Sweet girl,

You’re officially two and a half, and I don’t even know if I have the adequate words to tell you about your larger than life personality.

You are so fiercely independent, Peanut. You want to be the one to put on your socks & shoes. To open or close doors. To feed the puppies. I love that you are so confident in yourself and want to self-reliant, but I’ll be honest it definitely tries my patience some days! That need to be independent isn’t always paired with any sort of communication about what you want to do, so it tends to end up in you getting upset, but that’s a small price to pay to know that I’m raising a daughter who wants to take care of herself, and will be capable of it.

Some things you’re loving these days:

• Mickey Mouse Clubhouse (you’re pretty obsessed with this one)
• Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood
• singing
• coloring with chalk
• talking in your own silly language
• telling me to stop or go at traffic lights
• playing in the sand box at school
• oatmeal
• getting tucked into bed with your monkey, Lovey & elephant
• the kolaches Pops brings you
• PlayDoh
• pretending to be a tiger to scare us
• and your baby sister. Oh, how you love your sister.

You’ve recently started to want to have your camera in hand whenever I’m taking photos of you or your sister, and it just makes my heart happy! I love it, but it’s a good reminder to me of the way that you’ll likely follow my cues on what it means to be a woman, and I take that responsibility so seriously. There are a lot of lessons I need to pass on to you, but if you also end up with my love of photography too, that’ll just be a lovely bonus!

Here’s just a few shots of that big ol’ personality of yours… This first one’s your daddy’s favorite.

We have gotten into some major tantrums and fits with you… and o my goodness are there some good ones (I’ve heard “Leave me alone, Mama!!” more than a few times lately… I expected that at some point, but I’ll tell you I didn’t expect it this early). That stubborn strong-willed side of you makes parenting a challenge, but it’s so worth it. Because you know what? You’ve also got this genuinely sweet, loving side too. You make sure to give hugs and kisses almost every morning before you leave for school, and if you get out the door without giving me hugs & kisses, odds are you’re going to come running right back through that door to make sure I get them before you leave. You’re also always wanting to hug or kiss your sister too.

You’re getting so grown up… we’re working on potty training, which is a challenge, but you’re doing pretty well. You went to the dentist and did so well that they did things they normally wait until 3 years old to do – proud parent moment!!

Sweet girl, I am so glad I got this photo of you because I never want to forget this view – you right by my side with your little face looking up at me, traces of your snack still clinging to your mouth and chin, eyes sparkling, hair wild.

Keep living life ferociously, Peanut. Give your mama some grace in the process, but keep living full-force. Keep learning. Keep testing your abilities. Keep being silly. I love you to the moon and back!!!!