So a month or so back, I was worried about the baby's mental development because I hadn't seen her playing pretend, which my vast library of toddler books said she should've been doing by then.

Then she started looking for mermaids in the shrubbery, and I figured we were doing all right.

Fast-forward to this morning's walk, where she found a fire hydrant that alternated between being a fireplace ("Pile eeves on it, make a fire, see in the dark!") and a set of bongo drums (WHAM wham WHAM wham WHAM), a pile of pinestraw around a tree that was promptly dubbed "slippery slippery mountain", and a patch of bare dirt that she informed me was quicksand ("Stuck, pull me OUT!"). There was also the afternoon we spent stomping around the house and "Arrrr!"-ing ("Mommy BIG pirate. Gacie TEENY pirate."). Somehow, I'm not worried about her mental development any more.

Meanwhile, the baby's officially two, God help us all. Her party was a small cupcake-and-crayon affair, and she is in love with the little Fisher Price farm we bought her. She's about as willful as anyone would expect (possibly more so) but makes up for it with moments of appalling sweetness. Such as the other day when I was reading to her on the bed; she levered herself up, aimed carefully, and kissed me on the nose before announcing "mmmm-WAH! I kiss Mommy onna nose." This makes up for a lot of craziness.

Gracie's opinion of recycling, after seeing me in my favorite do-the-chores raggedy shirt: "Ooooold shirt. Mommy throw in the trash, get new shirt." Then, after a thoughtful pause, "Poor Mommy."