it's the little souvenirs

Despite my incredulity that I've been a mama for 2 whole years, it really hasn't gone by *that* quickly.  I have made it a point to be immersed and present in T's life so I don't look up later and wonder where it all went.  Mind you, when she's 18, I'll probably think that anyway.

At the end of her first year, when people asked me how it went, I'd tell them that it was both the longest and shortest year of my life.  Short because I couldn't believe I had a year-old baby already.  But also long, long, long because of the broken sleep, figuring out what the crying means, learning how to tell when she was ready for a nap, wondering about when she'd hit her physical milestones, and the seemingly constant bucket of NEED.  The hours of nursing, the painstaking meals I prepared that ended up on the floor (at least Spike ate them), the hot relaxing shower interrupted 3 minutes in by a hungry baby.  All the usual stuff that goes with having a new baby.

The fascinating thing is how sharp the transitions are.  One day she's my tiny baby, and the next day her hands seem HUGE.  One day her size 4 shoes are just fine, the next day we can't squeeze her little feet in there.  She went from pudgeball baby to little girl seemingly overnight.

Lately it's in her speech.

Overnight she went from 'wakawa?' to 'What's that?' and 'What's his name?'.  She was using 'wakawa?' for months to get more info about something.  Even my parents started using it with each other when they had questions.  Hehe.

For months she's been calling her self 'Tee-yan'.  Just last week, it turned into 'Twill-yan' and sometimes even 'Trill-yan'.  Sniff.

In the past two weeks I've noticed a huge increase in her use of (correct!) pronouns - him, her, it.  She now uses 'myself' and 'I' correctly about half the time.  Previously it was always 'you', like 'mama hold you' when she wanted us to pick her up. 

She can also follow complex directions, like 'go downstairs and put your hat in the laundry basket'.   (Not to mention that she can actually get around herself now.) THAT is crazy.

I've been keeping a little written journal for a couple of months of one daily "fun fact" or word/phrase that she's using, so that I can keep track.  It's fascinating to go back and read the entries.  Now, if only someone could remind me to take lots of pictures when we do stuff together...