the not so terrible twos

maggie turned three on april 1st.
she's an april fools baby.
it fits her,
not because she is full of practical jokes,
but because she is fun,
she keeps us smiling,
and she has a charm and a wit that you would expect from someone born on april fools day.
i've written this blog post in my mind for over a month.
i wanted to preserve just as accurately how she has been this year as i did for the first and second years.
the re-occuring thought about maggie being two is that she was never terrible.
how could a little girl be terrible who didn't speak much for the 1st part of this year
but who laughed and giggled constantly?
and when she did learn to speak she would say things like
"me daddy's baby and mommy's girl."
and who calls sam "bubba" and will "bubbie".
or would answer the question "who loves you?" by listing everyone she knows from daddy to mommy to sam to will to norma to auntie to mackey to emi and on and on until the list was complete.
or who every night at daily thanks says
"me thankful emi and mackey come to my house."
(she recently adds "me thankful emi & mackey come to my house to see my kitty.")
my favorite is when she says "two" instead of "more".

there's nothing terrible about a 2 year old who will still wants to take a 2-3 hour nap every day and still go to bed at bedtime and sleep through the night unless she decides she would rather snuggle with her mom and dad in their bed with a stack of books.

or how could a little girl be terrible who has used the potty far more this year than she hasn't?
and who has the cutest little bottom ever in little undies.
or who has a distinct sense of style wearing her boise state "belly shirt" or her red polka dot shorts with her OKC thunder shirt or red headband that "my daddy got me."or the dress ups.

oh my, the dress ups!
who could argue with a 2 year old who is wearing a princess dress and high heels or tap shoes or pink glitter shoes EVERY SINGLE DAY over her clothes no matter where she goes?
and who changes outfits about 5 times a day?
but who also doesn't mind cleaning them up.

or a baby that walks into her room and says
"my room a mess!"
and then gets busy cleaning it up.
or a girl who loves following rules instead of breaking them
and who also loves enforcing the rules by shaking her head or finger at her brothers when they don't obey.

there's nothing terrible about a girl who can play and entertain herself all day with her "bawbies" (barbies) or babies or her "bus house" or her books or anything that is available to her,
even photo albums that she can pour over while lounging in the living room floor.
i love a 2 year old that lives in a dream world.
her world has many facets,
but she is normally playing the role of "the lost princess" or "little mermaid".
and dancing.
always dancing and singing.
when she's not playing she has a book.
her favorite is "if you give a mouse...." series,
but she will take anything.
if she is tired she will get in her bed with a stack of self-selected books and "read" them to herself until she falls asleep or until she has gone through them all.
at night her lamp must remain on so she can see.

and there's certainly not anything terrible about a little girl who is in love with her dad.
and who cries when she doesn't get to say good-bye to him in the morning.

or who is constantly saying things about him.
"me love my dad",
"i strong just like my dad",
"i ask my dad!" (of course when she's not getting what she wants)
"my hair curly like my dad."
"my eyes not blue. they green just like my dad."

or a girl who also likes her mom
and who wants to take a shower with her every single day and then play in there by herself for half an hour.
and who loves to be right by my side while i'm cooking.
and who loves to dance with me,
if you call spinning her around while her arms are outstretched and head tilted back with eyes half closed while she sings.
that's far from terrible.
i call it magical.
just like a girl who still snuggles up every single night for me to sing "i am like a star shining brightly".
and who can be found saying "me pretty like my mom" whenever she sees a picture of me.

so far there just hasn't been anything terrible about this baby of ours.
(except a teensy tiny sass that comes out on very rare occasions but that you can almost see lurking underneath the surface. who says that is a totally terrible thing?)
i think she's going to have a pretty hard time ever convincing us that she is capable of being terrible.