...but you'll be kindly asked to leave...

"This year was puppies, tea parties, babies and dolls,
new words, a few tears and countless laughs and 'phone calls'.
I fake laugh and snore; I 'give eyebrows', run and pray,
and Mom and Dad glimpse two now that I have to have everything MY way.
Please join us to celebrate all that 1 has been and 2 will be.
(But you'll be kindly asked to leave if you even mention 3!)"

This was the invitation to Brooklynn's second birthday party - - - like, YESTERDAY! I cannot believe that she's already going on three. In just over two months I'm going to have a three year old! There's plenty of time between now and then to reflect on the past year, but I thought after an update on Mickey, it was appropriate to follow up with a Brooklynn update.

I can't put her into words in a quick blog. She's a reason I started making the yearly books - I need that planning time to put into words all that I learn from year to year. I mean! ...all that SHE learns from year to year.
I just gotta say, I don't know how I ended up with someone so special. You gottta watch her. You wouldn't understand the stories in written form. She has far too much expression in her sayings and doings than words have been created for. I have absolutely no clue where she gets it. I know what you're thinking...
...but Ryan's taken near three DECADES to hone his dramatic art of storytelling, his flair for the theatrical. She hasn't even had three YEARS on the planet!
There could really be some money in it for just the right stage parent. As soon as I find one, we'll be movin' on up....

In that last picture Brooklynn's doing her I-am-totally-annoyed-by-something-I-can't-even-BELIEVE-you're-dumb-enough-to-have-done face. For short I call it the don't-you-scrunch-your-nose-at-ME face.

To part, some recent two-isms:

*Mom, watch what you're doing with the wagon! You rolled over my foot! You have to be careful. I am VERY FRAGILE!
*In nothing but a diaper she runs up to me on her tippy toes and starts twirling in a circle singing, "My fancypants! My fancypants!" (???what???)
*And, my personal favorite, "Who's on First?" You know the old comedy routine. At our house it goes something like this:

B: Mommy, that is mines.

me: That is mine.

B: No! It's mine!

me: I know it's yours, but you say, 'It's mine, not mines.'

B: It IS mine!

me: I know it's yours.

B: Not yours, mine.

me: I know, but I say it's yours.

B: You said it mine.

me: I didn't say it was mine. It's not mine.

B: IS mine.

me: No, I mean... nevermind.

B: Never yours!

me: Whatever. I give up.