Today was Missy Eloise’s second birthday. We started the day reminiscing about the day she was born – what we were doing that morning, how labour had started the night before. It then dawned on me that I’ve completely forgotten the majority of that day. I have highlights that burst into my brain when I think back (not appropriate for this blog post however), but when I think back on the day really hard, I can’t remember much about the c-section, after the operation, and the following 5 days when I was in hospital. In my head, it seems like it was only a day. Where did those memories go? Is it PTSD?

Me: “Alec, I only remember that I vomited on the anaesthetist during the cesarean.”

Alec: “It’s probably good that you don’t remember the arc of blood that spurted over the screen and hit you in the face.”

!!!!!!!

I digress.

Alec and I often joke that Eloise knows it’s a special day and does her best to … I wouldn’t say ruin it, but she certainly doesn’t make it easy to relax and celebrate anything. For her own birthday, she didn’t nap. Instead she stood in her crib shrieking like a banshee for about two hours. While I was desperately trying to prepare for her party that afternoon, Alec took her out in the stroller to try for a stroller nap. After half an hour of wailing, he was blessed with a half hour nap. Not exactly a win.

So with a pretty manic and irritable toddler, we kicked off the party celebrations with Eloise’s dearest little friends. Her buddies, thankfully, were all in fabulous moods. It was such a blessing to be surrounded by our loving friends – both big and small. Eloise’s mood was turned around by all her little friends too – she definitely enjoyed her party and playing with her friends. I loved watching her agilely climb play equipment and throw herself down slides, and then splash in the sprinklers with all her buddies. The sweetest moment was seeing most of the kids all jumping in the puddles together, dancing and running and laughing. Pure toddler bliss. Beautiful.

Age age two, Eloise is showing a lot of signs of the person she is growing into. Physically she is so fast and agile, it’s astounding. Considering her gene pool of sprinters and sportsmen, it’s not very surprising. We will be putting her in some sporting environments over winter, like soccer, to see if she enjoys it.

She’s also really smart. Her problem solving skills have suddenly exploded. She can count items up to four, sings songs (she loves “Wheels on the Bus” and “1,2,3,4”), loves puzzles and books.

Verbally, Eloise is pretty entertaining. While her vocabulary is huge (I’d say she knows over a hundred words, minimum), she only says the first syllable of most words. Sometimes we need a translator. She can name a huge amount of objects and animals, including the sound they make. She really enjoys doing things like standing inside the fridge doors and naming everything in the fridge, pointing to the things she doesn’t know the name of. She often asks what something is, or where someone or something is.

What I’ve enjoyed the most during this past year is the development of Eloise’s personality. She’s fun and funny, and just enjoys life so much. She loves exploring everything in her world, from pebbles to flowers and the rain. She gives us spontaneous hugs and kisses when she’s happy, and oh, don’t we know it, when she’s not (NO SHOOESSSSSS!)! She loves “cooking” in her kitchen (“chop chop!), “pat pat”-ing dogs (and naming their body parts – watch out for the eyes!), and kicking a soccer ball. She adores her friends, even if she doesn’t quite understand how to play with them yet, and she’s showing empathy – wanting to know why someone is “sad” (read: baby crying hysterically).

Our little lady is a non-stop ball of energy. Go, go, go from she wakes till she crashes asleep. So many things to explore and learn about. So many dogs to pat, pictures to draw, ladders to climb. Her enthusiasm is amazing (and exhausting to follow!).

Happy second birthday to our darling girl. We love you, we love you, we love you, you crazy, impossible, adorable kid.