Harmony Turns Two

Dear Harmony,

You are turning two. You valiantly try to hold up two fingers, thumb keeping the other two down, while looking serious with the effort. But you're not serious all the time. You have a quirky sense of humor already! Little jokes happen occasionally, and you're always trying to make us laugh by saying ridiculous things (not to mention the potty jokes... I didn't know toddlers your age did that!), all with a twinkle in your eye and a ready laugh.

This year brought a lot of surprises, as I'm sure every year will! Mostly good things, but also a few bumps in the road that we are learning how to work through together. Here are a few:

~ You have memorized almost the entire alphabet.

~ You "read" books out loud to us, when we aren't busy reading books out loud to you. Pretty sure you're going to follow in both your mama and daddy's footsteps by becoming a voracious reader!

~ You are enthralled with the songs from Mary Poppins. Not only do you watch scenes from the movie and listen to the soundtrack almost every day, but now you are beginning to sing the songs yourself. I didn't realize hearing "Feed da birds, tuppence a bad, tuppence, tuppence, tuppence a bad..." would make my heart melt so much!

~ You have developed an obsession with My Little Pony.

~ You are terrified of other children touching you, because you're afraid of them taking away your toys or knocking you down (it does happen often, unfortunately, since you're still quite small for your age), which makes going to the park or a playdate very difficult sometimes.

~ You love cold water, like a fish. Always you insist on immersing or at least placing a part of yourself in any-size body of water you can find, including but not limited to puddles, ponds, lakes, swimming pools, bathtubs, sinks, streams, gutters, cups we are drinking from, bowls you've filled with water, and windows wet from rain.

~ You want to call your grandma and grandpa on the phone constantly, to tell them hi or inform them of your latest exploit or jabber about your ponies or simply to ask them to "come soon... see you later".

~ You are a bit of a picky eater. We don't keep junk food around very much, and almost all the snack choices around here are healthy ones, but in spite of me doing everything possible to diversify your mealtime options, you continue to be choosy about what you eat, preferring even to go without rather than eat something you don't like.

~ You enjoy watching Star Trek with your daddy (just the older series; the new ones are too scary).

~ You have already begun to develop your own sense of of fashion. Yes, you insist on taking your purse everywhere on your own, not because I make you do it.

~ You listen attentively every Sunday to us rehearse with the church choir, often singing along while holding your own hymnbook.

~ You play more imaginary games than any other toddler I've met. Your ponies hold conversations with each other, your stuffed animals talk with you, and I've seen you have more than one chat with garden statues!


And just like last year, my dear, you are helping me grow, too. As a toddler, you have many episodes of absolute melt-down sobbing, so I am learning how to do two things in order to parent you better: have more deep compassion, and take-no-nonsense.

Even a stern look when you are doing something wrong will send you into a spiral of tears. A bump on the head or tripping on the sidewalk brings wails far more powerful than I think are necessary. We try to not coddle you, but it is becoming evident that you are sensitive to many things. So I am learning compassion: gentle kindness and care for a little one who feels so deeply.

However, sometimes you need me to just help you get back on your feet and GO. No nonsense. No fretting. No whining allowed. Maybe if we learn how to cut back on unnecessary drama now, then it will make the teen years just a tiny bit easier. Maybe? Maybe.

So, because of these lessons I am learning with you, I am slowly beginning to apply the same with life at large. Sometimes I am too harsh with folks who need gentleness... hopefully my heart is changing to be more sincerely compassionate towards everyone instead. Yet sometimes there is just too much DRAMA going on, so I remind myself of the proverb (which has lately been going around Facebook) that this is "not my circus... not my monkeys" and push past it, trying to stay on the optimistic side.

It's a hard balance to know when to give compassion and when to say no to drama! But it's something that I'm working on, and you are a big part of that.

With so much walking and talking and thinking and playing and imagining and running and singing going on around here, I'm going to be calling you my little girl soon, instead of my baby. For now, we'll enjoy all the moments of toddlerhood that we can. You're still my Bug, my Tiny, my Mininsky.

Love,

Your Mama