2.5

Sugarplum is two and a half. I don't have any particularly profound thoughts for this half-anniversary, so I'll just share some observations.

• Meredith has some SERIOUS vocabulary. Her verbosity is the most exhausting element in my life right now. As a mostly-introvert and a person who has always treasured silence, I find myself veering towards madness sometimes, desperate for a respite. Yesterday morning she was going on and on about parallelograms, for the love of Pete. I'm certainly not complaining, because it's a tremendous blessing to be able to share so much with her. But, oh, the sweet silence of naptime.
• I think I've shared this, but the thing that Meredith is not so great at is spacial relations. That would be my genetic fault. She'll get all ready to do a somersault. Only problem is, she's 6 inches from the wall and facing it. We're working on it.
• When there are thunder storms, as there have been in great abundance this spring, Meredith sleeps with us, with her hands clamped over her ears. She won't move them and sleeps that way for hours. She can also sleep with blankets over her face. I think she has her Aunt Beth's ability to shut out the world in order to sleep well, oxygen be darned.
• When Chris and I have the occasional spirited "discussion," Meredith can be counted on to pipe up from the backseat, the living room, or wherever she may be with a "don't have bad behavior!" Her tone is hilarious...as if she is shocked and surprised and really expected better of us. As she should. I assure you, it gets us into line immediately.
• Mer loves to dance, especially if the music is nice and loud. She often sits on the kitchen counter while I'm making lunch and asks if I would like some "myookit." (We're not correcting her insane pronunciation of this word, cause we love it.) She then carefully selects the cd and starts the myookit, and then sometimes asks me to dance with her. Last night at the Young Avenue Deli, some kind soul played several Chuck Berry songs (the selections are often more, um, raucous.) She and Walt danced their hearts out in doorway of the Deli. We're not certain that's the rep the Deli is going for, but it's been a dull, rainy week in Memphis and we figured some joy needed spreading.
  

So that's some news. Here are some pics. Recently, Meredith was indulging herself in a tear through her drawers. She loves to pull everything out and put together fabulous outfits. So I walked in and she said, "I'm looking for tights so I can be a ballerina." How she knew that tights are part of the ballerina kit is beyond me, but her question reminded me of the wonderful ballerina costume her Marme had sent a few months ago. I thought it might fit and went to get it. How much fun is it to watch a child unwrap something that you know they will find magical? And she did find it magical and we put it on immediately. She was radiant.

Now it's all fine and well for Mom to admire the costume, but what Mer really needed was some appreciation from her Dad. As soon as she had twirled a few times, she ran downstairs to find him. He was outside working in the front yard, and it was a cool day, so for a long time, she just stood at the front door, watching him and willing him to see her.

Finally, it was too much, and she begged to go see him. She flew out the door and down the driveway. As I'm sure you can imagine, he reacted with the appropriate glee. Thanks to Marme for the magic!