until the blow-out, Little Mermaid, my-little-mama’s-turning-two birthday party.

Liv is 23 months old today and there are still moments during every single day that I look at her and see my baby despite the fact that she is swiftly becoming my big girl. The sound of her voice literally melts my heart, and she successfully uses it to get anything and everything she wants.

Her speech is pretty advanced. She has this nasally, soft voice that speaks in complete sentences and can go on and on for hours. I beam with pride when she says excuse me, please and thank-you. Her expressive nature is evident in her description of dinner…”delicious.” She flips out if I come in to get her from her nap and I have nice clothes (as in clothes that look different from the crap I wore to the pool in the morning) and shoes on. She will say, “I want a dress and shoes on, Mama. Where are we going?” I’m entirely convinced that she would be perfectly happy to be on the go every minute of the day.

She loves playing with Kade, and it has evolved into “real” play, not just the “mom, Liv took my toy” stuff. They play house together and feed, dress, and zoom their baby around in the doll stroller. Kade calls LIv, M.J., and they act out action scenes from Spiderman. Liv’s favorite activity is jumping on Kade’s bed and snuggling under the covers in order to read story after story.

She knows more people at the pool than I do. When we walk into lessons the parents all say, “Hi, Liv,” and wave and carry-on as I follow behind her, amazed at her ability to mesmerize a crowd. She wants to be everyone’s friend.

Kyle’s grandfather used to sing the song, “Animal Fair,” to him growing up and it has been passed down to our children. Liv likes to interject the sound effects, and she does the cutest sneeze. I just hope she doesn’t become distraught when she finally realizes that the song ends with the monkey’s demise…heartwrenching, I know.

She also does a rendition of “Take Me Out to the Ballgame,” complete with a bu-bum at the end. The most adorable thing though is how she attempts to sing along to the radio in the car. It’s so funny to hear her little voice chime in.

She is in love with princesses, and living in a house with a 4-year-old brother, I have no idea where this obsession came from. She has been asking for a Little Mermaid party for about 3 months now. Her favorite books are the “Fancy Nancy” series so I had planned on doing a party with that theme, but her demands for all things Ariel are adamant so I must concede.

I don’t mind fulfilling her 2-year-old dreams. She tells Kade, Kyle, and I multiple times a day that she loves us. She gives the best “nose-nose-kisses” in the Midwest, and she makes me smile just thinking about her. I love you, baby girl.