My dearest Mio Elise,

Happy birthday to my sweet little girl! I can hardly believe that you are already two years old.

We have watched you grow and transform from a newborn, to a baby, to a toddler in what feels like a blink of an eye. I’m constantly telling Dan “This is my favorite age of hers” because in each of those moments, they’ve felt like just that. You are still so small, and yet you are bursting with so much personality, emotion, and life. You’re brave and fearless in exploring and discovering new things, and have such a sweet and tender heart towards those around you.

These past two years have been so precious and dear to our hearts, and we can’t wait for this next year, and all the years to follow. We’re so excited to watch how you’ll continue to grow and to discover the lovely girl — and eventually, woman — that you will become!

The happiest of birthdays to the sweet little girl who made me a mother, who brightens our days, who gives us a million reasons to smile and laugh. You are loved far more than you can possibly imagine.

I can’t wait to spend a lifetime of these priceless moments with you.

♥ Mama

The Rundown at Two Years Old…

Stats: We haven’t been to the doctor’s in a while, but I’m pretty sure certain you weigh around 29 or 30 lbs now, and I can barely pick you up for more than 2 minutes. I’ll update with more specific height and weight measurements in a couple weeks after we go in for your two year checkup at the pediatrician.

Things You’re Doing Now: You’re more independent than ever, and continue to imitate things that we do. You’re starting to show a very thoughtful and nurturing side to you: you pretend to change your stuffed animals’ diapers, prepare and feed them play food, and take them on strolls in your doll stroller. You’re learning your manners and you say “please” (although right now, it sounds more like “fwee”), and “arigato” (but it comes out more like, “a-to”). You’re definitely repeating a lot more of the words that you hear us saying, which makes us wonder if you’re on the brink of that verbal explosion that a lot of parents say comes a little after kids turn two. You’re starting to recognize certain letters of the alphabet and numbers by sight (particularly the letter “C” and number “2” are your favorites that you spot and point out most). Just today, we heard what sounded like you counting the first few numbers in Japanese as you went up each step on the stairs! At bedtime, you’ve gotten clever about picking out the longest books to ensure that you maximize your storytime before going to bed. You still want us to read you at least five books at night and sing to you before putting you to bed, but while you used to cry and protest for a couple minutes every night when going to bed, lately you’ve seem to come to peace with the routine and cheerfully say “bye bye” when it’s time for you to go to sleep. I saw some brief flashes of jealousy at a playgroup the other day when one of the moms asked me to hold and watch her newborn baby while she took her older child to the bathroom — you were playing across the room from me, but did a double take when you glanced over and saw the baby in my arms, and came running over whining and fake-crying “Mama!” It was quite a surprise to see! You’re eating more than ever these days, and it feels like you are eating/snacking on food of some sort every waking hour! You’re definitely the picture of health as usual, and while the rest of the family fell sick this past month, you were the only one who remained immune to the cold and flu. You’re starting to exhibit more playfulness and interest in other toddlers your age, especially at the Japanese playgroup we’ve recently started attending. While the frustrations and tantrums of the “terrible two”s are still there, you’ve also become sweeter and more affectionate in recent months — you’ve been showing such a wide variety of moods lately, and you keep us guessing and entertained every day.