Folie A Deux

Dear Violet

Holy crap, you’re 21 months old. I can’t believe it. I still see you as a baby, and I automatically turn to the baby section of catalogues, but nothing there fits you anymore. You’re a toddler. I have to shop in the toddler section. Part of the problem is your ongoing lack of hair. You still look much younger than all the other kids in day care. But I think this is going to be a problem that plagues me for the rest of my life. I can’t believe how fast it’s going. You’re growing up and I can’t stop it, even for a second. No matter how much I want to stop it. About two weeks ago.

People have been asking me for the past few months whether the terrible twos have started. I thought, my sweet girl? We’ll just be skipping that phase.

But Violet, I don’t think we’re going to be skipping that phase. The past two weeks have tried our patience a little bit. You’ve always had a mind of your own, and now it’s become a bit more your own. We have heard a lot of “MY puppy,” “MY blanket,” “NO,” and seen a few thrown sippy cups. But have you seen your pictures? You could not possibly be any cuter. No toddler in the history of toddlers has ever thrown more adorable tantrums.

I used to dream about being successful, moving on to the next step, graduating with honors, being the best, whatever that means. Now I dream about doing right by you. I hope I’m good enough.

I love you, Violet.

Happy Birthday

Love, Mama

Violet picked out her own clothes today.

It’s been a little bit stormy here for the past couple of days, and I’ve been working half-days, so V and I have had to find fun things to do indoors. PBS doesn’t put out new cartoons every day, which is OK with V. She remembers things for less than a day anyway. But I can’t watch the orangichoke episode of Electric Company more than once. Yesterday we went to the Sprague Public Library, which was a solid success. There were crayons, and paper to color on, books to read, and a stuffed frog twice as big as her. Today we went to the city library, and it was even better. They’ve been wisely spending our $0.50 per year. The bag monster was there today. He was interesting to look at, if a little bit on the aggressive side.The childrens’ section is enormous, with tons of kid size couches and tables. They had a play room set up like the crystal room in Superman and another one set up like an attic with rafters to climb and a balcony. V made a bunch of friends right away, typical. When we left it was sunny outside, so we had a snack on the patio and headed home. It was a really great setting for pictures, but my camera battery went dead shortly after we got there. I got a few.

We live right next to the Olive Garden- walking distance, actually, if you’re interested in a half hour walk before and after dinner. But after a few less than satisfactory dinner visits we gave up on it in favor of Chili’s to satisfy our reasonably-priced chain restaurant dining needs. Then a series of events and an inability to think of anywhere else to eat led us back to the OG on Saturday night. It was a charmed night. Violet was happy eating breadsticks and broccoli, I had a creamy and rich baked ziti, and Matt’s salmon wasn’t overcooked. I think Stan and Karen’s meals were good too, but I was too busy savoring cheese, butter, pasta and heavy cream to really pay attention. After dinner, V and Karen waved at cars from the bench outside while the rest of us enjoyed our dessert. Good food and good company, can’t ask for much more.

Taken right after she played the air guitar while sliding across the floor.