Hal Version 2.5

Dear lil lady,

Two and a half years old????? Really? Are you for certain? That's what the calendar told me on January 27th. It's been six whole months of growing since I last wrote you a love letter. I can't tell you how many times I've started to write an update about your accomplishments/milestones/silly stories/hilarious quotes, but each time I've ended up throwing my hands in the air. Here's the problem: I can't keep up with you. You're too fast. You're too silly. You're too funny. Now I have six whole months to write about....hmmmmm....where to start? How about our favorite topic....FOOD!

Miss picky pants. I watched the other night as you mashed around a bite of peas in your mouth, made the most disgusted face and then spit them out on my lap. The dog gets more of the food on your plate than you do....

This is how most dinners go. You sit and stare at your plate of food that you so enthusiastically requested.....

You are are grazer extraordinaire. I've tried my hardest to change this but you seem to enjoy lots of small meals....let me emphasize the word LOTS. You love your "nacky poos." I've not a clue where you got that phrase from but each time you say it it makes me giggle. You've graduated from the high chair and have joined us at the "big girl table." You remind me every night that you are ready to sit at the big girl table making sure to emphasize that your do NOT sit in your high chair anymore. This has led to a lot of food highjacking with my plate being within arm's reach. Quite a mystery to me. My plate always has the same exact food yet seems much more appealing to your grubby little fingers. ;) After you polish off my plate you sometimes request more. I simply point to your plate full of the same food and you give me a look that says "I'm not eating that." You have been known to steal an item or two from the fridge and partake without me knowing. I can't count how many times I've found you in the playroom with an entire bag of grapes. Every berry is a "booberry." Even grapes. I have caught you red handed (literally) on several occasions with a tub of strawberries. You usually take one bite out of each and then throw it back in the container. Lovely. Your love of fruit has only intensified with age....you would live off of fruit if I let you. Well, that and cheese! Must have the cheese. You request a cheesestick every night before bed. Every. Night. Without. Fail. We've finally weaned you from your sippy cup at bedtime. That was a huge accomplishment. HUGE!!! I think for awhile you thought we were trying to kill you by depriving you of it. Twas not the case. Simply tired of changing your sheets every morning when I'd find you lying in pee that had soaked out of your pullup. Which brings me to my next big brag..........

Are you ready for this one? You are fully potty trained. And I mean fully trained!!! No pooping or peeing at night. Daytime potty training was tackled many many months ago. We conquered no pooping during sleep about three months ago. And finally we've accomplished no peeing at night. I'm still not brave enough to take you completely out of pullups at night...but soon. ;) And even better....you potty on your own, wipe on your own (questionable at times), dump your potty and wash your hands while standing on your Dora chair. Recently you've been very adamant about brushing your teeth, washing your hands and getting dressed on your own. You went through a phase of hating your toothbrush but I ended up convincing you that your mouth germs would attack you if you didn't get rid of them. Hey, I'm sorry, I was getting desperate. You would only let me brush for maybe three seconds tops. That gave me just enough time to get the brush shoved in between your pursed lips. Now we are working on using less toothpaste. Less is more honey. Oh, and spitting. We are working on spitting into the sink which is quite hilarious. Actually that last word brings me to my next topic......

You are hilarious. Hide and seek if your favorite game. Well, that and playing grocery store. You put your new shopping cart to good use by going to pick up your favorite fruit from the store. The store = our living room blinds. You pretend that each slat is shelf. You even beg family members who visit for money to use at your grocery store. So far you've racked up around $8. The blueberries are a favorite item to browse the shelves for. Funny thing about the booberries though is that they are "vewy, vewy heavy" and you usually need a second hand to pick them up and place them in the basket. Goofball! The hilarity begins from the moment your feet hit the floor and ends the moment you close your eyes. You wander into our bathroom most mornings with your blanket in tow, rubbing your eyes and run as fast as you can into my arms. I'm sure gonna miss that when you get older. You usually shout something like "It's morning time, momma! Time to wake up!" Your goofball of a dad taught you a very efficient morning routine one day while I was gone. A pretend routine that can only be done in our bed. Here's the lowdown....you lie in our bed, shoot up from under the covers and shout "wake up!", brush your teeth, put your makeup on, eat a banana, drink some milk, get dressed and then proclaim "I'm all ready!" All of this pretend activity is almost too cute for me to handle. On the way to daycare each morning you tell me where to turn and when the light changes. You know that green means "gooooo" and red means "top!" You aren't shy about telling me if you think I'm going the wrong way. We sing ABCs on the way to Ms Paula's in the morning....I change things up by request from you. Deep voice, high pitched voice, silly voice ABCs.....you think they are all funny. As we make our way past the high school on our way to daycare you inform me without fail that you want to "go to big kid school" and "watch a baseball game!" Take you time kiddo! On a good morning we can get away from the house with just a cup and a blanket. BUT sometimes we end up with two blankets, two babies, two cups and two snacks. It's always a fun time trying to reason with you about why we can't take it all in to Paula's house. I miss you something fierce during the day and constantly find myself wondering what sorts of things you are doing and learning. I can only imagine how silly you are with your friends. Oh to be a fly on the wall.

I can honestly say that you astound me with your growing vocabulary. My absolute favorite at the moment is how you tell your dad and I not to worry. If I seem to be searching for something or trying to do a difficult task you come to the rescue and say "momma, don't worry." I am amazed by your ability to spout off entire songs without stopping to take a breath. The other day out of nowhere you started singing the Wonder Pets theme song word for word in your own little cute way. You are on your way to mastering your ABCs which makes this momma vewy, vewy pwoud! ;) I really can't expound upon this vocab topic much because there are so many things to mention that it's too overwhelming. Let's just say that there aren't many words that you don't know. Most of your conversation starters leave me shaking my head thinking how lucky I am to have my own little comedian. Here are some of my favorite quotes from you over the last few months in no particular order.....

"Mom, don't worry. I'm get Emmi fwom da stweet." (as we were outside trying to lure Emmi indoors)

"Monsters not out yet?" (while pointing to the movie theater recalling that I told her about a new movie coming out soon)

"I wanna booberry cake wif Dora on it." (in respond to me asking what she wanted to take for her Vday party)

"Knock knock, whose der? CHEEEESE!"

"Mommy, you no weave me wone in bed. Sweep wid me."

"Momma, wook at me, I twapped" (wrapping herself in my computer cord)

"You no worry, I a big girl use potty on my own."

"Wets pway Woley Poley!" (talking about Ring around the Rosie)


Your tender heart is something precious. Your standard goodbye to anyone who leaves our house always includes a "be careful" at the end. You do the cutest thing where you come really close to my face, stare at me with a concerned look and say "momma, ew alwight?" If we hear a baby crying in the store you tilt your head and frown saying "Why baby cwying? Need bottle?" And you aren't just concerned about humans. You love animals so very much.....

I get such a kick out of seeing your reaction and hearing your voice get very high pitched and squeaky everytime you see a baby animal (be it real or fake). You duck your head and tilt it to the side and say "babyyyyy" in the sweetest little voice. You take such good care of all five of your baby dolls. Always asking me "mommy, where's the baby bottle?" You choose one special baby to sleep with you each night....usually it's your baby that giggles and farts. Yes, farts. Aunt Alta picked out a Cabbage Patch doll for you at Christmas time. It's official name is Mia Gia. That's still hard for you to say so she is known as "baby" just like all the others. "Baby" got some special treatment from you on her first night in her new home. You thought she needed her diaper changed and discovered that she had some *gasp* diaper rash that needed your attention. You know what baby girl? Twins run in your family so I guess all of this practice with quintuplets may come in handy for you someday....

"Move over Octomom!"

The big girl bed has been one of the best changes that I wish we would've made a lot sooner. You get quality sleep now not being crammed in your crib. I have a confession: I'm a bit obsessed with taking pictures of your sleeping. To others I'm sure each picture is simply a little girl sleeping. But to me each picture is vastly different and they just get sweeter and sweeter......

See, I told you. Pure mommy bliss. Buuuuuuuut, bedtime is not always pretty. Some nights you have other plans.....

But then there are these sort of bedtime moments that steal my heart away.....

You have become a whiz with your Leap Pad. I keep telling myself that I shouldn't be so surprised but I AM! You know way more about that device than your mother ever will. In fact, the other night you led me through a game on one of your apps. Are you really old enough to have your own apps? That's just silly to me. It's been neat to watch your little hands improve with precision and accuracy as you learn to use your stylus to drag objects as you play games. Your fall asleep watching your Arthur video nearly every night. One evening you were feeling very technological and had your Minnie Mouse laptop and your Leap Pad in bed with you......

Miss Independent strikes again! You constantly remind me that you "don't need help!!!" I get it, I certainly do. However there are some things that you do need help with. Such as wiping properly....or maybe getting all of the laundry from the washer to the dryer (although I'm forever impressed by your ability and desire to help with that task)....and last but not least feeding the dogs. You can be found in the kitchen about 75% of the time you are home in the evening. Either begging for fruit or trying to help me in some way in the kitchen. You are learning where certain bowls, pans and utensils are and you love to retrieve them for me. Loading the dishwasher is something you are quite fond of. I'm sure you will soon discover how ridiculous that is. You love to help me get the mail and sort through it once we get back inside. The Pottery Barn catalog is your favorite (don't ask) along with your Zoobies magazine that Gman has sent to our house.....

Enthralled by a brochure in the mail

You aren't shy about sharing your opinions. I mean, not that any lady is shy about such a thing but you have become very vocal about your wants and needs lately. You aren't afraid to tell me when something is yucky. While in the Walgreen's drive thru recently you informed me about the following: "momma, I no want medsin....it vewy, vewy, vewy yucky and bad." As if that didn't have me laughing hard enough you went on to tell me that you already had "medsin" at home and you did not want anymore. Dually noted, darling. When you want to be alone you go find a quiet little place to hole up and read or snuggle with your baby......

You must've been bitten by the new year's resolution bug because the gym is always callin' your name. Sometimes I think you would rather go home with the two high school girls in the children's room. You spend most of your time there sitting on their laps, reading books and spinning in circles. Constant smiles from you at the gym. I must say: THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU FOR LETTING ME GO! Each day when we walk out the door at daycare you look up at me and ask "go to gym, mama?" Some days you proudly proclaim that you are "going to gym!" I don't know how I'd get there without you....your constant verbal commands and directions you provide guide me there each day. You are always on the lookout and can spot it from a mile away. I received explicit instructions about which spot to park in. And you aren't messin' around either. Before we head inside you do an inventory to make certain that you have your cup, a piece of cheese and a baggie of grapes. Ready, set, go!!!!!!

You are my sweet little butterball with the cutest little lips that beg for kisses and cheeks that plump up when you smile one of those big smiles of yours. It's safe to say that I love every little ounce of you. And speaking of ounces I actually have an official weight and height from a recent doctor's appointment: 31.6 lbs and 36 inches. You look way too grown up in her yoga pants and pigtails. Keep on holding that baby doll and drinking your juiceboxes.......

.....maybe I can keep you little that way.

I never wanna forget the way your chubby, soft little hand blows me a kiss every night as I close your door....or the way you grab my hand and ask me to sleep in your bed every night....or the way you reassure me that you are a big girl and you can sleep on your own. I feel myself being pulled in two directions. You pull me in to be closer yet you are also starting to draw back while trying to find your way as a "big girl." As I was lying next to you in your bed tonight I rubbed your little belly while singing "You Are My Sunshine" over and over (per your request). You had the sweetest, most genuine smile on your face as you listened intently. I thought to myself...."Wow. This is one of those moments." So I kissed you goodnight and added it to my "moment" list.

Love,
Your Momma