Rotormommy: To Elliot on her second birthday

To my peanut, two years ago I was scared to death of having a little girl. Not being big into the girly stuff and the color pink I wasn’t sure how things were going to work with you. But just like your brother your arrival had to be eventful as ever. You spent the first five days in the NICU and just like your brother have never had a sick visit since!

Two years later and you are still causing mischief as only you can. You get yourself dressed and of course undressed (at completely inappropriate times on occasion)! You are sensitive and caring to all of us and yes that includes your brother. I have witnessed so many times where you just want to help him or us and before being asked you are bringing people shoes to get ready to go or covering him up with a blanket when he feels rotten.

Alvin teaching Elliot to roll balls down the chute.

Elliot and Alvin. The normal look. She's happy to see him he just wants to run!

The biggest thing over the past year has been all the changes though. We moved you across country, dealt with your brother’s diagnosis and through it all you have been wonderful. What’s been amazing is how fiercely you guard him and still take the time to bully him around the house. You can’t say his name and maybe only 10 words but you can somehow manage to get him to do your bidding. You go to all of Alvin’s soccer practices and somehow befriend the kids with the biggest challenges by kicking the ball to them. You see kids with down-syndrome and other issues as normal and just laugh with them as you run down the soccer field.

The scariest thing that I have realized in many ways is that you have become a mini me! You are fiercely independent as only you can be. A few months ago I started joking that you are a 4 year old boy trapped in a 2 year old little girl’s body. When you set your mind to do something no madder how many times you have to try, you just don’t give up. In the gym you will do a face plant reaching for the bar and yet jump up and say "Tada!" You gain confidence every week in the gym and at home and its so cute to watch.