Treasured Two's

Dear Taylor,


Where to begin? I guess I should start by telling you Happy Birthday, so 


Happy Birthday, Happy Birthday,
Happy Birthday to You.
It's your Birthday, and you're two!


I sang that song to you all day on Monday, your actual birthday. I think you were wondering why. We didn't have your actual party until Saturday, so I'm not sure if you knew when your actual birthday was. Oh well. 


You are such a special little girl. So, very special. Your Daddy and I talk about it all the time. It amazes us at how much love we feel towards you. I am trying so hard to get you to say, "I love you!" back to us. But you have never been much of a copier. You say it when you want to. I remind you that "we love because He first loved us." We talk about love a lot, especially in learning how we treat our baby sister. 


Speaking of being a sister, I am so proud of the big sister that you are. You are the sweetest to your sister, Rio. I secretly watch you all the time and catch you taking care of her: giving her toys to play with, kissing her, entertaining her with your toys, helping her reach something out of her grasp, and even smiling sweetly at her to see her smile in return. When I leave the room for a second, I always say, "Can you watch Rio for me?" And you always take it so seriously and make sure to really do a good job. I love it. 

I want to try and sum up your sweet little 2 year old personality as best I can: so I can remember it and hopefully so you can read it someday. Here goes:

• You are full of life and joy. So happy. A sweet and gentle spirit.
• I see instances of your servant heart. You always make sure to include everyone. For example, if you are eating, you make sure everyone else eats something to. Or when we are going somewhere you always make sure that no one gets left behind. "Rio go?" "Mommy go?" "Daddy go?"
• What a helper! You love to do little tasks that I give you throughout the day. And you love to help clean. And you love to help cook. 
• We've got a chatterer on our hands and I love it. You will ramble on using words you know and tell us all about whatever happened.
• Your face is very expressive. You like to act out something that happened to you. It amazes us at the little things that leave an impact on you.
• You love to play in our bed. You will say, "Shh shh" and smile really big when you want us to wrestle around in it. As soon as daddy gets home everyday, you immediately ask him to play on the bed. 
• You are not a copier. I will say words and try and get you to repeat them, but you say them on your own time. You are starting to say many more words and form sentences. So fun!
• Your excitement always makes us smile. You are very expressive when you are excited about something. You say, "ya ya" and do a little jig. 
• You love to go "lala" and dance around, but you mostly want a partner to dance with. One of your favorite things to sing is Dora the Explorer. "Hey hey" and "Aw man". 
• You love a nice soft blanket. You must have multiple lovies to sleep with, your ugly doll pillow, and several babies or stuffed animals.
• You are quick to accept discipline. We talk a lot about obedience and how it honors God. You know the word obey really well. If you are in need of a spanking during the day, mommy takes you calmly to your room, and we talk about it before she spanks. You are always quick to hug us right after we spank. And show us your happy heart. 
• You love to pray. You will get all excited and fold your hands and close your eyes during the whole prayer. We pray everyday that God would draw you to Him and reveal Himself to you. 

Some of your common phrases:

• "Ah me?" - Can I?
• "Es go." - Let's go. Normally it's followed be mommy, daddy, rio, or issou.
• "Us dat." - What's that?
• "I eat." - Can I have some?
• "Wee wee?" - Can I slide?
• "La la?" - Can we listen to music?
• "Dohwa?" -Please, please can we watch Dora?
• "Shhh shhh" - Let's go wrestle on the bed and pretend to sleep.
• "Wocka wocka" - I wanna rock in the chair and snuggle.
• "Huh?" - You say this when you don't know the answer or are thinking.
• "Nup." - I want a cup.
• "Pull." - You say this for push and pull and mostly when you strain
• "Up." - Up means I want down and I want up.
• "Wawa." - You do the sign and say the word to ask for water.
• "Baph." - Can I get a bath?

We love you, little girl! I cannot wait to see the beautiful young lady that you grow into. May your heart continue to be sensitive to those around you, and may you come to know Jesus. 


Love you,


Mommy