Just before her second birthday ...

So you have a taste of what Gia's like these days ... well, she's hilarious, affectionate, observant, sensitve, a thoughtful communicator, and she loves to laugh. She's always excited about bathtime, because she gets to run around the house naked ("Gia nekki! Clothes off! Gia running. Daddy chase Gia!") She also loves for us to sing to her, especially when she's processing some of her experiences. She asks us to sing a lot about animals she's met, as well as about some of her friends. We make up lots of silly songs. When we're mid-phrase, she'll feed us words or ideas to incorporate (Red Elmo shoes! Kiki hiding blankie! Gussie lick Gia face!) Here are a few more glimpses into life with Gia:

Yesterday morning as we cuddled in bed, I asked her how she slept. First, she responded, "Nice nap." Then she elaborated about some of what happened: "Mommy come Gia ... Mommy bye bye, mommy gone. Gia cry. Daddy come Gia, Daddy sing Gia. Gia ok."

A conversation from last night:

"Who's birthday is coming up?"
"Gia!" (big smile)
"How old will you be?"
"Two!" (proudly holds up 5 fingers)
"What will we do to celebrate?"
"Sing Gia!"
"Oh, and what will you wear?"
"Hat!" (pats head)

Although we're not having a big birthday party for Gia's 2nd, we got to celebrate with family on New Year's Day, and are bringing in snacks and hats to her school later this week. That's enough for a two-year-old, right?

She continues to be excited about the prospect of her little sister, and will often hug or kiss my belly, tell me what she's going to share with or give to "baby shister," and also tells me that baby will cry, nap, and eat. We'll see what happens in a month when her little sister is actually here! (A month?!)

A few of her phrases from the evening as we talked about the day:

"Park abacus" (There's a big abacus in the climbing structure at the park)
"Gunner photo book soon." (She wants a shot of the bookstore dog, Gunner, in her photo book. She's trying to be patient.)
"Wear strawberry hat!" (She always wants to wear this adorable hat that her cousin Lil found for her. We'll post pictures soon!)

That's it for now. Happy New Year!