two years ago right now i was getting an epidural

tonight as we were putting bayli to bed, after a long exhausting sunday, with the last of her cold finally leaving her poor red nose, we read the cat in the hat by dr seuss. well, actually she read it to us. this last month she has gotten very independent with books. she doesn't like me to read them to her. she wants to be the one to point to the cat and say "meow", and then "hat" and "book" and thing two and thing three. (we're working on that one) and fish pronounced "fssss" and my two favorites, "boat" with the "t" and all! and "girl" that sounds more like "gur".
while i was sitting on her bed with her, pointing at different objects on each page, finishing the entire book and doing it all over again... twice. it actually felt like being with a two year old.
i remember every birthday thinking, "well, that was really just another day. i don't feel any older, i don't look any older, yes, i got more attention today, but that was really the only thing different." i always was saddened by this fact. i kept on wanting to feel different, have people view me as older, more mature, and somehow i kept hoping that the change would happen on my birthday and it never did. it always happened slow and steady, and over time, until one day i would look back and realize, i had changed.
not with bayli.
yesterday, she was a one year old, tonight, she turned into a two year old. in her face, in her actions, in everything. she is finally even growing out of her 18 month old clothes!
for example: yesterday, when i wanted to read with her, it wasn't so that she could point out drawings and show off her vocabulary, no no. it was just to talk away in her nonsense gibberish, not wanting me to even look at the pages with her. but not tonight, tonight was special.
i think i'm going to like 2 year old bayli. this year we plan on potty training her, we plan on making her speak in sentences instead of one word with gibberish mixed in. we plan on her learning to eat more at one sitting instead of picking at her food like a bird, we plan on getting more teeth, and growing longer hair.
but if i had to guess, here are a few other things that i think will happen to bayli this year: she will get more and more obsessed with trying to get into mommy's makeup. she will be (or at least want to be) outside all day through out the summer. she will want to give up her nap, but mom won't let her. :) she will become addicted to the movie Frozen instead of Cars. she will become even more of our helper around the house. she will imitate taking pictures like her mom, and finally she will be determined to pick out her outfits everyday.
it is so fun to see her grow and it's crazy how fast it all happens. thinking back to this time two years ago, as garrison and i were facing the inevitable: we were going to become parents, weather we liked it or not. it was so scary, it was so daunting, and once it happened at 9:56am on march 24th 2012... it was so wonderful! it changed us forever, and we could never want to be anything else.
being a parent is the best thing in the entire world. especially to someone as special and beautiful, and easy to take care of as our little, soon to be two year old, Bayli.

happy birthday darling. your mommy loves you so.