A Piece of Cake

The day started at 6am and it was cold and wet outside. I drove to work in the dark, with the snow and the light of the moon reflecting off of my windshield.

 

The baby hadn’t been awake and so no butterfly kisses were passed between us. Sometimes it’s easier that way, sometimes it’s harder.

 

Walking into the office I remembered the reminder note I was supposed to leave for Dhrumil… to remember his computer. The very thought was just escaping my mind when I stopped dead in my tracks. I had forgotten my own.

 

Now that was a first. I’m the one who doesn’t forget things…

 

No matter, I stepped into one of my company’s glass boxes… a sound proofed room that holds those who need focus. A dry erase board and computer were my only companions. I felt like a fish in a tank. A corporate tank.

 

Sifting through my emails my eyes kept darting to the clock, imagining what was going on at home. Mikayla was now eating an egg, she was now getting dressed, my mom just came and Dhrumil was leaving for work.

 

The workday passed with ease and I was back in my car, though light now the gray of the day was dulling to the senses.

 

Walking into a home where a toddler has been let loose for half a day is still a bit of a shock to me. Taking a deep breath as I surveyed the array of toys that were taking over our small dwelling, the dishes drying on the counter and the books pilled in the corner I made my way into the house.

 

Mikayla was ready for her nap and attached to grandma. Who could blame her? She isn’t even two yet… it’s ok if she wants me to go back to work so she can continue to play. Mommy coming home meant it was time to go to sleep. I wouldn’t be human if I didn’t say I was a little sad not to have her run to me… but how much can one really ask from a toddler?

 

Mikayla asleep, my mom in need of a train to catch. I walked the dog, waiting patiently in the rain while he did his “recreation” as my mom calls it. I call it sniffing every inch of the ground to find a spot unmarked by animal which will then be given the mark of the beast. The rain fell softly on my coat almost as if a mist were enveloping me. I took a moment to clear my head.

 

My thoughts caught me… again… there was a house to straighten, dinner to cook, muffins to bake for work, a daughter to play with and give my undivided attention to, a shower to take. The list was endless. It started to overtake me. Then I saw it… a small piece of cheesecake leftover from the indulgence of the weekend. My mind became silent. Pure joy took over my senses and the want of the day dissolved into the pure decadence only the Cheesecake factory could deliver.  And then the moment was gone.

Sprouting Wings

Is my baby girl really 2 months away from being 2 years old!? I now understand how hard it will be to let your child go… with each day I feel I am already having to let go, if only a little. Every time Mikayla says “Mimi do it” a bit of independence shines its way through the baby and brings her that much closer to leaving the nest.

Ok I am sounding a bit melodramatic… it’s not like she will be going to College tomorrow… so I am going to remain in the NOW!

Mikayla’s language skills have been exploding. About a month ago she said her first sentence “Dada do it”  which I missed since I was at work, but oh well. It was cute hearing the story from Dhrumil who was an extremely proud papa.

At the present, though still sounding a bit like Yoda, she has started to say other short sentences. She is also becoming a pro at mimicking words we say (making me double think words such as “crap”) and pointing at an item, proudly saying its name, then looking at us with a huge smile knowing how intelligent she is, but waiting for us to confirm this fact.

Her "CHEESE" face

The one word which Mikayla is having trouble with, or should I say has chosen not to say, is her name. I can’t even remember when, but a while ago she started calling herself Mimi. We are not sure where this came from except when listening to Veggies Tales one day she started saying “ME” and I guess it just turned into Mimi. Anyways this is how our conversation goes…

EB – Point to myself “mommy”

M – “Mommy”

EB – Pointing to Mikayla “Mi”

M – “Mi”

EB - “Kay”

M – “Kay”

EB – “La”

M – “Mimi!!!”

 

I wonder how long that will last? Well we now refer to her as Mimi. Oh one thing… is it just Mikayla or do all toddlers refer to themselves in the 3^rd person? In our house this snowballs into Dhrumil and I referring to ourselves, each other and Mikayla in the third person. I have been trying to catch myself lately, but it’s hard not to get caught up in the play of “Mommy is going to make Mimi food and then Mimi is going to eat the food” which Mikayla would then reply “Mimi food eat!”

Mikayla’s loves at the moment:

-          Butterfly kisses given by mommy, and      giving them in return

-          Reading! Still!! 

-          Playing with her kitchen

-          Yogurt! Still!! 

-          Swinging  and sliding at the park (last weekend we spent 20 minutes at the swing!)

-          Trains

-          Christmas lights

-          Her Pop Pop and Gee Gee

-          Running and tumbling with Daddy

-          Stickers

-          Blocks

-          Her stuffed animals (they rotate favor with her)

-          Playing QUEEN, we drape a blanket on her shoulders and she walks around 

           triumphantly while we bow and make trumpet noises to announce her

-          Dancing! Still!!

-          Saying her numbers (usually only in order up to 5 :), letters and colors

The life of a mother of an almost 2 year old? Challenging yet rewarding, exhausting yet rejuvenating, filled with love!

 

Every time I see Mikaya’s precious face, I cannot but marvel at the beautiful little person I helped create. Mikayla is sprouting wings and as tough as it may be for me to let go, I pray I can fully equip her to be ready to fly one day!

Playing Horsey

He did it!

Hooray!

I have yet to document a very important event that happened in our family. I think it was because it happened in the middle of the Christmas rush. Well now I am taking the time…

 

DHRUMIL GRADUTED!

 

Yes! It is true!! No more papers, tests, homework or nights and days away… Dhrumil now has his MBA and I couldn’t be prouder!

It is hard to believe that he began this journey BEFORE we were married. Throughout school Dhrumil had to juggle a new marriage, moving 4 times, becoming a parent, not sleeping for 15 months and working full time! He did it in an excellent way and graduated with 1 B short of straight As! What a great example for Mikayla to see what her dad accomplished.

The sign Mikayla and I made for Dhrumil

He was greeted with Champagne and warm cookies

A Very Merry Vacation

It is hard to believe Christmas has come and gone and it is 2012! This year we didn’t have to make the long trek to Indiana and for the first time since Dhrumil and I have been married we celebrated Christmas in Connecticut. We both had almost two weeks off and had a wonderful time being with Mikayla all day long!

 

We started our vacation off by attending my brother in law’s brother’s wedding. This Summer we got to know Ted and his new wife Heather on a family vacation our family took with Clinton’s and Heather’s families. Attending the wedding was particularly special to me since Heather borrowed my veil. She looked beautiful in it and I was happy to have the veil used once again (my sister also used it).

The Happy Couple!

 This was also Mikayla’s first wedding and she did great. During the ceremony she spent most of the time in the back of the sanctuary and one memorable moment was when she yelled “YEA!” after a song was done. 

Mikayla has strawberries all over her face :)

It was nice to all be together!

We got home Christmas Eve afternoon and I was starting to develop a cough and wasn’t feeling so hot. Mikayla had just gotten over an ear infection and was almost over a bad cough. Mommy always gets the wonderful presents of sickness from little girl. I was determined though that sickness and exhaustion would NOT keep us from attending our churches Christmas Eve service and we enjoyed singing Christmas Carols with a squirmy girl and coughing mommy. On the way home Mikayla entertained us with her “TREE TREE” obsession with any Christmas lights she saw. That evening Dhrumil and I began to create Brunch that we were going to serve the next day. We also moved the play kitchen into position and covered with a blanket , excited to see Mikayla’s face the next morning.

The Kitchen

Christmas morning came and we read the Christmas story from Mikayla’s Bible and she added baby Jesus to the manager scene. It was a precious moment. Then the kitchen was revealed and to our delight Mikayla seemed very excited by it.

Too excited to look at the camera

Ready to celebrate!

We finished up Brunch prep and headed over to our friend’s house to set up brunch and await the arrival of my parents, sister and brother in law. They were all in the city for my dad’s Christmas morning service. Our friends Nancy and Justin graciously let us use their house since Clinton is allergic to our dog and we had a wonderful time there.

 

Brunch came out perfectly with rave reviews and Dhrumil and I were proud of it especially since we had been planning the menu for weeks. The menu was:

Honey Glazed Ham

Oven roasted potatoes

Vegetable egg casserole

Blueberry almond French toast casserole

Fruit Salad

Gingerbread muffins

Banana chocolate chip bread

Yummy food!

  The family voted that we would be doing this every year…

 

Highlights from the day included Mikayla playing piano with my dad, the company of Christina and Clinton, my mom’s “bag” of gifts and Mikayla’s gift opening skills (very slow and precise!) 

 

The whole week after Christmas was a blur since I ended up getting a terrible cough and had to go on antibiotics. We were supposed to go into the city a bunch of times that week to be with my family and also to go see the Nutcracker, but I was stuck on the couch hacking up a lung while Dhrumil entertained Mikayla.. I was really bummed, but I think Mikayla enjoyed 100% focus on her from mommy and daddy and much playing with her new kitchen.  Mikayla did get hives at the end of the week, but thankfully they didn’t seem to bother her.

Na and Uncle visited on one of our "sick" days

Her heart belongs to Uncle Clinton!

On New Year Eve we headed into the city and Mikayla got to take her second ever train ride. She did amazing and loved every minute! We headed over to my parent’s home of the week on Roosevelt Island and enjoyed the beautiful view of the East River from the apartment’s many large windows. My dad graciously watching Mikayla while the rest of us when to our Christmas present to see Godspell. And while I wasn’t concentrating on not coughing, I enjoyed the show immensely! I highly recommend! After the show we were caught in midtown with some of the New Years crowd which was INSANE! Sadly my New Year’s Eve story ends with us going to bed at 10:30pm… oh well it is what it is.

On the way to see Godspell

Telling Geegee something

On the Tram to Roosevelt Island

So bring on 2012, my 30^th birthday, our 5 year anniversary, Mikayla's second birthday and the move further away from childhood.

Through the eyes of a toddler

Have you ever wondered what people look like to an almost 2 year old? Well now you get a chance to dive into the brain of a little munchkin!

 

To preface this awe inspiring discovery…

 

Mikayla loves to read books… whether we are reading to her or she is reading to herself… books are one of her favorite pastimes. It gives me great joy to see her delight in books, especially when she giggles at a favorite part or sits down on the floor and “reads” out loud in nonsensical  sentences.

 

Being one who was part of theatre growing up and who competed in high school reading snap shots of children’s books, I especially enjoy reading in many voices and giving life to the characters. And when I don’t think I can read Jake’s Big Adventure for the tenth time in a row, I give the narrator a new accent and achieve an unspoken goal in my head to top it the next time.

 

But enough about me and how I read… back to the brain of an almost 2 year old! A few months ago I was reading to Mikayla out of a Little Golden Book that used to be mine when I was little. The particular book was a collection of Mother Goose Rhymes and I am not sure what it is about those rhymes… but Mikayla could listen to them over and over again. (on a side note… some of those rhymes are a little PG rated… like the one where the man didn’t say his prayers so the goose threw him down the stairs. Hello! I change the words when I get to that one) I was giving a particular good performance of “sing a song of sixpence a pocketful of rye” when all of the sudden Mikayla pointed to the old woman holding the pie and replied “GeeGee” which is her word for my mom. I paused for a second to which she again pointed to the woman and said “GeeGee.” I asked her if that woman was GeeGee and she replied “YES!” Every time we read that book now she points out GeeGee.

GeeGee!

For Christmas my sister got Mikayla her newest favorite book, Knuffle Bunny. This is an adorable book for Mikayla because she is very attached to her own bunny. Within the past week every time we read the part where the baby and her daddy are in the park she point to a jogging couple and says “Mommy, Dadas” to which I ask her… “that’s mommy and daddy”? “YES!”Hmm maybe she has aspirations of us exercising this year. 

Daddy and Mommy

So there you have it… what we look like through Mikayla’s eyes! Seen any resemblances?