{"id":499,"date":"2007-09-09T13:44:34","date_gmt":"2007-09-09T21:44:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/barelycontrolledchaos.wordpress.com\/2007\/09\/09\/happy-birthday-my-big-2-year-old\/"},"modified":"2007-09-09T13:44:34","modified_gmt":"2007-09-09T21:44:34","slug":"happy-birthday-my-big-2-year-old","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/barelycontrolledchaos.com\/wordpress\/?p=499","title":{"rendered":"Happy Birthday, My Big 2-year old!"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Dear Addikins &#8211;<\/p>\n<p>As I was putting you to bed last night, I just couldn&#8217;t leave your room. You were nearly asleep, exhausted from your party, when I laid you down and covered you up. It was a rare moment, you letting me just stand there, stroking your hair and gazing at your sweet face as you drifted off to sleep.<\/p>\n<p>It was a sweet pause before a pivotal moment in your life. It feels like you have been straddling the line between baby, toddler, and just plain &#8220;little girl&#8221; for so many months now.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/barelycontrolledchaos.files.wordpress.com\/2007\/09\/dsc_0002-copy.jpg\" title=\"dsc_0002-copy.jpg\"><\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align:center;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photo_zoom.gne?id=1351683041&amp;size=o\" target=\"_blank\" title=\"dsc_0002-copy.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/barelycontrolledchaos.files.wordpress.com\/2007\/09\/dsc_0002-copy.jpg\" alt=\"dsc_0002-copy.jpg\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>You will tell me, &#8220;I&#8217;m not baby, I a big girl!&#8221; or &#8220;No, I do it!&#8221; And then in the next breath you ask me &#8220;Hold my hand, Mama.&#8221; Although you will always be my baby, and you&#8217;ll never be a &#8220;just plain&#8221; girl, I think you have definitely jumped across that line.  You are all little girl. And I couldn&#8217;t help but think back to what I was doing 2 years ago at that same moment, when you became my &#8220;baby.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/barelycontrolledchaos.files.wordpress.com\/2007\/09\/dsc_0019-copy.jpg\" title=\"dsc_0019-copy.jpg\"><\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align:center;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photo_zoom.gne?id=1351683467&amp;size=o\" target=\"_blank\" title=\"dsc_0019-copy.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/barelycontrolledchaos.files.wordpress.com\/2007\/09\/dsc_0019-copy.jpg\" alt=\"dsc_0019-copy.jpg\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>I knew after I had my doctor&#8217;s appointment on the 8th of September and she &#8220;moved things along&#8221; a bit, that I was going to go into labor. I just had a feeling as we went out for dinner and I told your Daddy that we had better make sure the neighbors would be able to come over that night. I was so certain you were on your way.<\/p>\n<p>I have to admit I was anxious, far more anxious than when we were waiting for Em to be born. I was unsure of how smoothly the transition from one baby to two was going to be. I was actually very scared, and worried that I just wouldn&#8217;t be able to be a mommy to <em><strong>two<\/strong><\/em> little girls as well as I could be to just one. And we had our comfortable routine already. Our family of three.<\/p>\n<p>But the minute they put you in my arms, all of my fears, worries and anxieties disappeared.  I knew that you were going to fit into our family perfectly. And you have given so much to our family in your two short years.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/barelycontrolledchaos.files.wordpress.com\/2007\/09\/dsc_0073.jpg\" title=\"dsc_0073.jpg\"><\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align:center;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photo_zoom.gne?id=1351681907&amp;size=o\" target=\"_blank\" title=\"dsc_0073.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/barelycontrolledchaos.files.wordpress.com\/2007\/09\/dsc_0073.jpg\" alt=\"dsc_0073.jpg\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Since the day you were born,  you and your sister have been fast friends. You have given Emma an opportunity to be a (great!) big sister. She has become a caring girl and is very aware of her job as a role model to her adoring &#8220;little sister.&#8221;  You have taught her the importance of sharing and putting others first. The two of you make the most amazing, beautiful pair of girls and I know that no matter where your paths lead you, you will always have a best friend to rely on. That makes me and Daddy so proud.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/barelycontrolledchaos.files.wordpress.com\/2007\/09\/dsc_0124-copy.jpg\" title=\"dsc_0124-copy.jpg\"><\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align:center;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photo_zoom.gne?id=1351682189&amp;size=o\" target=\"_blank\" title=\"dsc_0124-copy.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/barelycontrolledchaos.files.wordpress.com\/2007\/09\/dsc_0124-copy.jpg\" alt=\"dsc_0124-copy.jpg\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>And you have the <em><strong>most<\/strong><\/em> incredible sense of humor. Your faces and antics always have Daddy and I cracking up. You have just started to understand how funny you are, and you know how to use it to make us laugh. Just like a beam of sunshine, you shine laughter and happiness into a room just by being there.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/barelycontrolledchaos.files.wordpress.com\/2007\/09\/dsc_0389-copy.jpg\" title=\"dsc_0389-copy.jpg\"><\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align:center;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photo_zoom.gne?id=1351682459&amp;size=o\" target=\"_blank\" title=\"dsc_0389-copy.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/barelycontrolledchaos.files.wordpress.com\/2007\/09\/dsc_0389-copy.jpg\" alt=\"dsc_0389-copy.jpg\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Most importantly, you have made me a much better Mommy.  With your curiosity and need to &#8220;check everything out, &#8221; you have taught me to be more patient. I know this one still could use a little work&#8230;but I <em><strong>am<\/strong><\/em> much more patient than I used to be. When I look into those big eyes of yours, I have to catch my breath. I just want to make the world stop and soak in every sweet minute I have with you.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/barelycontrolledchaos.files.wordpress.com\/2007\/09\/dsc_0022-copy.jpg\" title=\"dsc_0022-copy.jpg\"><\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align:center;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photo_zoom.gne?id=1351683643&amp;size=o\" target=\"_blank\" title=\"dsc_0022-copy.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/barelycontrolledchaos.files.wordpress.com\/2007\/09\/dsc_0022-copy.jpg\" alt=\"dsc_0022-copy.jpg\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>We still call you &#8220;tiny&#8221; although you and your personality are anything but that, now. It seems like quite a lot for such a &#8220;tiny&#8221; girl to have accomplished in two short years, but you have changed our family so that I cannot even begin to remember what it was like to be a family of three. You truly completed our family.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/barelycontrolledchaos.files.wordpress.com\/2007\/09\/dsc_0014-copy.jpg\" title=\"dsc_0014-copy.jpg\"><\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align:center;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photo_zoom.gne?id=1351683261&amp;size=o\" target=\"_blank\" title=\"dsc_0014-copy.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/barelycontrolledchaos.files.wordpress.com\/2007\/09\/dsc_0014-copy.jpg\" alt=\"dsc_0014-copy.jpg\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Happy Birthday, &#8220;Tiny.&#8221;  May this next year be a constant source of wonder, happiness and love. And thank you for bringing all of these to our family, too.<\/p>\n<p>Love,<br \/>\nMama<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Dear Addikins &#8211; As I was putting you to bed last night, I just couldn&#8217;t leave your room. You were nearly asleep, exhausted from your party, when I laid you down and covered you up. It was a rare moment, &hellip; <a href=\"http:\/\/barelycontrolledchaos.com\/wordpress\/?p=499\">Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,85,102],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-499","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-addison","category-happy-birthdaze","category-letters-to-my-girls"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/psMOS-83","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/barelycontrolledchaos.com\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/499"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/barelycontrolledchaos.com\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/barelycontrolledchaos.com\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/barelycontrolledchaos.com\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/barelycontrolledchaos.com\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=499"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/barelycontrolledchaos.com\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/499\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/barelycontrolledchaos.com\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=499"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/barelycontrolledchaos.com\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=499"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/barelycontrolledchaos.com\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=499"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}