Memories of Two

As Kate approaches her third birthday, let me share a few of the quirks and antics of Kate-at-Two that I don't want to forget (and that—let's be honest—I just want to share with you!)

• The way she said certain words this year, like the C=T sound toward the end of the year here. Claire=Taire, Santa Claus=Santa Taus, candy=tandy, clock=tock, and so on. I also love how the way she says "sparkly" and "broccoli" sound just alike, so when she wears her sparkly gray jumper, it sounds like she's telling everyone "I got broccolis." 
• The way she slept on the floor of her room more nights than not after we moved to our new house. It's nothing against the big girl bed, really; she was sick of the crib even before we moved, but prefers to migrate around the floor of her room all night, surrounded by blankets and other stuffed flotsam. One night, I heard her screaming, and she had migrated into the diaper pail, knocking it over onto herself and thus waking with a giant plastic thing on top of her! She also has nightmares sometimes where apparently she is being forced to do something she doesn't want to do (isn't that every 2-year-old's nightmare?) and screams in her sleep, "I don't want to! I don't want to!"
• The incessant repeating of "why?" and "where is it?" It actually became a (really annoying) game as she would say "Where is it? I can't see it!" and "What you say?" over and over when she actually had no trouble hearing or seeing. (Believe me, hypochondriac me wondered if maybe she did have a hearing or vision problem, but from follow up questions, it is clear she knows exactly what was going on, and is just trying to drive me nuts. She succeeded.)
• In her worst moments, hitting and biting, and having a complete breakdown if we scolded her. Even if we were just giving a mild warning like "be careful," she would get belligerent and say "No talk at me! No look at me!" Those are the moments I won't miss (though in retrospect, they are a little cute). I actually could barely keep from laughing when she would add "any more" to those angry words: "No talk at me . . . any more!" This all hit its peak this summer at 2 1/2, and fortunately is pretty rare now.
• How she used to not be able to stand getting water on her clothes, insisting on changing. (Once, I even "accidentally" got a little water on something she was wearing, since she'd insisted on wearing things that didn't match.) Then, after starting in Ms. Marian's class at school, she started saying, "It'll dry," and tolerating the wetness. Thank you, Ms. Marian!
• In that same vein, it's adorable how she'll try to make light of things that I might get annoyed with, like if she's made a mess or broken something, she'll say, "It's okay, Mommy. Don't worry."  Or even, "It's okay. You can fix it with tape." Or, "you fix it with glue," but "glue" sounds like "goo." It's so cute. 
• She starts most sentences with "Probably" now, even when it's a "definite" something she's talking about. "Probably my dress is blue."
• How "all" goes at the end of the phrase: "When I finish my dinner all, then I have some candy."
• Ever since that fun night when we put on our jammies to go ride around and look at Christmas lights, and I played it up how "crazy" it was to wear jammies in the car, "crazy" has become one of her favorite words. "It's crazy!!" 
• Another favorite declaration lately is, "It's a big mess!" This started with my description of the state of the playroom, such that even before getting toys out, she has said, "I'm going to make a big mess!" And if she sees a lot of stuff in any one place, even if intentional, like the buffet of food I put out on the dining room table for Claire's baptism party and now in preparation for Kate's birthday party, she'll tell me it's a big mess. Thanks, Kate! 

My favorite little quip of hers lately was twice in one week, when we heard announcements over loudspeakers at a gas station and then in the grocery. Kate takes notice and says, "Somebody's talking! Probably Santa."

And another, reflective of the stereotypical child's love of potty humor (which, honestly, Kate hasn't displayed too much): "The red marker is missing. Probably someone threw it in the toilet!" And then she laughs like crazy. For the record, it really is just a joke, not a confession; the red marker has been missing for months and I doubt a Crayola marker could be flushed without us noticing. 

I love how much Kate's vocabulary and imagination have grown this year. I can't wait to see what crazy things she says at age three!