The Terribly Terrific 2's

Katelyn Ann Fidler, you are 2 and these days you go by your full name a lot more often that you used to. The only way I know how to describe this time in life is "they were the best of times and the worst of times". Just kidding. These are definitely not the worst of times, but man, you wear me out!!!

Yesterday I walked (literally) into a kitchen covered in eggs. Broken ones. Ooey, gooey, cracked eggs on my floor. You took advantage of my preoccupation with the cleanup to climb on the counter and decorate it with blue marker. A marker I had placed on top of the refrigerator, and I don't even want to entertain thoughts of how you got it. This morning you greeted me by telling me you were "stinkin' wet" and we had no wipes because you had pulled them all out yesterday. While I was wetting some paper towels you decided to float your bath toys in the toilet. I had been awake for about 20 minutes and I was ready for a nap.

You love the freedom of our new, fenced yard, but you like to test your boundaries. I don't know why I'm surprised. I haven't given birth to a person yet that doesn't like to test their boundaries. You are sneaky, sneaky. Sarah was as busy as you when she was 2, but she was noisy. I ALWAYS heard Sarah and if I didn't, I knew something was up. You are quieter, so sometimes it takes me longer to realize when you have slipped off and gotten into something. 90% of the time if you go missing, you're in the kitchen. Breaking eggs, spilling tea, dropping bowls of cake frosting on the floor and splattering them all over the appliances. That was the case with my mandarin orange cake that has now been renamed "The Fell Down Cake". Your other favorite place to sneak off to is the bathroom. You LOVE to wash your hands. I was worried that after you smashed your finger you wouldn't want to wash them. No worries. You want to wash them ALL THE TIME!

I haven't been able to potty train you yet, but you've figured out how to put the TV on cartoon network and you just set the alarm on my new phone, something I don't even know how to do. :) Speaking of phones, you also stuck close to the guy who installed our house phone line asking him every few seconds, "Whachu doin???"

The thing about being a Mama is that you do all of the things which insure that I don't get to sit down for more than 6 minutes at a time (without reaping the consequences!!) and that my life is one of continual cleaning and hollerin' out the back door "KATELYN ANN FIDLER!!!!!!!!!", and yet I still adore you. Because while being 2 means lots of chaos, messes and stress, it also means the best little hugs and kisses. It means that when I pull your shirt over your head and say, "Where is Kate?" you laugh and say, "That's too funny." Oh how I will cry the day you get big and say, "Mom, you're a dork" because I know it will come. Today when I finally managed to get out of my pj's and into my uniform of jeans and t-shirt you said, "You pretty." It melted my heart and made me forgive you for squeezing half a tube of toothpaste into the sink. As Mamaw would say, you're a sack o' sugars and I could just eat you up!!

In six months you will be three and in it will be the first time in 8 years that I won't have a 2 year old or younger in my house. No diapers, no strollers, no baby car seats. No cribs, no toddler beds, no pacifiers. I'm sure those voids will be full of homework, ballgames, sleepovers and big kid toys. I'm hoping those years might even include some naps and the ability to watch a whole movie. :) But right now I'm just gonna soak up the hugs and kisses, the Kate Swahili, and holding your chubby little hand. By the way, you got out of bed last night and came and laid on the floor while me and Daddy watched TV. It was LATE and I told your Daddy that Sarah and Eli would have never gotten away with that. He smiled and agreed. Then he let you stay there. You have him totally wrapped around your chubby little finger...but you know that. :)