Two Years Old

Our sweet sweet girl is two.  That's really hard to believe.  What a fun age.  She's such a big girl when she's around her baby brother, but still such a baby when she's with bigger kids.  She is very social and has no concept of personal space - putting her face in other kids faces until they can't take it anymore.  We're working on this.  Her biggest toddler struggle is taking things out of other peoples hands and tantruming when she's corrected.  Nothing out of the ordinary for her age.  

Here are some moments that sum up her sweet personality:

In the car on the way to the park to see a friend she'll say, over and over, "I'm coming Haven!" or "I'm coming Brooks!" or whoever it is we're going to see.  

When she is singing and I try to sing with her she says, "no abc sing with me, mama" because she wants to do it herself.

She loves to do everything her"self".  I went to give her a high five and she said, "no, self!" and started clapping to high five herself.

She runs around and around the house and whenever she runs past a cat she quickly says "oh, excuse me samo" or "oh, excuse me lola"  

In general her vocabulary is great and her words are clear but here's one example of crazy toddler speak.  mimi = more; mia = banana; mio mio = oatmeal.  I kid you not she asked for more of both for breakfast one morning which comes out as, "mimi mia an' mio mio" :p 

She weighs 23lbs 12.8oz (13th percentile) and is 35" long/tall (80th percentile)

23 Months

Spring has sprung and I'm loving life.  Every day I want to go to the park.  Every park we pass I want mama and daddy to pull over.  When we pray before dinner I chime in to thank God for the park and for my friends.  I know that red means stop and green means go, but I always want the car to go go go! I kiss and talk to the baby and try really hard to share some toys with him.  I jump and sing and dance.  My vocabulary has exploded, so don't be surprised if I repeat something you've said after hearing it only once.  Ready or not, twos, here I come!

22 Months!

I've started sleeping on a pillow and I love it.  I also have started to take a liking to mama's stuffed hippo.  She usually sleeps with him, but lately I've been dragging him everywhere.  I am interested in the potty, but not exactly interested in giving up my diapers yet.  I peed in the potty twice and was pretty excited about it though!!  This is major stuff, people.  I've begun putting 2-4 words together, I'm almost counting to 10, and I have mastered my upper and lower case letters.  Every time we get in the car mama hands me my Magna Doodle with a new word on it, and sometimes a corresponding picture.   My car seat is now forward facing and I love it.  I can see everything that's going on.  I am a rule follower and like for everything to be in it's place.  I get stressed out if someone else sits in daddy's seat at the dinner table or if mama puts something where it's not supposed to go.

21 Months

This outfit is special because my grannie Annie made my dress, and these pink boots with the fur are my favorite.  

I can't remember life without my baby brother, and I absolutely love being a big sister.  I pretty much just love to give love to anyone that will take it from me.  I run around saying "hug?" and wrapping my arms around the legs of grown-ups or the necks of cats.  

I love to gallop around the house saying "op, op" (hop hop).  I know to grab a rag and start waving it at the smoke detector when it beeps really loud.  Does that tell you how often mama's cooking sets it off?  In her defense, it's awfully sensitive.  

Super Why is still my favorite, and now that we have netflix I expect to be able to watch it whenever I want.  I don't understand when mama tries to tell me it's not on right now.  

I'm very expressive, often making exaggerated faces to show emotion.  

When I take a bite of something I love, I nod my head with my eyebrows raised.  When the kitty cat is on the table I say "down! down!" and when I'm leaving my friends I say "see ya!" just like mommy.  As soon as mama opens my bedroom door to get me out of the crib in the morning I say "go go? car? go go?"  "Tip Tip" means choo choo, rocket ship, corn chip, and mommy's myyyyy friend, Tiffany.

Except for an increase in vocabulary, not much has changed since last month.  I finally have a word for thank you... "doe-dee" and a frustrated "doe-dee" is my word for no, thank you.

20 Months

Now that I have a little brother to look after I have much less time for story telling on the blog.  That may change down the road, but for now, these monthly updates are all I am commit to.

I think that all paper bags have eggs in them.  That's because mama gets a fair amount of fast food biscuits with an extra egg for me.

I saw a ladder in our neighbors yard and thought it was the letter "A"

I really love hats.

My doll goes with me all over the house.

I tell mama and daddy, "no," quite a bit these days, so they've started working to improve my obedience.

I do not like bubble baths.  I can't see my toes and the bubbles get stuck on my hands and frustrate me.

I have a new bedtime routine where daddy brushes my teeth with me and reads me several stories and then we say our prayers.

I still have a great appetite but I do not like juice.

I am always on the go... even with a week-long head cold, I didn't sit still for a moment. That's my 20-month old super power.

19 Months

At 18 months I was an only child and at 19 months I'm a sibling!  The other big thing to report is that I am now an excellent eater... out of nowhere.  I don't like everything I try, but I try 90% of what is put in front of me, which is a major improvement from the last 6 months.  I still love to point out colors, but I'm also really interested in letters.  I know 90% of the alphabet and love to call out letters wherever I see them.  My favorites are B, I, and Y.  According to mommy, the cutest ones I say are F and R.  

Since mama is still getting the hang of juggling two kiddos, we took my 19 month pictures running around the yard while Bennett rode with mommy in the moby wrap.  

A week-long play-date with the grandparents Meitl!

Grandpa Tom and Grandma Debbie flew all the way from Illinois to come play with me and meet Bennett.  They got to stay for an entire week!  They are great play mates.  Grandpa and I had breakfast together at my table, grandma read stories to me, I got to play dress-up with grandma's hat, and Bennett got to nap on both of them.  It was a really great week and I can't wait to see them again at their house in April!