For two years old, this is a girl who is not afraid of anything, and is VERY devilish. You can see it in her face and by some of the things she’s doing.

She’s got a bit of a crush on Buzz Lightyear and now has one that she likes to take to bed with her. I hope I never wake up finding buzz between her legs.

She’s become MUCH more vocal and vibrant than before but much like her mom, she’s emotional. In fact, I can just say one little thing to her and she starts crying. It’s frustrating at times but I have to keep reminding myself that she is 2 and that she is a girl and that she is just like her mom.

Like her brother, she’s smart. She knows how to do a lot more things than I ever expected. She also has a tendency to pretty much do anything Dylan does. If she thinks what he is doing is fun or will get attention, she does it. I never realized how much siblings do this. Do you folks out there have the same thing happen with your kids? I had no brothers and sisters growing up so it’s a new world for me.

Her hair is getting long. Long enough that she’s always got it in a ponytail or pigtails now otherwise it kind of gets in her face and bugs her. She is however quite a little cutie. I love her to bits!

Over the weekend me, Tamara, and Dylan all celebrated Megan’s second birthday. Although it was a very quiet celebration, it still was pretty amazing.

Two years ago, this little one decided to join our family but she certainly made us work for it. After being in labour for what I think was 28 hours, she finally graced us with her presence. Megan Grace Klem joined the world and has been taking it by storm.

Her favorite things: puppy, Minnie Mouse, her blankie, and hotdogs She also enjoys be a little daredevil.

Her not so favorite things: Being told not to do something,

Like any other two year old, she has her good days and she has her bad but she’s one who’s become quite the little individual.

Above all that, she’s also come to be very fond of her older brother. Always asking Dylan to help her and to “give me a hand”. The two may fight from time to time, but they also laugh, play, and enjoy being around each other quite a bit. I’ll have to remember that when they’re both teenagers

Within the last six months, the personality of Megan has really started to come out. As I indicated in a previous post, she really is becoming her own little character. But with that comes something that I as a dad, or more as a guy, am trying to find a way to deal with.

Dylan has his days. Some days he’s cranky and other days he’s fine. In fact, for both him and Megan, they are generally pretty well rounded children. But I find with Megan, I struggle a bit more with something that I find Dylan doesn’t do as much. Whining.

Yes, all kids whine. Dylan has days where he too drives me nuts, but with Megan, it seems, from my perspective, to be a lot more than Dylan. Is it her personality that makes her like that? Or is it part of the difference between girls and boys. I don’t want to give the impression that I think all girls are whiners, but typically girls are more emotional than guys and as a result of that, they are likely more sensitive to things, and thusly get a bit more whiney.

Today was a good example. Just the slightest little thing and she would start crying. The fact that she was tired didn’t help but even after she got out of bed from her nap, just one wrong comment and she’d start crying. Finally she settled down and we laid down on the couch, watched a little TV and I think she’s mellowed out a bit.

Part of me thinks it’s just typical kid behavior. Another part of me says, “She’s like all women. She whines” (which of course isn’t true and is a really awful thing to say but when you’ve had a bad day, sometimes that’s how it feels). I think the big thing for me is trying to find the best way to handle girls vs boys because I have no doubt that as the years progress, the differences will become even more apparent.

It seems that as each month passes by, a little bit more of Megan’s personality is beginning to emerge. In fact, recently she has started saying “myself” a lot. Dylan went through a phase where he wanted to do everything himself and it seems that Megan has now started that same phase.

She’s doing a lot more playing on her own, and her and Dylan have been playing more together. She seems to follow that boy around quite a bit. She actually LOVES going to bed. She snuggles up her blankie and puppy and usually goes out quite easily.

She’s doing a LOT of laughing, running, and playing now. A lot more energetic and interesting in learning things. She’s doing ok with the talking but at not quite 2, there’s still a lot of words I can’t understand but she certainly knows how to get her point across. Each month it gets easier to understand her talking so I can’t wait for another 6 months to go by and be able to understand her much better.

I’m feeling MUCH better about her than I did before. It seems that she came out of that nasty stage and is now just a regular little girl, and she is ALL girl. She’s into playing with this big doll of hers but I think she’ll be a force to be reckoned with as she gets older.

I can’t wait to see how she progresses.

Alright, here’s something I am going to say that I am sure other parents out there have thought and perhaps said as well. I did not like my daughter for the first six months she was alive. Maybe even longer. In fact, in a big way, I didn’t want her around, to be near her, or have much to do with her at all because to me, she was a royal pain in the ass.

That sounds like a horrible thing to say doesn’t it?

For the six months that I was off work to “be at home” with Tamara and the new baby, it was a very long and dreadful time. It was not fun. She cried a LOT. And by a lot I mean almost constantly. I wouldn’t say she was colicky but it was pretty damn close. One time after another after another of constantly dealing with the crying. Why would you want to be around that?

Add to that the horrid feeling of thinking to yourself that you shouldn’t be feeling this way because this is your daughter. She’s your flesh and blood and you should love her because she’s part of the family now. I can’t tell you how often I felt so horrible about myself about how I felt. I mean, I’m a good person and a good dad so how is it I could feel like this?

Fortunately, time passed, she started to sprout up, and now, she is one hell of a fun and cool little girl.

Not only has her vocabulary grown considerably, she’s developed quite a feisty little  personality. She’s way more feisty than her brother is, and although she is somewhat sensitive, she’s a funny little girl.

I find myself talking a lot to her more, playing with her, picking her up, and most of the time now I am the one giving her her bath and putting her to bed. I even play guitar with her (using her leg as the guitar’s neck and her belly as where I would strum) and she LAUGHS and laughs and laughs.

Let me tell you, there is nothing more magical than the sound of your child laughing to something you are doing with them. It’s contagious and amazing.

It’s awesome to finally be able to enjoy being around my daughter. Yes, there are days when she (and her brother) drive both me and Tamara crazy, but at least those days of constant crying seem to be behind us.

She still likes to sulk a bit and is definitely mommy’s little girl, but let me tell you, she’s one heck of a feisty little girl. She’s going to be a very stubborn fighter when she gets older.

I think she’s definitely got her mom’s emotional side as she’s prone to outbursts of tears more often than Dylan but she’s doing very good.

She’s still on a climbing kick and insists on climbing up on the chair by herself, then getting down. If you haven’t seen the video yet, get a good laugh and jump at the same time.

She’s also starting to look pretty damn cute in those pigtails and she’s gotten a little bit more lovey once in awhile by snuggling up to daddy at bedtime. All is good.

 You love your brother and want to follow him around.  You watch him very closely.  He loves you very much, too.  I don’t always see it at home, but when I’m not around and other kids are around you, he is a very protective big brother.  He won’t let anyone take things away from you.  You two will have a strong bond, I’m very sure. 

 You received a very special gift tonight from your Nanny.  I hope that someday you will realize what a treasure she gave you. 

 By now, you would have joined us.  I can’t believe that I was scared to have a little girl at one time.  I was terrified of the emotions that come in girls, after all, I know what I’m like.  But I love you so much, it’s crazy.  I can’t imagine my life without you.  You mean the world to me and I love you very much.  Happy Birthday, Baby.  Love, Mom

Where to start… well, let’s see. She is now able to stand, unassisted on her own. She hasn’t been able to walk but she did take her official first step albeit a shaky one. She’s cruising along quite well by crawling and using the furniture to move but she has not mastered walking yet. I think March is going to be her month to start.

She’s also begun to get quite the sense of humour. She’s doing a lot of laughing and playing and has decided that her blanket is her favorite “security” item.

Along with her movement and laughter, she’s now taking a much closer notice as to what Dylan is up to. She follows him, as much as she can, where he goes, and many times will get behind him and try to tickle him. It’s actually quite funny. Dylan is still learning to share but he is doing MUCH better and in fact is giving her hugs and helping her play sometimes. I can just see how close these two are going to be when they get older.

I can actually say that I like her now. I was not her biggest fan during my time off work but she’s definitely come out of that phase now and is having a blast. I can’t wait to see her walking and then running after her brother. It will be entertaining.

Megan has really come around. Her personality is starting to show and she’s smiling and laughing and making all kinds of noise and the occasional gaga / dada / mama comes out. Over the Christmas holidays she learned how to sit up from her crawling position and even pull herself up onto her feet in her crib. She’ll be walking in no time.

It’s also interesting to see how now she can sit in the living room with Dylan and keep herself somewhat occupied. Last night me and Tamara finished eating while the two kids played in the living room. It was nice.

She’s starting to play a little bit with stuff around her but she seems more interested in Dylan’s toys than her own. This of course annoys Dylan to no end but he is slowly learning that he needs to share. It’s going to be interesting to see how this plays out especially when she starts walking because she is going to want to follow him EVERYWHERE! I imagine me and Tamara will have to put out a few fires with that. It will be interesting to see…