A reminder...

Today I need a reminder about why I love being a mom. Its been a tough few days. Brian left about two weeks ago for his last set of work ups, and par for the course, Meredith got sick and went on nap strike. This time though, I was lucky enough to get sick right along with her. I'm pretty sure she has croup, and that I have the adult version. She's not having breathing issues, just the coughing, so I've decided not to see the doctor yet since from all my reading on it there's nothing they can do to treat the cough. Today she only napped for the first hour then woke up coughing. I was passed out on the couch since whatever my sick is, is making me ridiculously lethargic. This was after battling with her to eat her breakfast (which has been like every meal for the past two weeks... she pushes her plate away and yells "I'M DONE!" and looks me right in the eye and says "NO!" when I tell her she needs to take more bites.) Sometimes I'm not such a fan of her being two. Today was one of those days.

So I decided I needed a reminder. Because as I wrote those words to Brian in an email today (not being a fan of age two) I realized that's so not the truth. Two is really such an amazing age. Its trying, for sure, but my baby is becoming such a little person and has changed SO much since her second birthday.

I went to pick her up from preschool on Thursday and she had her spare shirt on. She had spilled water on the one she went to school in, so they'd changed her. The shirt was SO small on her, and I said that I guessed it was about time to bring in a new spare set of clothes. One of the teacher's assistants said how much Meredith had grown just since Christmas break. The main teacher was right there and said "She hasn't only grown physically either, she's become so much more involved in class and so much more outgoing". It just made me so happy to hear that. It makes me happy every day when I drop her off and she runs off comfortably and plays, secure in the fact she knows I'll come back for her. I love that she tells me about her morning at preschool on the way home... mostly telling me how she played trains (even though I know she does much more than just play trains!). I love that she's starting to make friends and how I can really see her becoming her own person. Its an amazing age.

So we battle with the "no"s and the "I do not want it"s and I realize that as frustrating as it can get, she's just asserting her independance, and that is always cool to see.

And at the end of the night we have bathtime, which is almost always a battle free zone. And after bathtime we get all her squeaky toys dry and she crawls out into a towel in my arms, and we sing a song. I let her request it, and its almost always "sunshine song", which has been one of the songs I've used to calm her ever since she was born. And we sit and rock and snuggle and sing. And every day at the end of the day, no matter how hard it was, I am reminded why I love being a mother. Because I have this amazing little person, who, for as bullheaded and independant as she is, still loves to be snuggled and sang to by her mama.