It is SO HARD to describe who Reese is to people. If you’ve been around her for an extended length of time, you probably understand what I mean. But tomorrow she is two and I just need to capture it somehow.

Reese is so chill. She rolls with whatever we do, changing schedules, naps/no naps, napping on the go/napping in her crib/napping with mom, waking up early, staying up late, eating meals, eating snacks, eating new foods, traveling, driving in the car in general. She can patiently watch YouTube or Beauty & the Beast when her pregnant mama needs to grocery shop or just sit down for a minute. She loves to go back to sleep after saying goodbye to dad in the morning. Chill.

Reese has no chill. She flat out sprints toward animals, away from me when I want to contain her, and at any pantry that she suspects may hold fruit snacks. She has this guttural growl-yell that she uses when you try to stop her from doing something she wants. She can scream “DON’T!” and “STOP!” and “No no no, Mama/Dada/Toto/Bampa/Whoever is Bugging me!!!” And FORGET CHILL if someone puts on Octonauts when she actually wanted to watch Aladdin. No chill.

Reese is so chatty and talkative and communicative. She knows all the basic colors. She knows the names of all her favorite foods and drinks (Tie-Toke lol lol). She knows probably 20 or more Disney/cartoon characters by name. She appropriately uses “please” “help” “thank you” “love you” “night night” “where are you?” “where is he/she?” without prompting or prodding. She can respond to basic questions which is of course normal but still so hilarious to me – like… I can ~talk with my kid. We have conversations. It’s insane.

Reese is still “Chewbacca” (that’s The Beard’s classification). She jabbers off these long paragraphs of just… noise. She’ll sometimes look at me and earnestly say a word over and over like “come ON you idiot I’m being so clear!!!” and I just have no idea. We can’t get her to count above 3 (well, honestly, we say “one” she says “two!” and then she says “THREE!” and jumps because apparently counting is only for countdowns).

Reese is a ~good kid. She doesn’t really have any malice or guile in her, and anytime she does do something sneaky it’s always with a giggle while looking at us and expecting to be caught. She’s rarely, if ever, defiant. When she gets in trouble I feel like she genuinely feels bad and wants to please us. She’s getting much better at understanding “wait” and having patience, or comprehending that we can’t do something right now.

Reese is, as we affectionately call her, a punk a** baby. She’ll sometimes hit or swipe when she’s really mad. She’ll throw things – and not just throw things – she’ll walk over to the tile to throw things so they’ll make a bigger noise. She will throw these arching back, plummeting head, shouting tantrums when she’s forced to do something (pretty normal for this age, I know, but still). If she’s done with something it MUST be thrown directly to the floor. She flushed a plastic lid down our toilet that required a plumber and smeared a bright red expensive lipstick all over my freshly washed bathtub.

Reese is FUNNY. I know I’m biased, but it’s also a comment we get from friends and family pretty often. She will do goofy things on purpose like a silly walk or a funny face or mimicking, all watching to see if you’ll laugh.

Reese is bossy. Dunno where that came from (everyone in the world gestures wildly back at me). She’ll grab your hand and say “No, no, no” and drag you to whatever she wants you to do. She thinks she can tell anyone what to do, even strangers. I secretly really like it although most of the time it’s a pain in the rear.

Reese is so enthusiastic. These pictures are just a few of my favorites from this past year, and it’s not lost on me that so many of them are her with a huge open-mouthed smile. She’s a warm greeter, excited yeller, bouncy runner, and a happy little cheerleader. I love that about her.

Reese has never been particularly snuggly, but she can be surprisingly affectionate very randomly. She’ll tackle me with hugs and kisses. She’ll bring over stickers to put on her dad’s hands. She’ll tell random people/objects she loves them. She’ll walk over and pat your knee or lay her head on you for a second or two. She loves to “ho hands!”

Reese is confident. She has this little swagger walk that makes everyone laugh. She dances without embarrassment when she hears her songs. She’ll boss around strangers and be your friend if you have “pop-pop” or anything else that looks delicious.

Reese is cautious. She doesn’t jump off stuff. She’s hesitant to try new things or open to up to someone who is talking to her at Target checkout. She’ll climb up to the big slide but not go down it. She fell off one of our kitchen chairs which shifted under her, and she has refused to get onto it since. I wouldn’t call her a scaredy-cat, because I don’t think she is ~scared. She is just very, very cautious.

Reese is both a sleepy baby and a tornado. Loves habit and also shakes things up constantly. She’s chill and has no chill. She’s kind and she’s feisty. She’s funny and she’s stubborn. She’s a punk a** baby and she’s so SO good.

She’s about to be a big sister, which is equal parts exciting, tender, and scary.

She’s my favorite thing. My most prized possession. My greatest accomplishment. My happy.

And tomorrow she is two.

Happy birthday to my Chicken Nugget, my Reester Bunny, my Reese Feets, my Princess Lady, my best little friend, and my first sidekick. I love you with every inch of me.