Our Little Bird is Two

A week ago today, Aveline turned two. It is amazing to me how such a little person can make such a huge impact. I thought things seemed pretty perfect when Jarrett and I were newly married. Then we got the cutest puppy in the world, and things seemed even better. Then we had Elsa and things seemed like they couldn't get much more perfect. But then we had Aveline. Now our family is perfect and complete (well, obviously nothing is absolutely perfect, but it is close), and I cannot imagine what things would be like without that little pot of sunshine around. (And the poor dog has taken a backseat, poor Merckx.)

I know I have mentioned it before, if not many times, but all I ever hear is how happy a child it seems Avie is. Single people and young marrieds have exclaimed that if they could ensure they would have a baby just like Avie, they would have one tomorrow. Moms with multiple children have asked to keep her after watching her for an afternoon. The child's smile is contagious. And she is truly a light in this world.

Now, don't get me wrong. She certainly has her moments, especially as she is standing firm in toddlerhood. If she has her mind set on something and she doesn't get her way, you will hear about it. Avie can throw a pretty amazing tantrum. And she is in that hilarious (or not so hilarious) stage where she thinks it is a fabulous idea to injure herself if she is supremely upset about something, whether it be whack her head on the wood floor or her face on the edge of the wooden play kitchen (the latter was tested out this evening). The best part is that if you sit her down in timeout somewhere, she will actually stay there until you tell her "Okay, timeout is over."

At two, she is talking a lot -- not in complete sentences, really, but she has a lot of words, and I can understand the majority of what she is trying to say. Words like "flah-fers" now sound much more like "flowers," which makes me a little sad. Her favorite book is any Richard Scarry book she can get her hands on, especially Cars and Trucks and Things that Go. That was (and those were) a favorite of Elsa's at this age too. Her favorite song is "Jesus Loves Me," with "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star" coming in a close second. She doesn't care much at all for television, though shows slightly more interest in Sesame Street and asks to watch "George" on my phone, which really means that she wants to watch just the intro to the Curious George show. Her favorite animals seem to be elephants and rhinoceroses. Her favorite color is pink.

She still adores her big sister, though also enjoys tormenting her at times, so I have to keep my eye out for that! This is what often keeps her in timeout. She wants to do whatever Elsa is doing, and enjoys copying her. It's probably because of Elsa that she has learned a number of colors and can be heard counting in the correct order, as where I actually sat down and spent time showing these things to Elsa, I feel like I never get around to doing so with Avie.

Aveline still loves riding in the stroller and, now, her new tricycle, which has a handle on the back of it so we can push her. She even enjoys wearing her new "helmick," otherwise known as a "helmet." She wants to try to get into the carseat all by herself and sometimes resists being buckled in (usually because she thinks her baby doll should be buckled in instead), but overall does fairly well in the car.

She is more of a picky eater lately, though will then surprise us by liking something like spicy salsa. With her eyes watering and a request for a drink, she will still ask for "more." Crazy girl. Her favorite food for now seems to be cooked broccoli. She will ask for seconds and thirds... and fourths. She loves milk. And she prefers ice in her water, thank you very much. If she doesn't want something, she will say, "No thank you," in the sweetest little voice.

Avie still is super attached to Mommy's Shirt, and still wants Hop Hop in bed with her, but doesn't carry him around as much anymore. The other carrying-around item now seems to be her baby doll. And, speaking of, she still loves babies. Any baby, real or not, human or animal. She seems to be equally a mommy's girl and a daddy's girl. She gets super excited about seeing "Granma" and "Ampa."

The girl likes to jump! And run! And skip! At the park, the swings are her favorite. She is a rock star at Miss Gabriela's on Mondays. Monday is their walking day, where they walk from Gabriela's house, down the street to our house, through the woods and back up, and then back (up a hill) to Gabriela's. Avie has apparently never complained, she carries her little backpack on her back, and walks the entire way, every time. Amazing. I think I might have an aspiring hiker on my hands, which I am pretty happy about!

We went to her well visit at the doctor's office last Friday, and she weighed 26 pounds, 8 oz., putting her in the 70th percentile. She measured 2 feet, 10 inches tall, at 50th percentile. And her head circumference was 19 inches. She got one shot, which was the last in the series of pneumococcal conjugate (PCV13). Since she'd received this one multiple times, I was not expecting the reaction she had this time around. When she woke up Friday afternoon from her nap, she was hesitant to get out of bed, and then was clearly limping because of the soreness in the leg in which it was injected. By that evening, she was running a fever. She still had a fever when she went to bed yesterday evening, and throughout this stretch, it spiked a couple of times to a little over 103 degrees. She was sleeping poorly, eating poorly, and just obviously felt very puny. I felt so bad for her. But today she was pretty much back to normal with no fever, thankfully. Everything else checked out fine at her visit. Her hip was not even popping anymore, which was something that came up at a previous appointment that I never ended up following up on at the specialist they referred us to. I guess I do not have to worry about it now!

Aveline is a sweet, sweet baby. And, yes, she is still my baby. I look so forward to what this year will bring for our little one! We love you from the deepest depths of our hearts. Happy second birthday, Aveline Muir!