Happy 2nd Birthday, Salem Grace!

Our perfect baby turned 2! It's so crazy that when I was pregnant with her, I worried she wouldn't fit in with the family. That she would somehow ruin the dynamic we had going on. That the twins would be jealous, etc... She was born and immediately stole our hearts. 2 years later and we feel the same. She is obsessed with her siblings and they with her. They play so well together. I feel so lucky to watch them grow together. I have friends whose kids their ages fight, and they rarely do. The twins are so cute in integrating her into their play. They've been playing doggies lately, and they will tell Salem to go get Oliver as the dog, and take him to the kennel and she will march over to him with this look of fury and she will grab his collar and drag him to the kennel. It's hilarious. On the trampoline they play games and they explain to her her part and they all play. They love to play hide and seek, and Salem, when it, will count "ONE, TWO, THREE! MMMEEE!!" and then go find them. She's started tattling on the twins and will come up to me with a scowl and say "NANI! MEE!" or "BUBBY! MEE!"

She's been really quick to understand but slow to speak. She still prefers to sign. She's just started putting 2 words together. She says,

Mom
Dad
Alpha
Bubby
Nani
Teta
No
Hug, huggie (we thought this was really cute at first, but it actually means "pick me up and don't put me down... ever")
Drink (prefers to sign)
Please (prefers to sign)
Sorry (prefers to sign)
More (prefers to sign)
Thank you (prefers to sign)
Me
Mine
Banana
Apple
Juice
Cookie
Jump
Pizza
Cat, meow
Dog, whoof
Go
Up
Poop
All her body parts (including "boobs" which she calls "boodies"
Outside
Bowl
Work

She repeats pretty much anything we say. The one word she will not say is her own name, we think it is so funny. We will have her say a bunch of names and words and she'll repeat everything, then if we say "Salem" she won't  say it. She will say "mama" or "daddy" or she just won't say anything at all. Sometimes lately she will say "me". It's so funny! She refuses to say her own name. She's been doing this for months now.

She LOVES to play hide and seek. So much so, she does it during the day when no one else is playing. She loves to sneak downstairs, into the office, and she will get in a cabinet and close the door and just sit there not making a peep. For a long time. I am looking everywhere for her in a panic and she just sits quietly waiting for me to find her. It scares me to death every time. One day I couldn't find her, and she was in my bathroom, hiding behind my bathrobe. It was hanging on a hook and nearly touched the floor, so she was totally hidden and just waited for me to find her without moving. Another day we couldn't find her and our neighbors saw her hiding under our van! She's crazy! The worst though, I took the kids to the ReStore. Sketchy clientele, in a sketchy area. I lost Salem. I couldn't find her for 20 minutes! By the end, I 100% she had been kidnapped and I would never see her again. Turns out she had hidden in one of the 50 assorted cabinets. She was just sitting in there waiting to be found.  I was running through the store, crying my eyes out screaming "has anyone seen my baby!!!????". It was seriously so awful. I got everyone in the car and then preceded to cry the rest of the day.

She's a super eater. No matter what I make, she starts yelling "bowl!!" and then gets one and comes over and wants to eat. She gets upset often if she needs a plate and not a baby bowl.

She hated any shows for forever, we never really had her watch any but if one was on she had no interest. She got really sick in April (we had to have her tested for COVID-19) and I would snuggle her through the day and all night and we would have a show on and then she liked shows. She would beg to watch Puppy Pals. She would just pant like a dog and that meant she wanted to watch it. Then we watched Bluey which quickly became everyone's favorite. Now she just asks for Bluey. It's made life a lot easier, in that if I want to shower or need to run somewhere and Trevor is home working, I can put a show on and she will sit there and watch it until I come back and turn if off. Before she couldn't be trusted for a minute without 100% supervision. Which leads me to...

Markers. She is obsessed with drawing everywhere in the house she can. She has this uncanny knack of finding markers and then waiting until the perfect moment and then pouncing! She has drawn on almost every wall in the upstairs. On the doors. On the cabinets, the oven, the fridge, the stairs railing, the floor, the baby gate, all over our new couch, the chair in her room, babies, toys, remotes, my instant pot... She's a maniac! She often draws all over herself, but the other day she took her clothes off, her diaper off and drew all over her vagina.

One day when I was at a dr appointment, Trevor was working from home and watching the kids. He was in the living room and Salem went into the kitchen, got a stool, climbed it and got on the counter. Then she opened the top cabinet and got into my  Tessa meds. She opened all the bottles and dumped them all out and opened all the capsules and dumped it all out!  Luckily they tasted bad so I'm pretty sure she didn't take any. I was so upset. She's so mischievous, that one!

She loves to play. She loves babies. She is obsessed with the twins. She loves them so much and mimics them.

She has to hold our hands in the car and screams and cries if we don't.

She's a huge screamer.

She makes the best faces. Her angry face... hahaa.

She LOVES her daddy.  She asks for daddy all day long. And then I'll say he is at work, and she'll repeat "Work". Then ask for him again. Since Trevor has been working from home, his commute is now kissing Salem between all the railings on the stairs on the way down to the office. It's so cute and she wants to do it every time.

She still hates naps and bed time. She won't take naps most days. For bedtime, we still rock her to sleep. Or she just screams and no one can handle her screaming.

Salem has more personality than should be able to fit in such a small body. She has tiny little feet! She can wear size 5, but really is a 4. I couldn't find shoes for her when she started walking. She needed shoes with soles and in her size all they made were sole-less crib shoes.  She is obsessed with shoes. She is always pulling out everyone's shoes and walking around in them.

She's a pro at jumping on the trampoline. She's also a pro at scootering. It is crazy to watch her, because she's so small, and she just goes cruising around. Before she was even 2. She can ride from our house all the way to the playground at the park!

She's such a brave girl. She has no fear at playgrounds and wants to do what the big kids are doing.

Before bed she has to hug and kiss everyone. If she doesn't feel she got a good enough good night, when we take her to her room she will cry and yell everyone's names until we take her back out to hug and kiss.

She loves to smell. It's so cute!!! She likes to smell the lavender we put on her feet, and flowers and anything else we smell. She scrunches up her nose and makes the cutest noise.

When she wants to eat  she will come up to me and just lick her lips and make eating noises. It's so insanely cute and funny.

She will be a stinker in the car to make the twins laugh. She'll make weird faces and do weird things and if they laugh she will not stop.

She likes to make weird facial movements and wants to follow along in the car. Licking lips, blinking, anything weird with her mouth.

We adore this girl with our whole hearts. We cannot get enough of her. She completes us and we just all cherish every moment with her. It's amazing to watch her grow and come into her personality. It's so fun to see the twins and her play and become closer.


Happy Second Birthday, Salem!! We love you!!!