I'm crazy about my two year old

Why I'm Crazy About My Two Year Old

- She is potty training herself.

- When my Mary, age four, asks me to turn on the bathroom light so she can use the bathroom, Beth, age two, comes running, excitement spilling over, yelling "I do it!''.  She hoists her tummy up onto the bathroom counter and turns on the light for big sister.

- When I announce a meal time, Beth squeals with glee and runs to her booster seat, trying so hard to fasten her belt by herself.

- When Momma sneaks a handful of chocolate chips from the baking cupboard, Beth instinctively knows, and must have her share.

- She's a crazy sleeper, moving every which way, sometimes even plopping herself onto my shoulder or chest as though they were pillows--giving me the gift of a long, long hug.  All daytime hugs are short....far too short.  Though it will feel good to really sleep well again one day, I'm not in a hurry for her to leave my side at night.  God's grace prevails, knowing I particularly need these memories more than a prescribed amount of sound sleep.

- Her curly light brown hair bounces down her back as she scurries around the house, getting in mischief.  Her scurry is a gleeful gallop--one I'll fondly recall.

- She pushes the wet laundry into the dryer like a champ.

- She removes clean dishes swiftly from the dishwasher, forcing Momma to hurry with the breakables before Miss Beth grabs them, too.

- She colors for three minutes, paints for ten minutes, builds train track for two minutes, plays tea time for six minutes, folds washcloths for four minutes, and finally......she tries on and changes outfits found in her pajama drawer for twenty minutes!  Will she love fashion, do you think?

- Her smile is one-of-a-kind adorable, memorable, dreamy, melting every heart.

- She stays with me most of the day, helping, getting into cupboards and drawers in whatever room we're in, wanting to be a Momma herself.

- When she wakes up in the morning she crawls out of our king bed, grabs my slippers, and either puts them down on the floor just right for me, or, if I don't spring out of bed fast enough, she throws them at me.

- When she strips herself naked, which lately happens seven times a day (remember she's potty training herself?) she loves to run through the house squealing, buck-naked.  At two, she thinks she needs to remove all her clothes to use the potty.

- She dangles off the bathroom counter and puts the toddler toothpaste on the brush herself, brushes, rinses, spits, and then allows Momma to brush them again, for good measure.

- She listens attentively to every word around here, and if leaving the house is talked about, she grabs me and inquires with fervent hope in her eyes, "I go too?"

- She prays at every meal, and though we don't understand most of it, she is delighted with herself and her Jesus.

- She wakes up in the middle of the night at least twice, saying so sweetly, so sleepily,  "Nurse, please?"

Now the tears are flowing..........

The average age to self-wean (worldwide) is about four years old.  I hope my little one will give me at least one more year of sweet nursing memories.  Sigh.

Is there any better companion than a two year old?