Twenty-three Months

Dear Sadie,

You started sleeping with a little teddy bear. He's a Classic Pooh, about 8 inches tall, and the perfect size for you to wrap your little arms around. We call him, simply, "Teddy." When I come to get you in the morning or after a nap, I say "Hi Sadie! Did you have a good sleep." You always respond, "Teddy had good sleep toooooooo!" as you hold him up for a kiss.

This month, you rediscovered your little plastic trike, which reappeared amidst a rapidly melting drift of snow.  The best thing about this trike is not how easy it is to ride (feet down, shuffling along with no pedaling required) or its faded but appealing color scheme (red, yellow, and blue) or the name "CHLOE" scrawled onto the bumper in black permanent marker. The best thing about this trike is the comfortable seat. It makes the best seat for watching the neighborhood activities, and you love nothing better than watching the big kids play. When I bring you outside after a nap, often you will stand on the porch waving and yelling, "HI GIRLS!" to your little friends.

We went to McDonald's once. Once. And now, you ask for milkshakes everyday. We can't even drive by McDonald's without you pointing out the golden arches and quietly requesting, "Milkshake?" I can tell that there will be moments when you are not so quiet about this small request.

While grocery shopping, you directed me to the ducky bathroom decor, where you lovingly patted a duck-embroidered bath towel. Call it an impulse purchase, but you, little Martha Stewart, inspired me to gleefully pile ducky-themed everything into the cart and breeze past the checkout with a smile on my face. It was time to remove all traces of the dreaded undersea-seahorse-coral decor from our upstairs bathroom. You were my right hand man, so to speak, and while I painted, you "painted" too. For days and days after you kept saying, "Mommy painting all night. Mommy painting all night." It certainly felt like it.

You adore Curious George and that is all we read these days. When I suggest another book to you, you refuse and request, "Curious George?" Your favorite story and the one you ask to read over and over is Curious George and the Hot Air Balloon. We were absolutely tickled when we saw a real hot air balloon flying over the city. We pulled over to watch it land, and I think you were disappointed to see that there wasn't a curious little monkey peeking out over the edge of the basket.

We celebrated your second Easter, and the Easter Bunny was very diligent this year in making it a memorable holiday. You found 15 plastic and Cadbury eggs (with a little help from Daddy) which translated into an entire tooth-numbing breakfast of chocolate (also with a little help from Daddy). Good luck getting you to eat any real food after that spectacular sugar high. Your Easter basket was stocked with non-candy treats: Baby Einstein books,a Little Critter book, bubbles, Little People, scented chapstick, and sidewalk chalk. Honestly? With the exception of the "lipstick" (chapstick), which you seized immediately, you weren't overly interested in the basket goodies. Distracted, you were just sure that Easter Bunny had hidden a few more eggs somewhere....

And not to be forgotten, when I ask you to give me "the eyes," this is the expression I get:

This month and always, we love and adore you.