My baby girl is turning 2 years old!

I'm sitting here on the eve of Inara's second birthday thinking back to when I was pregnant, how much I LOVED being preggo, how anxious I was to meet my daughter, and how scared I was that I wouldn't know how to raise a child. Here I am now about to celebrate my baby girl turning 2. Has it really been 2 years already? All I can say is I am in awe. In awe of how amazing Inara Grace is. In awe of how comfortable I feel now as a mom. In awe that 2 years have already gone by. In awe of how much I 100% adore my daughter. She truly is the coolest person I've ever met.

During the last couple weeks, I've really taken the time to sit back and enjoy Inara and our relationship. 2 years have flown by. I can't imagine how fast the next 16 years are going to go. Before I know it, she's going to be graduating high school and going off to college and my baby will no longer be a baby. Well, I know I'm always going to call her my baby, but our lives will never been as simple as they are right now.

Inara has really started to blossom into an independent girl. She wants to do so much on her own, yet also wants to be just like mommy. She really is my shadow day in and day out, continuously wanting to help me with chores and daily tasks. Whether it be doing the laundry, sweeping, or picking out groceries, she's always eager to help. Along with this desire to help, Inara is also really starting to become more and more independent. Just the other day I had picked out an outfit for her, which she scoffed at and, instead, asked to wear her Mickey Mouse shirt. I then proceeded to find a pair of pants to go with the shirt and she responded with, "No mommy. Different pants." I obliged and asked her if another pair of pants met her approval. Finally after the third pair of pants, she accepted. This was a first! Inara picked out her first outfit. I didn't get frustrated but instead welcomed her expressing her own opinion. I was actually so excited that this happened. I want her to feel like she has a say in some things. I will reserve the battles for other more important issues, clothes not being one of them.

Inara has officially started imaginative play. For awhile now, we've been playing marketplace. She loves when I push her toy shopping cart and come grocery shopping at her little Fisher Price food stand. She's really starting to get more and more into playing kitchen and making food for me. When I'm making dinner, she loves to bring me something she's made in her kitchen. I always make a big deal about it and act surprised that she made me something. It's so important to encourage such play. The other big imaginative play she's getting into is babies. She loves to bathe her babies, feed them, rock them, etc. I'm so glad she got a few new babies for her birthday, because now is the time for her to really get into using her imagination, particularly with babies. I've also noticed when we play together, she's starting to show more and more concern for the well-being of her toys/babies and along with this me as well. If I hurt myself, she's so concerned and wants to know what happened. I LOVE that she's becoming such a caring, compassionate person. This is one of the most important characteristics to me and love watching her grow in this way.

A huge milestone was met two weeks ago when Inara started preschool. Yes, I know she's only two, but I strongly believe this will be a wonderful experience for her. She will be going one day a week from 9:30am-2:30pm. There are 10 students in the class. They have arts & crafts, music class, storytime, playtime outside and in the classroom, snack, lunch, and naptime. It's a longer day than I had initially wanted to start her off with, but the school she got into comes highly recommended, and we got called from the wait list, so I didn't want to pass it up. On her first day of school, I walked in the class with her and played for a few minutes in hopes of helping ease the crying. She did cry for a few minutes, but as I stood in the hall, I could hear her stop crying and the teacher's assistant peered through the door and told me all was well. When I picked her up after school, I could tell she had been crying, but she survived her first day as did I. I had forgot to mention to the teachers that Inara takes a pacifier during naptime, but Miss Kristina told me, "Oh Inara came up to us as we were getting ready for nap and said binky please." Thank goodness I had remembered to pack one in her backpack. (It's been about a month now that Inara is only allowed a pacifier for nap and bedtime and she's doing fantastic transitioning.)

Last Friday I took Inara for her 2nd day of preschool. This drop-off was much more tear-filled, but I had to just walk away and know she was in good hands. When I picked her up this time, she sobbed a bit when she say me, but then she gave her teacher Miss Steph and the assistant Miss Kristina hugs and waved good-bye to all her classmates. Both teachers reassured me and said she did fantastic this week and was getting much better. Hallelujah! Then Friday night something amazing happened. We were driving back from dinner when suddenly Inara says, "Papa Bear. Papa Bear." I asked her who was Papa Bear. She then told me, "Miss Steph read Papa Bear book." I was soooo excited: Inara was sharing with me something she learned in school. I couldn't have been prouder of her than I was at that moment. And I couldn't have been prouder of myself either for enrolling her in preschool. I think this experience is going to be fantastic for her.

Inara and I have been working on quite a lot of skills at home as well. I am so impressed that she can count to 10 before turning 2. This seems like such a huge skill for her to have at such a young age. I could be wrong, but I'm really impressed. We work on colors and the alphabet all the time. She's getting better and starting to memorize some colors and letters. Pink and yellow seem to be her favorite colors to call out. She can also tell me people's names that begin with specific letters. One thing we've been working on for awhile that I'm most proud of is manners. I love that Inara says please and thank you so often. When she makes a mistake, she always apologizes too, even if for the smallest thing. I'd rather her acknowledge her mistake and apologize, then not even be phased by it and be rude. Lastly, as to be expected, Inara's vocabulary is booming. I know a lot of this has to do with the fact that I talk to her non-stop and teacher her new words. I think it's important to take the time to sit and tell her what things are called. She totally surprised me the other day when she called out Colorado in the car. I then noticed the state flag was on a flagpole in front of us. I've been pointing out the US and Colorado flags for awhile now. This was the first time she identified the state flag all on her own. I was so proud of her. It's little things like this that truly amaze me. Inara is SO smart! Her range of knowledge seems so impressive to me. When we talk, we can have little conversations now and she demonstrates all day long that she comprehends new things she's learning every day.

I keep saying it and will say it again. I once thought that a lot happens from birth to one year old, but there's a thousand times more growth from one to two years old. I have absolutely loved all the changes Inara has gone through this past year and am excited for all the new experiences the upcoming year holds. I can't say it enough...I'm in complete awe of my baby girl. She is growing up so fast and becoming a truly beautiful girl inside and out. I feel so lucky and blessed to have brought such a wonderful person into the world and can't wait to see what amazing things she's going to do in her life. Happy birthday sweet pea. Know that Mommy loves you more than you could ever imagine. Thank you for being such an amazing daughter. Hugs and kisses forever and ever.