There is a lot to say about a two-year-old

Alternate title: What I have learned about zinc oxide
From what I have heard about "typical" two-year-olds, Abby is an extraordinary, typical two-year-old. She is inquisitive, in to everything and amazes her parents with her memory and intelligence.

She has certainly developed some loves.

She loves dress ups and dresses. She roams the house in princess shoes and today she told me that her princess crown is "very special". (It joins the ranks of the Draper Temple, which the first thing that she called "very special". The list is growing.)
Also, she loves things in bottles and squeeze tubes. Abby will squeeze, pump, spray or ooze anything liquid (especially those things a bit viscous).

I suppose this isn't anything unique to Abby. I remember as a child (between ages 5 and 9 based on the house we lived in) hiding out in the basement bathroom--dad's--mixing up potions. I combined his mysterious delights - shaving cream, aftershave, shampoos, etc. fully expecting some sort of a chemical reaction to cause bubbling, foaming, an explosion or at least a dramatic color change.

Abby isn't to the chemical reaction stage, but still can squeeze stuff with the best of them.

This morning's simple pleasures were squeezing hand sanitizer into my hands, washing her own hands (many, many times) and insisting that I not forget the hairspray.

Tuesday late afternoon - not such a pleasurable moment. Briton and I were hanging out in the playroom (after a busy and very fun/good mothering day). The nagging voice inside of me was warning me to get downstairs and find out why Abby was being so quiet or else the "good mothering" part of the day would end:) After a couple minutes we heeded the warning and headed downstairs to diaper cream - everywhere, on the carpet, in the hair, throughout the diaper bags. I think that she realized that she wasn't supposed to be doing it. I can't remember exactly how I reacted. I hope I wasn't too extreme. She's only two, but still needed to know it wasn't the best of choices.
3 people I told about our predicament responded the same way. "Oh, that stuff is hard to get out!"

It has been 2 days. I think the hair is just about back to normal. (If you need to know how to get it out, ask. I have tried a few remedies.) The carpet rebounded much better than I expected and diaper bags and contents fair well in the washing machine.

Abby keeps me busy. Some days I feel that I am just following her around cleaning and picking up. Other days (hopefully more often than not), we are in it (the messes and the fun) together!

I love my two-year-old!

PS Since I wrote this post this morning, Abby has graduated from liquids and lotions to granules--1/2 of a tub of OxiClean turned into an Abby-proclaimed sand box. (I promise it wasn't within her reach.)