Two

The past few months have been a time warp with the move and the baby.  The Heidi in my head still looks like this, from just before we left DC, with her super round face and perfect shoulder-length curls.

Then I looked up and all of a sudden she had stretched out about three inches, her face got thinner, and her now-straight hair goes halfway down her back.  When did she turn into a little kid instead of a baby?

This sunshine child usually wakes up in the morning with laughs and wants to know where everyone is.  She is almost always awake when I go in to get her at 8:00; I think she likes some quiet time to suck her thumb in peace before diving into the day.

We've been staying home more than ever before.  After months of dealing with endless pressing logistics for the move and adjusting to a new baby, I'm seldom inclined to plan outings with multiple kids to new locations that I don't know well.  Heidi could probably do with a little more running and climbing but we're actually enjoying this quiet season at home.  She has been focusing for long stretches on activities around here and I've been pretty good about preparing materials and rotating the items on the shelves for her.

Her favorite things to do around the house are read stories, paint, and do puzzles.  She has started memorizing her favorite books and "reading" them to herself.  She also likes to peruse Southern Living every month (sadly, the gardening advice is not so useful anymore).  She spent hours mastering this peg puzzle.

Our major challenge is that she won't continue working or playing if I move away.  If I sit in one spot, she'll find something to do independently, but as soon as I need to get up and do something else, she freaks out and runs after me.  Woe unto all of us if I try to sneak upstairs to put a drowsy baby in his bed.  I had the exact same challenge with toddler Henry and baby Ingrid.

For the most part, she's still very genial, but boy howdy can she throw a tantrum when she wants to.  The other night we wouldn't let her hold a toy Ingrid had just painted for Frederick and Heidi screamed bloody murder for over an hour.  It doesn't help that Henry gives her everything she wants.  If Karl or I tell her no to something, she immediately goes to find Henry.  There is no such thing as discipline for the beloved thirdbaby.

Our new big sister has been thinking a lot about families.  Any family-like grouping of characters in a book must be assigned a corresponding Reitzling.  If there aren't enough kids to match our family, she invents a reason they're not in the picture -- Frederick is still in your belly, Ingrid is inside napping, Henry is out with Grandpa Dave, etc.  If there are too many kids in the picture, Alden and Nona or Max and Charlotte get roles.  She loves her baby and wants to cuddle him all the time.  She loves her bigs and wants to do everything they do.

She also learned that everyone has two names and spent a full week repeating them over and over.   I could listen to her say "Heidi Johanna" all day.

She isn't eating like a lumberjack anymore and looks so much thinner than she did a few months ago.  I'm sad the toddler chub won't be around for long.  Though she hasn't ruled out entire categories of food like Ingrid did, she's much pickier day-to-day than she used to be.  She gets fixated on one or two foods and eats them ad nauseum for a week or two.  For awhile it was dried blueberries and cherries (she would march into the pantry and demand "BOOBLIES AND CHERRIES").  Then it was bars.  Lately it's cheese and kefir smoothies.

We missed the window on potty training.  She was so interested in the potty in October and November but we just couldn't commit to it during the move, then the baby came, and now she flips out every time we suggest going sans diaper.  Unlike her older siblings, she doesn't like running around naked, which is going to make things harder.  She sometimes needs to be dragged over the finish line, so we may just have to embrace one terrible weekend of potty boot camp and be done with it.

My next big decision is what to do about school in the fall.  She currently has a spot at both the traditional preschool Ingrid is in now and a Montessori nearby.  Berry Patch would be just two mornings a week, Montessori would be five.  She's right on the cutoff for starting Montessori, and though I'm certain she is ready to do first-year work, I'm just not sure she'll be ready to be away from home every day.  She is so much like Henry and I think we traumatized him by pushing school too early.  Plus I sort of want to keep her home with me while she's still two and delightful; I still regret having to send Ingrid off every day when I was enjoying her so much.  The question is whether by this time next year Heidi and I will both wish she was in school.  And starting Montessori this year would mean she could complete the three-year cycle and still start kindergarten on time.  Doing two days a week at Berry Patch would give me a little bit of a break without having her gone all the time, but I don't think she would get much out of it, and the two-day schedule was absolutely terrible for Henry at that age.  I'll have to decide soon since deposits are due next month.

Her birthday was pretty low-key.  We hosted the Reitzes and Widstroms, who are here pretty much every weekend anyway, plus a few Brodersens to make it a party.  I ordered a handful of paper invitations because I can't let a birthday go by without a TinyPrints order.  Heidi was delighted that there were candles in her breakfast, lunch, and dinner on her actual birthday and more candles at her party.  Her gift haul included some cowboy boots that she wears everywhere and a scooter like Ingrid's.  It took her two minutes to figure out how to ride it.  She's remarkably physically adept for a two year old.

I'm curious to see what her temperament is like as we venture out and make more friends this year.  Heidi is so cheery and high-energy, we assumed she would be quite extroverted, but we've noticed lately that she shuts down during large gatherings.  She holds court like a queen if she knows everyone well, but a group of new people sends her to Karl's lap with her thumb in her mouth.  And she completely ignores other children at playgroups.  At this age, Henry would have formed a posse from all these children in the sandbox.  Heidi didn't want to get in at all at first, slowly warmed up to the idea, then shoveled diligently for 90 minutes without ever acknowledging the other kids.

But then she was really sad when we got home and Henry and Ingrid weren't back from school yet. The kid just thinks her own people are the best.  We feel that way about her, too.