Anouk at (almost) 3

 A few days ago, I was checking the date and noticed that Anouk would be turning three in exactly a month. The realization filled me a little bit of nostalgia at what's past, a little bit of curiosity at what's to come, a little bit of apprehension over the birthday itself (this is the first year we're having a party with more than just family and I have no idea what I'm doing).

But mostly I felt determination, that I will try my best to enjoy every one of these last days of having a two-year-old. It's not always easy, as I'm sure anyone who's ever had a two-year-old will attest. But I feel like it's important to try to appreciate it. Am I wrong or does three kind of officially mark the end of babyhood? When your kid is three you can't really say you have a baby anymore, even if that's what James and I still call her when we talk about her -- "the baby."

Anouk at the tail end of two still says things like "ockapuss" for "octopus" and "oh-plane" for "airplane." (But she has distressingly stopped saying "hungen" for "hungry" which makes us a little sad). She can identify all of her letters and numbers but still only has a tenuous grasp on the fact that the latter are supposed to happen sequentially and when you ask her to count to 10, sometimes a fourteen or fifteen will sneak its way in. She thinks her full name is Noukie Ouisa and when you ask whose baby she is she almost always says "I'm MINE" with a sort of duh tone in her voice like, whose else would she be?

Anouk at almost three runs to the window every morning and asks, "Is it spring yet?" She has a deep interest in the seasons, and where things go, which leads her to ask all sorts of impossible-to-answer questions like, "Where is fall?" Anouk at almost three is a serious extrovert -- the saddest day for her is one that we spend in our pajamas, lounging around at home (which is kind of the perfect day for her mother, oh well). She brings out my better angels every day by making me say sorry when I yell at other drivers. Anouk at almost three loves painting, Barbies, trains, and will do almost anything for toddler press-on nails. Lately her favorite color is shifting hues from pale princess pink to a more vibrant red. Anouk at almost three will run into the room to shout, "I LOVE you" and when you ask her what prompted it, will say, "I just thought you should know."

Almost three feels like the cusp of something. Sometimes I can't stop my mind from racing ahead to think about what she'll be like at four, five, six, fourteen, fifteen. But then I remind myself to slow down and enjoy her babyhood -- which is over in just a few more weeks, officially.

Unofficially, well. You know.