So now you're two

Alivia turned two. She doubled her age and this little blog didn't so much as note it. Not that her milestone was forgotten or overlooked, just belated in making its way onto the internet.

Finally HER day came. Her day when the world was all about her ... and not about her older sister or younger siblings. All. About. Alivia. It was long overdue and came without the fanfare and hype some others in the house demand.

She's getting so big. So amazingly smart, so wonderfully beautiful, so not a baby any more. Each day brings more independence and less reliance. Yesterday she walked down the stairs "all by myself." She can get herself on the potty and put on her own shoes. She's still working on getting dressed by herself ... it seems two legs always end up in one pant leg, but we're getting there.

She remains the most big-hearted person I know, despite her pint-size stature. While these days find her easily frustrated and not always as tolerant of baby pests as we'd like her to be, when you get down to the nitty gritty, she's got a heart larger than any other person I know. She's full of love and compassion.

She so wants to do everything Alena does, and most times manages to copy her older sister's accomplishments. And while she can be a monkey in a china cabinet one minute, she has a timid side about her when she's presented with unfamiliar surroundings or people.

Last week at her two-year check up, the nurse at the pediatrician's office asked if she has a vocabulary of two dozen words. Check ... she can say guacamole. The nurse went on to ask if she can put two or three words together to form short sentences. Check ... I think "shake your booty" qualifies.

It doesn't seem that two years have passed since we welcomed her into this world. I guess every mom thinks that on each one of her children's passing birthdays. But, this one's packed a lot into two years. To compare her to other kids close in age, she seems so much smarter, so much more mature. Perhaps out of necessity, perhaps due to nature.

I will never forget sitting in the ob/gyn's office for my six-week postpartum visit with tears in my eyes as I confessed to the midwife I didn't "feel the connection" to baby number two that I did instantly with baby number one.

"What is wrong with me?," I can still hear myself asking with my heart breaking that I even had to ask.

"History," she said. You don't have history with Alivia like you do with Alena. Give it time, was her advice, and in six months, when you've developed some history with her, you'll laugh that you sat here and asked me that question, she said.

She was right. So very right, right, right.

As days turned to weeks and weeks into months, Alivia and I developed our own relationship that belongs only to us, and my love for her is unmatched. She's got her very own place in my heart, reserved just for my pixie and never to be held by anyone else. And right next to it is a spot where I secretly admire her unique spirit (of which I am envious on a daily basis) and wish that it's never broken.

And now you're two.