Dear Atlas – 2.5 Years Old

Dear Atlas,

You are officially a tad over 2.5 years old and hot dang – you’ve evolved so much! Sometimes when I look these pictures, it seems like we keep swapping out babies for the next upgraded, older version. It’s bizarre how rapidly and beautifully you keep changing.

 

 

Your vocabulary has exploded over the past 6 months! You are now speaking in FULL sentences, not dropping any words and love to explain everything. You love to use the word ‘actually’ and often end your sentences with ‘…so.’ something your dad and I do a lot.

 

We returned from our 6 weeks in Australia a week ago. You grew so much in a new environment, it was amazing to see. You did your first rope course and were so brave! Everything was new, you had a harness and helmet on while everything moved under your feet!

 

 

Even though you said you were scared, you kept going and I am so proud of you for that!

 

 

You have already learned the art of negotiation. When we say “two more minutes left at the playground” you come back and say “five minutes!” Or I say “milk or water with dinner” and your response is usually “both, please!” You’re very good at using your manners. 

 

We are in the midst of learning how to say ‘no, thank you’ when you don’t want something. Sometimes when you’re feeling really frustrated you will blurt out “no thank you please!” to be sure to cover your bases.

 

 

You’ve stopped biting and hitting (mostly me directly in the face) so that’s a huge relief, thaaaank you! You still have lots of big emotions and have picked up using a whiny voice, which pierces my brain. We remind you to use your big girl voice and you do a better job so yay you!

 

You are easy going when plans change and we explain why or when you go off to hang out with different grandparents. You very easily say ‘bye mom and dad’ and off you go. I am grateful we get to be near a lot of our family. I can also pinpoint that it was March 20, 2019 when you woke up from a nap and suddenly started using ‘Why?’ constantly. 

 

 

You are SO excited to be a big sister! About 50% of the time, you still call the baby in my tummy ‘baby sister’ even though it will be your baby brother. You kiss my stomach often and tell him you love him. You also give him your prized lovey Elise, give him other toys or put stickers on my belly for him. I am so excited to watch you love him!

 

You adore being outside and running around with bare feet! Swings are still your favorite and you continue to ask for dessert after every meal. You don’t mind getting your face wet while bathing now. Though it has to be in the shower, your idea and we have to remind you Mowgli gets his hair wet in the waterfall.

 

You are back in swimming lessons and you looove being in the water! You get that from your daddy. You are regularly in the habit of saying to us, ‘let’s go on an adventure!’ and it’s the best thing ever.

 

 

You take after me with your love for snacks and are regularly requesting “Can I have a snack please? What are my choices?” You also appear to have the reaction of a dog that hears a treat bag and comes running. You know when I’ve opened something or am snacking on something and always say, “What’s mama eating? Can I have some please?”

 

You’ve started to initiate saying ‘I love you’ to us and it’s a whole new feeling of love. You are thoughtful, deeply empathetic, curious, observant, clever, funny, independent and kind. We love you deeply. You are changing at such a rapid pace that I want to capture who you are in this moment because I know it will be completely different soon enough.