My dear, sweet baby girls.  I can’t believe today you turn two!  I cried several times yesterday realizing that it was your last day as one.  Even though you’ve been “toddling” for almost a whole year now, one is still a baby in  my mind, whereas two sets you firmly into toddlerhood.  While it’s a positive joy to watch you learn and grow, you are just so incredibly perfect as you are right in this very moment that you’ll have to forgive me for wishing I could freeze time.

Willow, you are just so sweet and cuddly – and you give the best kisses!  You LOVE singing your ABCs (which you call ‘baby sees’) and watching “Bicky Mouse” with your big brother.  You are such a unique combination of delicate and stubborn – quiet and reserved and you have a very singluar sense of humor.  Your stubborn tenacity I hope will serve you well in the future, it has already helped you master delicate and difficult tasks like putting on and buckling your own shoes!

Your deep sometimes husky voice is so unexpected, I think someday you will be the alto to Sasha’s soparano – I can’t wait until we can start singing harmonies!  I swear you were a dancer in a former life. You are so graceful and flexible and you sometimes randomly do an arabesque or walk around the house on your toes.  You are picky about food, but LOVE your milk. You also love your bunny, playing with your purse and wearing Jasper’s superhero cape.  You are so beautiful that sometimes it takes my breath away – and your cheeks are so soft I could kiss them all day.

My little Sasha Star. You are a born entertainer and you keep us all in stitches most of the time!  Having you around sometimes feels like having another adult – you don’t miss a THING and you talk just like a grown up – it’s truly amazing.  You love to test limits and push boundaries and have lately even mastered the art of emotional manipulation! Your latest thing is when you do something you KNOW is wrong you say “I’m a baby!” because that’s the excuse you’ve heard me give your brother on so many occasions when you were doing something you shouldn’t do.   You also will run and hug me after doing something wrong – just to make sure I’m not holding a grudge :)  There’s never a dull moment when you are around!

You love nursery rhymes and songs, playing with big brother’s batman caves and figures and reading books.   You LOVE the water, both the swimming pool and taking a bath – you would stay in for hours if you could!  You have your Daddy’s sense of order, needing to put everything in it’s place (a draw slightly ajar drives you crazy!) and you are a great help at clean up time. You are also mommy’s wonderful little helper, often fetching me things I ask for or finding toys or missing snack cups for your sister where mommy has failed (“I found it mommy!!!”)

You also have such a heightened sense of concern for others, you always ask if I’m OK, even when I’ve only coughed or sneezed!

Our family has changed so much since bringing you both home from the hospital almost two years ago.  Yes, life is crazy and hectic – I can’t remember to pay the bills on time, the house is a mess, – and the list could go on but I can’t even for one second imagine our lives without you. You completed our crazy family, well, actually made it into what it is now and I can honestly say that through it all,  I always remember to be grateful for the privilege of being your mother, though I may sometimes feel woefully inadequate to the task.

My hands are too full (literally) with both of you to document our lives photographically as much as I was able to with your brother – and for that I have much regret.

But on the annual occasion that I marshal the resources necessary to do a real photoshoot with you I try to make the most out of it knowing just how rare it is.  I may not be able to stop the marching of time, but I can on occasion, freeze it in a picture.. and for that skill I am so grateful. Because someday, when I look back on these images I want to remember as much as I possibly can about the impossibly beautiful and perfect little beings that you are at this very moment.  My sweet, sweet baby girls!

Xoxo,

Mommy

(Readers click here for more and for bigger, better versions of the images!)

Filed under: birthdays by ariana
5 Comments »

You might also like

Happy 1st Birthday Sasha & Willow! My dear, sweet girls.. one year ago today, early in the morning - before dawn - your father and I...

Happy Belated 11 Months Sasha & Willow! Dear Sasha & Willow, This letter is late...20 days late to be exact!  And in 10 short days you...

She Really is a Superhero   I just had to commemorate two firsts today, the first time Sasha spontaneously said "I...

Happy 6 months Sasha & Willow! Dear Sasha & Willow, I can't believe you are 6 months old today. One half year that has flown...