{Thank you for checking in on our “Letters to my Children” blog circle! If you are here visiting from Miss Freddy’s blog, welcome! This is a personal project and a way to share my thoughts with my own children.  I will be updating this blog with a letter to one or both of my children monthly. Along with me are some other lovely ladies who are taking on the same project, check out Beth’s letter to her children!}

Before I get into this months letter, I have a PSA for all you mama’s out there. For Maisie’s second birthday, I knew I wanted to go out and take some special photos of just her…I even picked out a dress months ago for the occasion! So, with our busy days and evenings, we finally took the chance to get it done last night…rather last minute.  After dinner we headed out. I was in my yoga pants, no make-up and desperately in need of a shower, but this wasn’t a photoshoot for me so it didn’t matter, right? Well, towards the end of our shoot Maisie and I were playing and I was making her laugh, and Dan kept clicking. At first I was not enthusiastic about it and hoped he was cropping me out of the frame…I have a long list of insecurities that I won’t bore you with, because we all have them.  But after a few seconds I had a thought, this little, tiny amazing child loves me with every fiber of her being, and as you will read in a moment, she is my #1 fan. She doesn’t care that I don’t have any makeup on, or my hair is more salt than pepper these days. And the man behind the camera? Inexplicably, he thinks I am beautiful and tells me so every single day. The older I become, the more our own mortality weighs on me, and someday…be it 5 years from now or 50…I want there to be photos to document the love we had in our family. Please, if you are thinking “I’ll book a session once I lose 20 pounds” or “Once I have the money to buy a nicer outfit” or “After I get my hair done”. STOP. Please stop waiting to be perfect, because it just won’t matter in the end. In the end, what will matter is the loving connection documented for all time, not your flawless skin or perfectly coordinated outfits. Sure, it’s nice… I am human too, and ideally, I want to look gorgeous in all photos taken of myself. But that is just not what matters to the people who really, really love me.

OK, off my soapbox. Carry on.

My Sweet Maisie,

This month you turned TWO years old! I know it is cliché to say, “I can’t believe it!”, but of course it is true and the simultaneous slow and fast passing of time is something all mothers can relate to.  At your first birthday I thought to myself, in one year she will  be talking in complete sentences and moving so much faster than she does today. All came true as I predicted, but you have far surpassed my expectations! Yes, you are a chatter box just as your brother was at this age, so that was not a surprise to me. But, you are also SO smart! You know and correctly identify many different colors, you have started to try and count and identify letters, and maybe this is all normal 2 year old development…but as your mother, I just figure you are a baby genius (hey, it’s every mama’s prerogative!).

You are also developing your own funny little sense of humor. Yesterday we were playing with your toy horse and I asked you “What does a horse say?” and you laughed and said “Ruff”. Now, you have known for months what a horse says…so you were being extra silly and purposely answering incorrectly to make me laugh. It was pretty funny to watch you play a trick on me like that and we both giggled a lot over it and teased like that awhile. I can’t wait to share many, many laughs with you as you continue to grow into your own little personality.

You have an odd fascination with the “black car”, our Mercury Milan that Daddy drives to work. You have for months now asked almost daily to go bye, bye “in the black car”. And, sometimes you are so insistent that if we start to get into the Silver Montero you get quite upset! And, in general, you love trucks, cars, trains and tractors! You are always sneaking into Quincy’s room and stealing matchbox cars, not something that he is usually to happy about!

Since the summer started it has been much, much more difficult to get you to take naps and go to sleep at night. Usually, we will peek in and find you asleep on the floor with the rug over you like a blanket, and once I peeked in to wake you up from your nap to find you curled up on top of the changing table. Then there was the time I opened the door to get a blast of heat…you climbed atop the changing table and turned the thermostat up all the way. No wonder you didn’t sleep…it was like a sauna in there! I have mostly stopped trying to clean up your room, because another favorite “Naptime pastime” is to unload everything from your drawers, shelves and changing table…and if you find an open container of baby powder? Then it’s a REALLY great day! *sigh*

You are really such an easy going girl, which I love. Most toddlers say “No” the most…but you say “Yes” and “Sure” more than anything, bless your heart. If I ask you to do something you are almost always game to do it.  And even when you aren’t, it doesn’t usually take too much to get you to either change your mind or just get over it altogether.  And really, this flexibility in life will get you far, so I hope you are always so easy going – of course, not at your own expense!

And finally, you are 1000% a mama’s girl. I have conflicting feelings about this to be honest.  Sometimes I think it’s kinda funny, and sweet that you want me ALL.THE.TIME. You stand at my feet with your arms extended up and say “I hold you” in your tiny, little voice.  But sometimes, I need to make dinner…and your refusal to even be close to daddy is not terribly convenient.  Will I miss these times someday? Absolutely. Is it always awesome right now? Not really.

So, little one… I can only imagine what the next year holds for you and I have vague ideas of what to expect, but I am certain you will both surprise and delight me over the course of the next year and throughout your entire life.

I love you my sweet daughter,

Mommy.

P.S. I am including a photo of you getting mad at me during our “2 year” photoshoot with you…because, it’s pretty on point, but don’t worry, as always…you rebounded quite quickly!