You're two years old today! I guess this means you really aren't a baby anymore but a little kid. Of course, you'll always be my baby no matter how old you get but I love seeing you become a independent little girl. And you are becoming so independent. Just in the last month or so you have become so much more social and outgoing, you'll say hi and bye to people (sometimes you have to hide in my or daddy's legs first but eventually you get there) and last time we left your friend Ben's house, you even gave him a hug!
You'll play nicely all by yourself for good stretches at a time and are very good about doing your "responsibilities" (getting yourself dressed, putting dirty clothes in the hamper, unloading and putting away your dishes, picking up your toys).
You love to be a helper, especially with cleaning and cooking. If I look like I'm about to clean or cook, you'll run up and yell "You help me" which translated means "I want to help you". (You = yourself, me = the person you are talking too :-) Sometimes when we are cleaning, you'll even pick up baby and hold her hands so she can help too. The only trouble comes when you don't want to be just a helper though. "No Help You!" which means you don't want help can often be heard around the house.
Actually, you can be heard saying a lot of things. You are quite the little talker. Your up to 5-6 word phrases now. One of my favorite things is listening to you and catching all those new expressions you come up with - and sometimes I really have no idea where you come up with them. Here are a few of my favorite:
Oh my, oh dear. I can't remember either Craig or I ever saying this but you must have learned it from somewhere.
Poor ___. This started out as Poor Eeyore when we read Winnie-the-Pooh but now can apply to anyone. Last night you asked for green dip (guacamole) and I said we didn't have any, then you asked for white dip (sour cream) and I said we didn't have any either. You looked at me for a second, hung your head and said "Poor Lucy." And sometimes you'll refuse to give me or daddy a hug, then laugh and say in a sad voice "Poor mommy" or "Poor daddy."
Deal. This is another one that seemingly came out of nowhere. You asked for something and I said no, but you could have this instead and you replied: Deal! Now you say it all the time.
Wait a minute! You don't use this one literally but as an expression when something is surprising. It never fails to crack me up.
Where Be? This one is slowly being replaced with "Where go?" which is good for your grammar but a little bit sad as well.
Too much. This could refer to food you no longer want, too many people for your comfort or more things than you can count.
Oh-tay mommy/daddy. You just like to say this for no reason. Then we reply "oh-tay Lucy" and we go back and forth and back and forth.
To see if we can curb the "no, my way" response that your two year old nature is starting to bring out in you, I've been teaching you to reply "yes, ma'am" or "yes, mama" and it is working but even if it wasn't, I'd still want you to say it because it has got to be the cutest phrase ever!
You've started to say mommy and daddy instead of mama and dada. You still call yourself juju and honestly, I'll be a little sad to see that go someday.
You're so smart. You can say your numbers up to 10 and can "really count" up to 6 easily. Your favorite number is 8 and if it looks like there is a lot of something or too many to count, you just say there is 8. Also, if you want a treat, like raisins, you'll often ask for 8 of it. (And if we say you've already had enough, you ask on behalf of a stuffed animal or baby doll but we've figured out that trick :-) And you know that bigger numbers are often better so if I say you have to eat 2 bites of something, you'll say "how about 4"
You know all your colors and your favorite is normally purple but sometimes blue.
Last week we were reading a book and I pointed to something and said "look it's a frog" to which you replied "No mommy, dirt, hop-toad". Of course, you were right, it was a toad! (You know that toads live on dirt and frogs live in the water. Of course, that is an oversimplification but for a 2 year old it is still pretty impressive!) That is not the only time you'v corrected me either, I'm gonna have to step up my game!
You love to play the opposite game with me where I say a word and you say it's opposite. You know a lot including but not limited to full/empty, hot/cold, up/down, big/little and happy/sad (although whenever you say sad, you have to add "mommy pick up" because if you are sad, that is what you want so you think the same applies to anyone who is sad) and many more.
You also love to play the smush game. I'll make two similar things from playdough but change the size then ask you to smush the tall/short/big/little/long one. You could play that for a long time if I didn't call an end to it.
You've finally learned to throw. You've been able to kick a ball for a long time but only recently have really gotten the concept of throwing. You love to walk on tiptoes and are pretty good at doing so for a long time, while running or even while spinning in circles or bouncing. You also love to walk on things. You'll settle for the edge of your sandbox or the bricks around the flower bed but you really love to walk on the big wall in the backyard. You're allowed to with help from daddy but you're fearless and will just climb up the wood pile and start walking there all by yourself if we aren't watching carefully.
Things you love:
Winnie-the-Pooh. We read the stories to you a couple months ago and you fell in love. Now practically everything you do has to be related to Pooh somehow. You eat Pooh sandwhiches (originally pb&honey (which you pronounce h-h-h) but I've now convinced you any pb sandwhich can be a pooh sandwhich) and Pooh Milk. You have to hear a pooh story everytime you sit on the potty and when you need help falling asleep at night. You have a big Eeyore that I got back in highschool when I went to Disneyworld and he often naps with you. You also love to read to him.
Books of any kind: You still love books and can often be found in your room sitting in your bed or in your recliner "reading" to yourself.
Blocks: Another activity that you can do by yourself for quite a while.
Art: I've succeeded in turning you into a little artist. You love playdough and painting and your drawings are actually starting to look like things - especially the people ones. You also like to draw characters from Winnie-the-Pooh but those are a little harder to decipher, except the bees. If you draw something small that could be a bug, it's probably a bee.
Sharing: You really love to share and often insist upon it even if daddy or I don't really want any of your frozen peas or slightly smashed crackers.
Berries: Your love of sharing stops with berries. You love to go outside with me or daddy and pick berries. You'll often eat all but one or two and say you are saving them for whichever one of us is not there but then eat them on the way back inside. I'm not sure if a single raspberry has made it inside the house yet :-)
Dressing up (yourself and baby). You don't like wearing clothes but you do like wearing your playsilks and wrapping up baby in them.
Things you don't like:
Whipped cream makes you cry. Still not sure why.
Clothing. You get dressed every morning but the next time you go potty, your pants don't normally make it back on. Normally by lunch time, you've lost your shirt too and unless we go outside and I make you put it back on, it stays off. And often by the time daddy comes home, even your undies are gone. You just love be to "nata"
Lots of people - If a place is too crowded, you'll ask for "pick up, too much". Last week at a playdate at church, you climbed into a playpen so you could get away from the other kids and play by yourself!
That's about it. You're a really happy kid and love life. And I love you and can't wait to see what changes the next year brings!
TOO CUTE!
ReplyDelete