2 1/2

My little girl is 2 1/2 today! She is SO much fun. I never get tired of hanging out with her. She makes me laugh every day, and sometimes I can't believe some of the stuff she says. I have never seen a kid her age talk this well. She is getting so good at expressing herself.

She has a very strong, stubborn personality, which can be good and bad! Someone recently told me that the best advice they could give about raising a daughter was not to break her spirit. She said the world would beat her down enough. I am taking this to heart. She has a beautiful spirit. It's hard to raise a strong willed child like this sometimes but I think that if we can form her conscience correctly, she will be an amazing adult. I think she'll be a leader, not worry about what other people think, not feel like she has to be like everyone else, not give in to peer pressure. She has her own ideas and I love that - most of the time ;)

Every morning I spray her hair down with a spray bottle and she wants to spray herself in the face with it. Silly girl.

We still like to hang out at Barnes and Nobles or Borders on Sunday mornings. She likes to do puzzles, color in her coloring books, or play with her sticker books. She talks to everyone who comes by, and the "regulars" love her. She loves books and we go to the library every week and get a new stack.

She LOVES her brother and I am SO happy about this! She hugs and kisses him all the time. She always wants to be with him. She loves the side by side double stroller and taking baths with him. She always tries to help when he cries, and still gives him her favorite toys - even her silkies! He loves her too, and she always makes him laugh. She loves this!

She is still pretty darn tiny! Today she wore a size 6-12 month skirt! I can barely keep 18 month shorts up on her, but they're way too short for her long legs. She wears 2T pants with adjustable waists, and usually 2T shirts even though they're too big. She has been taking a good 2 hour nap and going to bed around 9:00 - we put her to bed earlier than that but she talks and talks up there. Sometimes she'll call for us for some reason - she wants socks, a drink of milk, etc. If we don't make it RIGHT up there, when we get up there she'll say, "Mommy! I called and called for you!"

She loves helping me with everything, cooking, cleaning, changing diapers, getting the mail, and she is proud that she's such a big helper. She loves playing with her baby dolls, carrying them around, feeding them bottles, taking them for walks in her stroller. She loves tea party and playing with her "food."

She's getting better at listening... she knows if she doesn't there will be a consequence. For example, if she wants to walk next to me instead of going in the stroller, she knows she has to stay by me, listen and follow directions or she'll go in her stroller. She LOVES animals and had a blast at the state fair. This child has absolutely no fear of anything. She will try anything. She loves climbing, going down the slide, and swinging. She's a very hands-on child and likes to get dirty. She still LOVES Dora and gets to watch it twice a day - once when she wakes up and once after nap. She is learning quite a few Spanish words.

I don't think she is ready for the potty yet so we're going to take it easy on that for awhile.

Ken and I just love her so much and still talk every day about how adorable she is. She gets cuter by the day. We are so blessed to have her!