Last weekend Meredith turned two. She is adorable, cuddly, kissable, sweet, exhausting, needy, fussy, exasperating, and perfect.

Things she loves:

>Trying on shoes and walking in mine. Going through all her clothes and carrying them around.

>Playing on her dirt table and collecting rocks.

>Books! Her favorites right now are: Easter Surprise, Nursery Rhymes, Good Morning Good Night, Dr. Moggle’s Alphabet Challenge, and family photo books.

>The Lego table at daycare, riding toys, trucks

>Going on the “mermaid express” (when we bounce her up and down pretending she’s on a train) and we know she wants to play when she says, “all aboo! [all aboard] Choo choo.”

>The dogs, and it’s adorable to hear her call them by name – Ah-dee for Eddie and Kee-o for Cleo.

>Oh, and being naked. Takes her clothes off constantly.

>Browsing the pictures on my phone, playing Peekaboo barn & fridge (her favorite apps)

>Fruit snacks (her special treat from daddy)

>Stroller rides and walks

Also:

>She gets super attached to random objects and always wants to take a new item to daycare with her. Examples: her jacket (holds it like a blanket, don’t even try to make her wear it), pajamas, towel, stuffed animal, washcloth, baby doll, toy truck, brush, Q-tips, books, toothbrush, an outdoor thermometer shaped like a fish

>She’s still a mama’s girl but is getting more and more attached to daddy.

>New words every day, but my favorites are how she started calling me mommy instead of mama, the way she says “towel” (sounds like “dow” and is very pronounced), and I love you.

>For awhile she did this thing where she would smush her face into ours and it was the best.

>Let’s be real though. Lately she has also been needier than ever and refuses to lie down to go to sleep. We have a loose routine but aren’t very good at keeping it (something about being exhausted in the evenings) and we’ve been resorting to driving her to sleep each night. Everything is a phase, right?

>Only has a couple more teeth to go!

>Still nursing. Like, wants to nurse all evening long but then refuses it before bedtime because she knows it will make her sleepy. Sigh.

>Asks about her grandparents all the time. Had the best relationship with her Gigi (great-grandmother) who just passed away a day before her birthday. I know she’s young but I hope that maybe, just maybe, she’ll remember her.