Lauramae is 2!!!

As a Mom, I hate birthdays.  They make me cry.  I can't believe my sweet little baby girl is 2 today.  The days don't pass quickly but the months & years do.  To say that Lauramae is a joy would be an understatement.  From the moment I found out I was pregnant with her there was joy.  After infertility, being one of "those" people with kids close together was amazing to me.  Sure, that first year was crazy and I felt like I just did what I needed to do to survive but that's mostly over now.  Speaking of joy, I think that should have been part of her name.  She was the happiest baby and she's generally happy now.  She has always let you know if she's offended or irritated but thankfully that doesn't happen often.  We call her the "Whambulance" because when she gets hurt (and the poor baby falls down SO much still), it sounds like a siren!  While she is two now, she will gladly tell you, "I baby" and for right now, she is the baby and she'll always be my baby even when she's 50.  We're still clinging to the paci.  No child of mine has had theirs this long and really it's my fault she still has it.  Yesterday morning she woke up early and kept trying to stuff the paci into her pajama top.  I took that as a clue that she wasn't ready to get up and put her back in bed.  I try to limit paci to bed but the little sneaker likes to grab it out of bed whenever she can.  She remains the easiest child to put down for the night/nap.  You can't cuddle her at bed time; she lunges towards the crib because she's ready to sleep.  She loves her siblings and they love her, too.  Coralee has always been the second mother and there are times when I don't give Lauramae enough sympathy so she'll go to her sister for more.  She & Lincoln play together well for the most part but there are times when he's mean to her or she hits him or steals his toys.  Like Coralee, she's a talker.  Recently we were at Firehouse Subs and she grabbed Ken's face and said, "I want cookie".  This is similar to her "I want taco" & "I want see outside" when we went camping in March.  As for food, she's a good eater for the most part.  She seems to be coming out of her voluntarily gluten limited diet.  Not sure why she hasn't liked bread but she hasn't. Kind of makes lunch time difficult when you cut out all sandwiches & anything on a tortilla!  She is in full baby obsession mode.  We had friends over the other day and she wanted so badly to hold their baby girl.  Yesterday we took Lincoln in for an ear infection and she could hardly contain herself with all the babies in the sick room.  One thing she doesn't like much at all is dogs.  Of course, what did we get last week?  A dog.  And a big one at that.  She does gradually get used to them and they're acceptable but generallly she doesn't want to pet them or get too close.  She'll tell my sister's dogs, "Stay" and "No".  I don't really blame her.  I'd be afraid of anything close to my size (or bigger) jumping above my head!  As is the norm for Cotton babies, she has come out of her first year tiny-ness.  I don't know where she'll be on the charts tomorrow for height but she will be on them.  We got out of going to the endocrinologist for height issues after she grew a good bit in two months.  She just wanted to make sure that all of the pediatricians & nurses in the office knew about our kiddos' strange growth patterns.  Weight wise, she's probably 7 pounds lighter than her big brother (who is a skinny little thing).  Our kids chunk up in the second year and then settle in to a spot on the charts.  As crazy as it may sound, we are on the potty train with her.  The crazy child (in her attempt to solidify her favorite child status) stays dry at night and nap and for that matter, most of the day.  Our stubborn streak is about actually putting the pee/poo in the potty.  It's an odd place to be since the other two were more of a struggle to get on the potty and we had accidents for a good while.  She may be done before Lincoln.  Insert Momma slapping her head & saying "Doh!" in frustration.   Like her big sister, Lauramae is a social butterfly (with moments of shyness).  We went to the Veteran's Day Parade in Austin last fall and she plopped herself down in a strangers lap.  I mean, she talked to me, seemed nice and I just wanted a better view.  The ladies at the Y & teachers at church talk about how loving she is.  She'll back up and sit down on your lap.  Last weekend we had family in town for her birthday party and she walked around the room giving hugs.  Such sweetness!  Oh, I just love this little girl!  I am so thankful that God gave her to our family!