Two turning two

Last night, five minutes after tucking Samantha and Amelia into bed and turning off the lights, I heard the undeniable sounds of giggling and the pitter patter of feet running across the bedroom floor. After fifteen minutes in which the girls were clearly not sleeping, I burst open the door to re-tuck them into bed. What I saw could only make me laugh, even though it had been a long day and I was ready to NOT see them until the morning.

As soon as I opened the door, both girls jumped in the air in surprise, clutching the purses they had received for their birthdays, which they had presumably spent the past ten minutes filling with bows stolen from the closet. ALL the drawers from the dresser had been pulled open and clothes were strewn everywhere, the monitor had been pulled from the plug and two very guilty-looking little almost-two-year-olds were gleefully scampering toward their beds.

“GET BACK TO BED,” I half-whispered, half-shrieked while chasing across the room. Still giggling, S and A waited for me to pull up the covers and place their Aden + Anais blankies and Wubs next to them, giving me their most “angelic” looks possible. As I looked into their eyes and kissed them goodnight again, their blue eyes looked up at me, seeming to say, “How could you possibly get mad at us?” And they were right.

Until they were at it again ten minutes later.

For the next thirty minutes, I listened to the girls playing, giggling and creating messes I didn’t want to deal with until morning and waited for them to collapse in exhaustion, which they eventually did. As I listened to their toddler shenanigans, it hit me that S and A really are as “two” as any two-year-olds could be.

Gone are the days of semi-toddler, semi-babyhood. Gone are the days of telling people their ages in months. They will now be paying customers on airplanes. Their cribs have been sold off or in storage in the garage. Undies and pull-ups have replaced diapers. The last vestiges of their babyhood– their Wubs and blankies– are still in daily use, but even those will surely fade away into history as the year wears on.

I’m not wistful or complaining or lamenting the fact that time is going by way too fast. I’m merely acknowledging that we now have two who are two and making a pledge to myself to savor all that being two will entail in the coming year.

Even as I type this, the thought of two turning two is slightly terrifying, but while I have no idea what awaits us this year, I am excited. Excited to see how the girls will grow. Excited to see how their individuality develops. Excited to see how their relationships with each other will develop. Excited to experience life through two two-year-olds’ curious eyes.

Jake and I feel doubly blessed that we get to come along for the ride.

Happy 2nd birthday to our sweet girls, Samantha and Amelia. We love you so much!