"I'm excited toooo"

I am not sure, but I think that quite possibly 2 year olds must be the most joyful entertaining creature in the world... quite likely by design in order to make up for the moments when you want to pull your hair out and hide from them!

My (almost) 2 year old, Victorya, definitely pulls on my happy heart strings all the time. Her beautiful little perfect curls are always swaying happily whether she be singing her cutest ever version of "Happy Birthday" (she sings it in a looong heavy voice that sounds like Marilyn Monroe when she serenaded J.F.K), or whether she is reaching on her tippy toes to throw the poor kitten over the banister, flailing 15 feet to the ground, much to Victorya's delight.

It is almost impossible to get mad at her when her bright beautiful eyes bat at you and she shrugs her little shoulders, her little chubby fingers entwined on her lap.

Luckily for me, she provides many more moments filled with joy and laughter- the kind of deep heart felt belly laughs that leave you in tears and grasping for breath.

At this point, she seems to learn or mimic something new several times a day. Sponge is an understatement. Chamois, is more like it. She picks up on everything. Of course as a parent you have to always be aware that little ears are present, because you never really know how much goes in, but can'y quite come out in verbal expression yet.

Today we were eating lunch at a restaurant while the older kids were in school. It was me and my husband and Victorya. We ordered our meals and ordered her mac and cheese and went out on a limb and got her mandarin oranges.

See, Victorya is a picky eater. I always believed that a picky eater was a direct result of parents that allowed their children too many options. My older children ate ANYthing as children- and still do. Victorya is different. She has a huge sensitivity to weird textures; things that are slimy, too wet, leafy, etc. She also will not eat ANYthing green. Not even green candy. We have tried letting her go hungry when she refused whole meals because of thier vegetable content and she has a will of iron! She will skip a meal and then still decline at the next meal if it does not appease her.

We have even gone so far as to hide one, I repeat, ONE pea in her pasta, or mashed potatoes, and without fail she will discover it and spit it out. We have had to quit doing this because now she doesn't trust us and must look through every bite to make sure there is no single, super secret pea. We are on what seems like an endless journey to find whatever fruits and vegetables we can that she will eat.

So back to our lunch. Lunch arrives and she quickly takes her fork and stirs through the mac and cheese meticulously checking for peas. Then she takes one little slice of mandarin orange and picks it up and inspects it. Of course both me and my husband are almost holding our breath, yet still trying to converse as normal, while looking out the corner of our eyes. She puts it to her nose and smells it (gasp) and then she puts it to her toungue...... and...... and.... our hopes are dashed. She makes that horrible face and quickly dismisses the orange...... sigh.

By the end of the meal, I decide I do not want to let her oranges go to waste and start picking at them. In one last desperate attempt, I try reverse psychology.

"YuuuuuuuuuMMMM! These are the BEST oranges I have EVER had! They are soooooooooo yummy and they are MINE!" I say with as much expression and exaggeration as I can.

I see her get that look on her face. The one when another child picks up her favorite toy and begins to play with it as if it were their very own. The one that says, "um excuse me, what do you think you are doing?"

My husband quickly follows suit and picks up his own delectable little mandarin orange and begins to engage in his own wonderful display of parental drama.

We are both so full of anticipation that I can hardly stand it. Slowly her chubby little finger reaches into the bowl and her hand fully occupies it. She doesn't want us in HER oranges. We both show our sadness and disappointment that we cannot eat any more delicious oranges.

....and then ....she picks one up ...still staring at us both suspiciously. Slooooowly she takes the orange and again she smells it. My husband again pronounces his undying LOVE of yummy oranges, and then...... and then....... she puts it in her mouth..... and she CHEWS it.... and she SWALLOWS it!

OMG, I almost want to cry. I actually feel a little bit of tears welling in my eyes. I look at my husband, who is happy, but obviously not as emotional as I am, because now he is looking at me like I hid a pea in his potatoes. I quickly try to recover from the moment and start explaining to him that I am just so happy we found a fruit that she likes. I explain how its a huge step and maybe we can get her to try some other things.... seeing that he is still astounded by my emotional enthusiasm, I finally say, "I am just so excited she is eating fruit."

Victorya looks at us both, a mandarin orange in both hands, her chubby cheeks bursting with mandarin oranges, her mouth almost too full to let the words escape past the oranges and says, "I'm so excited, toooooooooooooo!"