and put the top on her milk cup herself. She loves to be a helper and she's surprisingly efficient at cleaning up. She has a little conscience, and knows when she's doing something wrong (yesterday I found her holding an iPad and when I walked in, she jumped guiltily, put it down, and said, "No iPad. Callum's iPad"). She also has a little sense of humor, and laughs hysterically after she tells her toddler jokes, or after anyone else has a bodily function of any kind. She says "bless you!" when people sneeze or cough or hiccup. She is sensitive, and if she gets scolded her giant eyes will well up with tears and her face will fall and she will run sobbing into my arms for a hug. If she is playing roughly and you ask her to give gentle touches, she will softly stroke the person's hair before immediately returning to her roughhousing. She loves to give hugs and kisses, and will request them frequently and then lay her little curly head on your shoulder and snuggle in.

She is a pure delight. Happy birthday to our big girl.