I lay here in the dark next to her sleeping body. My mind returns to two years earlier. At 11:02 pm, I had only begun the long arduous journey of birthing my precious girl. I can still remember those tough bits and pieces. Contractions in the hallway of the hospital, working so hard to make it though the night and into the morning and back into the night again. And then just like that, she was here and I was a mother and Jeff was a father and we never slept again (well, Jeff slept again). The first year went by so quickly. Smiles, cooing, long walks having her tiny body pressed up against mine in the carrier, crawling, walking, talking, playing…And now here we are two years later. This beautiful, smart, challenging, amazing child- a two-year old. Some days we struggle with finding our rhythm. We spend so much time together, morning, noon and night, I am right there with her. Most days we enjoy each others company. She makes me laugh and tickles me with joy. I’m finding, the days of being pressed close in a carrier are fading away. She’ll tells me she doesn’t want to be picked up. She’ll hold my hand instead. She’s a two-year old. Her legs are longer, her body stronger. Words spill out of her mouth quicker than thoughts go into her head. Her eyes light up with amazement at the world around her. She takes everything in and tried to understand it. She’s still very cautious about the people and the things in her world. But, every once in a while, she gets off my lap and jumps head first into whatever excites her.

It’s almost midnight. Two years ago, I had twenty plus more hours to go till her sweet face made its appearance. Oh what a glorious ride these two years have been. I’m certainly looking forward to what 2 has in store.