Dear Sam, You're Two!

Dear Sam,
I can't believe you're 2 years old already. I definitely feel like we have 2 kids in the family and not a kid and a baby. Here's a picture of you from about a year ago:
And from from sometime recently:
You've completely changed and look like a beautiful little girl. You are a huge part of this family. You and your sister play amazingly well together, for which I am grateful on so many levels.
Sometimes you copy Katie but often you do your own thing that Katie thinks is great and so she follows you. You are a strong personality, knowing just want you want and repeating yourself insistently until you get it. Here's a photo from your birthday with Pam's son, D, a very good friend of yours. Whenever they're coming over, you wait by the window excitedly. Actually, you do that for our friends D and M too.
You're so grown up you can hang out by your friends at the kids table. (like here at your birthday, friend W beside you) It can get a bit noisy but you all have a blast being independent.
You are a lucky girl. You love your dad and can't wait for him to come home from work each day. You've been sleeping better just this week (it's been a bit rough for a while...have you been teething? I'm not sure what's been bothering you but I hope it's over...I like my sleep and knowing that you're getting good sleep makes me happy too.) This is you, Katie and dad with a birthday cupcake from the kid party. This is the recipe...these were a good batch. You love to bake with me too. For a while there I couldn't do anything at the kitchen counters without the sounds of you pushing a chair over to help. Fun, but messy. You like to eat raw flour no matter how many times I tell you it's yucky. (surprise, you like to eat raw vegetables, including cauliflour...a nice surprise!)
You can be a very silly girl. The sillier the better sometimes. You and Katie have a whole bunch of inside jokes...one is where you both start chanting something like "A, O, E...SEVEN!!" and break out laughing. You also love to pull the cushions off the chairs and bounce on them. And (I'm shaking my head as I type this...) you have a terribly persistent habit of running/jumping on the couch and chairs. No matter how many times I tell you not to, I know the minute I'm in the kitchen or my back is turned, you'll be back at it. You also like to ham for the camera, like here, a picture from lunch when we had our friend L over. (we watched him when his mom had to work one afternoon...great, napped for 2 hours...you could take a lesson from him about napping...you're not a napper these days...only in the car and occasionally on the chair/couch at 4:30pm..not a good time) You LOVE to read. Sometimes I thought you wouldn't, since you don't always sit for a whole book, you like to be up and down and around, but when playing alone (ie, when I'm busy cleaning/cooking/dishes etc) you often plunk down with a book in your lap and read. Lately you love Fancy Nancy books, the Little Mermaid, Thomas the Train Engine, The Waterhole (which I'm hoping you don't accidentally rip, as it's one of my favorites too). You love music too. Lately you LOVE "You are my Sunshine" by Anne Murray. We went to see Fred Penner at a shopping mall last weekend and you had a good time, but your ears and eyes totally perked up when he sang the Sunshine song, Twinkle Twinkle, and the ABC's...that's our favorite trio of bedtime songs! You do a pretty good job singing ABC's and know some words to the other too. It's magic to hear you sing. Here's a photo of you with Gram and Papa showing off our new curtains. 5.5 years after moving into our house, it's about time! We bought fabric about a year ago and it took a while to get the energy to think about how to put it all together. The secret...Gram and Papa did all the work!...after Gram and I did the math they realized I was going to find it tricky to find time to come and finish it so they surprised me one day. I was flabbergasted and beyond grateful. You love both sets of grandparents and all your extended family. Last weekend you overnight-ed with Gram and Grandpa and they said that both you girls were fabulous. You looked like you'd been having a great time. So...Sam, you are wonderful and amazing and fancy and smart and fun. I can't wait to see what the next year brings us.
Lots of love, mom and dad and everyone.