Ellen and Kevin Williamson's Family Blog: Rebecca is 2!

Earlier this month, Rebecca turned 2. Our girl is 2! The little newborn I brought home from the hospital is now 2.

We celebrated her birthday much as we did last year, with a small party at home with family and a few friends. The kids had a great time playing with their friends and we enjoyed catching up over dinner with everyone. Rebecca's still not quite to the point of playing interactively with the other kids but she does enjoy their company a lot.

Her birthday brought a few other milestones as well. First, a real haircut. Last year I trimmed the back to keep it from getting too mullet-y but recently it had gotten long and I wasn't quite sure what to do with it. I mentioned it to my stylist, who has a daughter too, and she offered to trim Rebecca's hair for me. Rebecca sat in my lap facing me as the stylist trimmed away. I think the end result turned out pretty well. She looks more like a little girl and less like a baby. She's always been beautiful but it's fun to see her features take shape more and see her look more and more like herself, if that makes sense.

Last week also brought Rebecca's first day of preschool. Even before she was born we've always planned for her to join Daniel at Apostles Day School shortly after her second birthday. So now on weekday mornings, Kevin dresses two kids in blue pants and red shirts and drops them off, and every afternoon, I pick them both up.

So far, school is going well. She took a little longer to warm up to her classroom teachers than the extended care ladies; not a surprise, given that she's seen the extended care teachers on a regular basis when she's come with me to pick up Daniel, but hadn't spent as much time with the toddler class teachers. Her first day she was shy about using the potty in front of her classroom teachers (yes, she's largely potty-trained during daytime hours now, thanks largely to her nanny, Gena's, efforts) but she's warmed up to them more over the rest of the week, at least if her daily potty chart is any indication. When I pick the kids up from extended care she's happily playing with other kids, and so very proud to carry her school bag by herself like big brother does.

Here we are snuggling on her last day at home before school:

She's so proud of that bag that she also wants to hold it in her lap on the drive home. One day she pulled a colorful soccer program flier out of the bag and Daniel, thinking it was stickers, used various forms of persuasion to try to get her to share them with him:

"Rebecca those aren't just your stickers, those are your stickers AND my stickers."

"You have to share! Because I'm your big brother. And I love you!"

"Rebecca, give them to me, do you understand?"

I must admit, it's funny to hear him get annoyed when she doesn't do what he asks. Must be frustrating when someone doesn't listen ;)

While we're excited about Rebecca starting school it's a bittersweet milestone too. As the song says, every new beginning comes from some other beginning's end. Her starting school meant she isn't home during the day anymore, and that Gena isn't at the house 3 days a week anymore. When we posted an ad on Care.com we couldn't have hoped it would work out as well as it did, but she proved to be a wonderful fit for our family. The kids adore Gena and while we plan to ask her to babysit often, I know all of us, especially Rebecca, will miss seeing her on a regular basis.

At her 2 year checkup earlier this month Rebecca weighed in at 23lb 3 oz and stood 34.25in tall, good for 9th and 65th percentiles. She's a healthy girl and the pediatrician was pleased with her development.

Her latest big development is potty training. She began to show interest last fall and once January rolled around we became more deliberate about offering the potty. A few weeks ago we switched from diapers to panties during awake times and most days she has only one or two accidents, if any. Naps and nighttime are still in diapers and will be until she learns to hold it longer and begins consistently waking from sleep dry. We may still have a ways to go but I'm impressed at her progress so far.

She is also still a good napper, napping 1-3 hours more afternoons than not. Don't know how long that will last, but we'll enjoy it so long as it does!

She remains as cuddly and affectionate as ever and will lean over to ask for "more kiss." Her favorite place to sleep? "Sleep Daniel room!" Of course, most nights they start out together but have to be separated, but it's cute that they want to be together.