Are we really almost done with “two”

Seriously.  Our little two year old is just 8 weeks shy of three and I am stuck in shock mode.  Mikayla is a hoot to hang out with.  She says thing on a regular basis that make me laugh until I am blue in the face.  Some things make total sense and others leave me a bit bewildered.  “Today I eat Happy Birthday Macaroni.  See my Happy Birthday elbow?  Mommy, I can’t see my eyebrows. THESE eyebrows (as she dramatically points at her eyebrows).  Mommy, I need dat chalk it’s my best friend.” 

She is a make believer through and through.  She constantly is in a world of her own as she talks, sings and plays with whatever toy will be her “best friend”.   She also sings off key just to make people laugh.  She talks like a robot better than her older sister.  She hasn’t lost nearly as much red in her hair than I did when I was her age.  I am holding on to hope that she carries the red hair from the “Eid” gene…   She draws chalk people on the driveway almost daily and she uses her left hand almost as much as her right when holding a writing utensil.  She continues to be a food lover.  Her favorites are any type of meat and fresh fruit.  She hates applesauce and spaghetti sauce, but she can’t get enough bratwursts and pickles. 

Sounds all perfect and squishy doesn’t it?  Don’t be fooled.  Mikayla still has a whole bunch of zest to her.  She has no “company self” (company self = When you are on your very best behavior because you are in front of people other than your immediate family).  She shows everyone her true colors.  If she doesn’t want to share, she will.not.share.  If she doesn’t want to talk, she won’t say a word.  If the President of the United States asked Mikayla to sing the ABC’s and she didn’t want to. She wouldn’t.  If she wants her space, she will push, shove and growl until you leave her alone. If she misbehaves, it is harder on Mikayla to make her look in the eyes of who she has “hurt” vs. sitting in a timeout for minutes and minutes on end.  I think this sums up Mikayla as determined.  It is a trait I hear will take her very far in life, but may take some interesting parenting techniques to make it through…