Dear Ellyson,

 

Today you are two years old. I have survived to see this day: although much more exhausted than I thought possible!

 

For you are the one that keeps me on my toes! You are constantly going, constantly into something, constantly challenging me in a way neither Emry or Ethan ever did. I know some of it is you see your older siblings doing something so you think, “Well, I can do that, too,” even if you are half their size. In some ways that can be good: I’m a strong supporter of being independent. In other ways, it’s just one more thing for me to keep an eye on!

 

You are also a walking disaster area. On any given day, I can wander through our house and see trails of this toy, that toy, or whatever you managed to get a hold of spread across several rooms. Nothing is off limits as far as you’re concerned. If you can reach it, it’s fair game. I dream of the day when I will have a house where I can put things out of your reach…and then remember by the time that day is likely to come you won’t be getting into those things anymore! Sigh.

 

You have a quirky personality. I guess we all do. But I love to see you line things up or stack your blocks very neatly. You like to put things like that in order. However, if I ask you to clean up the Monopoly pieces you just scattered all over Ethan’s room, you huff, shake your head, mumble something, and try to walk away. I don’t get how someone who likes to line up rocks by the creek hates to clean up a mess! 

 

Your favorite toys are your baby dolls. You have your own…and you have the one you more-or-less stole from Emry. You like to cuddle them, coo over them and take care of them. You also like to “cook” and be housewife-ly with the few play kitchen stuff we have. Your maternal, like small animals (especially “lattles” as you call cats for some unknown reason), and if someone gets hurt, you are there to give them a hug.

 

You have your own vocabulary. Mostly, “Where it go?” and then a very enthusiastic, “There it is!” Also a very firm, “Yes!” or a shake of the head for “no”. (As I recently told someone, there is no maybe in your world.) And when you can’t find the right words, you certainly have the right fluctuation of tone as you ramble off meaningless words. Sometimes that’s an attempt to count your fingers. Most often it’s wagging your finger and yelling at Ethan because he’s arguing with Emry. You are always very quick to defend what you perceive as injustice.

 

You also love music and watching Cocomelonon my phone. Maybe it’s not the wisest of parenting choices to allow you to watch this whenever I really need you out from under my feet, but often the songs remind me of my own grandmother singling them. And you have learned a lot from them. I love watching you do the motions of The Wheels on the Bus, or Make a Funny Face,or blowing down the house with the Big Bad Wolf.

 

Of course you are very different from your brother and sister before you, especially your sister. You’re affectionate, you’re not afraid to show exactly what you’re feeling, and you simply are who you are. Some of this, sadly, you will grow out of. However, I think you will always be more that way than I am. And I’m glad. For as tired as I am by the end of a day with you, you are exactly what God created you to be. And I hope you always know that.

 

Love, Mama