Terrible twos?
Today is Avery’s last day of being two – something I couldn’t let pass without an acknowledgment of the fact. This year of a child’s life always get such a bad rap, but the truth is that I’ve really enjoyed two-year-old Avery. Kids this age share similar traits to babies - they’re cuddly, cute and soft, and they very much need their mamas - but they’re not as high-maintenance as a younger child. And they’re terribly funny and sweet: Not a day goes by that Avery doesn’t make me laugh.
I’ll never forget something an older friend told me when I was pregnant the first time: Everything happens so fast, she said, that I should just sit and stare at my baby as much as possible. It was sound advice (which I took), but there’s also something to be said about staring at and soaking in everything you can about your slightly older child, one who is on the brink of giving up all traces of baby. I try to do that with Avery, and I think I’m more successful at it than I was with Zoe. (Mostly because I’m not exhausted from caring for a newborn, too.)
With her big eyes and even bigger hair, Avery pretty much drives me crazy (in a good way) – and I think the only thing “terrible” about her “twos” is that they didn’t last longer.
-M
