oh hello again!

my deepest, most sincere apologies to all of you. there have been some rather large and obnoxious crickets over here. we have been busy as usual. thats such a lame excuse but we really have been busy!

zula has turned two. it is crazy to think that i have been a parent for that long.... that she has only been here for two years. her new favorite phrase is "i can do it myself" which is cute and frustrating at the same time. our conversations go like this:

z, "i can do it by myself"
me, "ok you can wash your hands."

z, "i can do it"
me, "no you may not pick up effi."

z, "i can do it!!!!"
me, "sorry i can only let kids do things that dont yell at mom"

z, "i can do it by myself."
me. "sorry its mom's job to change your diaper."

all day long she is trying to establish her independence. which is good. really good. i want her to do things on her own, even though at this point it takes much longer and is frustrating at times. its sad though when they dont need you as much, they are not babies anymore but you still just want to hug them and kiss them all day. i imagine this gets harder as they are teenagers.  so i just do my best and focus on having a good relationship with zula.

oh and did i mention, she's started playing by herself!!!?