Aurora Llane Update : 2 Years

So here I am, standing on the cusp of Ro's second birthday and wondering where the past two years went. On one hand, it feels like it's been forever, and on the other, it seems like it was just yesterday I was falling asleep next to her, home for the first time.

It seems to me in a matter of two months she's become a different person, and if I thought she was her own person before, I had no idea what I was talking about.

While we were still in New York she slept for the first time in a big kid bed, and then again when we were stuck overnight in Cleveland due to a faulty layover. She had no problem at all, so I knew that as soon as we got back to Phoenix that we were going to have to look into a toddler bed.

Two weeks ago, Ro got wise to her cosleeper-crib and decided to make an escape every time we put her down for nap or bedtime. She'd climb right out, open her bedroom door, come downstairs and wait by the bottom gate to be allowed back out to play. Upon this, we bought an IKEA Kritter bed through Craigslist, brand new, half price.

It took several rough bedtimes to make the transition, including letting her cry herself to sleep two or three times, but she's now comfortable with the change and even when she doesn't fall asleep right away she'll play quietly until she's tired and then climb into the bed to sleep. (See photo.) The downside, however, is that this change has almost completely obliterated naps. I still try every day to put her down, but she doesn't always go for it.

Today, however, was one of those lucky days, hence why I'm sitting here updating my blog instead of talking her down off the breakfast bar.

Oh, you heard me right. She's a monkey. We happen to have a lovely hobnail leather chair sitting in the corner of the dining room, just beside the breakfast bar, which is open from the kitchen. She has this habit- and extreme skill- of climbing the chair, hefting herself up onto the bar, dropping off the other side onto the kitchen counter and then busying herself with the sink, or the basket of dish towels, or whatever else it is she can get her hands on.

This is a feat I'm not even sure I could manage.

Her current television obsession is the British children's show Boo!, which, though it can be found four times a day on Qubo, she still demands to watch on my laptop almost constantly. "Weh Boo?" She asks, with a very, very serious look on her face. "Weh Boo!?" (Where's Boo?)

The entire idea of the show is to find Boo, who hides in different locations and settings. Whenever he pops out, Ro always shouts "Oh, ih'Boo, ih'Boo, ih-BOO!!" (It's Boo!) Also, as one is wont to do whenever the character Growling Tiger pops out, she hollers "Ruh-way! Ruh-way!" (Run away!) And whenever Sleeping Bear comes up, she says, "Ni-night!"

Among the other things she's saying, she asks "Y'okay?" if you cough or cry or otherwise injure yourself. Every time she sees her bear, Toastie, she says, "Ohhh, Doh-tee!" She recognizes apples, peaches, and fish, she knows that cats 'meow' and dogs 'woof', she knows both Papa and Pops' voices over the phone, and is only willing to eat with a fork unless it's french fries.

Ever since she learned "Mommy", she hasn't stopped saying it. Some days it's just MommyMommyMommyMommyMommyMommyMommy. I can't let myself tire of it, though. I waited so long for her to know who I was!

Her godparents, Ian and Christine, have moved back to Phoenix from Seattle, so it's really wonderful to have them in our lives again. They're already making huge and fantastic plans to take her to the zoo and buy her a fish or three for her birthday. We went to Pancake Sunday at Ian's parent's house last weekend and it's so good to be able to see everyone on my own time (now that I'm licensed at long last and don't have to worry about Zack's plans when I want to visit people.)

(Stephanie: You and Phillip were not there for pancakes! I was hoping you would be.)

So that's pretty much everything in a nutshell. Things are really good, and even though I can attest that the Terrible Twos do exist, they're also really wonderful, too.