This is a story that Annabel told me in the car today. I added the parenthesis for clarification...
"My (I) eat Max. Mommy eat Max. Daddy eat Max! The Baby (Jake) eat Max. Bayeee (Bailey) eat Max. Doat (the goat) eat Max ('s).... EYES!!!" Insert hysterical laughter here. Poor Max! I'm not sure what he did to deserve such cannibalistic treatment!
Something else adorable she said this week...
"Mommy eyes bwoooo. Mine eyes.... no bwoo." At least she doesn't want to eat my eyes yet! :)
Life with a 2-year-old is challenging! I'm sure that's no surprise to anyone who's ever had kids! She tries so hard to be independent and do things "herself," but then gets frustrated by her lack of ability at certain things. She also knows exactly what she wants (wonder where she got that?!) but gets very upset if she's not allowed to do it right then. I'm amazed at how quickly the language development has come in the last few weeks. She's constantly babbling to herself, stringing words together that don't always make sense (see above!) or cracking herself up! Her language isn't always intelligible and she doesn't speak very clear, but she knows several words and I can usually decipher what she's saying based on context. Her new favorite word is "tractor" (sounds like "track") and she's always looking for tractors whenever we drive. However, in person she is terrified of tractors!
She had her 2-year well visit last week, and it went well. She's in the 50-70th percentile for both weight and height, at 34" and 27lb.
One of Annabel's favorite things to do is to read. She has a "cozy corner" in her room where she loves to snuggle into with several books. One of the more challenging things we have run into in the past several weeks is getting her down for nap/bedtime. She's always gone down without any problem, but lately its lots of crying, tantrums and begging. While I've never felt comfortable just letting her cry herself to sleep, I also don't want to get into the habit of rocking her to sleep every night. So, the solution I've come up with is to put several books in her crib with her when she goes down, and she basically reads herself to sleep. Maybe this isn't the best habit to get into, either, but its working for us right now and I really don't have any problem with it. She's funny, because sometimes I'll check on her 30 minutes after I put her down, and she's still sitting there looking at her books! Whatever.
Annabel is still addicted to her pacifier! She calls it her "pa-pat." I've been making her put it in her dresser drawer after she wakes up and she gets it again at nap, and then again in the evenings. Some days she cries and cries for it, but I really think she's okay without it during the day! I try to supplement with lots of hugs and snuggles!
In the early part of last week, I started the potty training hard core, using only panties during the day. We had several accidents (of course!) but she did end up going on the potty twice each day. And she would always tell me right away - "I pee!" and look so sad when she had an accident! Buuuut, I think I'm going to hold off on it for awhile. I don't want this to be a battle, and right now it it. She HATES going and sitting on the potty, and screams "no pee!" when I suggest we go try to go. While she's obviously physically ready to be using the potty, I just don't think she's quite there emotionally. And I know she'll get there; I'm just going to take a break for a while and try again in a few weeks.
So anyway, life with a two-year-old is challenging, but also so much fun. I love that she can entertain herself for longer and longer stretches, that she's starting to get a sense of humor and can identify and recognize other's emotions. I would describe Annabel as sensitive, caring and creative. She definitely pushes her boundaries, which I understand is normal, but she's also obedient and helpful. She loves to put her toys away and throw things in the trash for mommy. She doesn't like change (i.e. moving from the nursery at church this morning to the 2-yr-old class! Traumatic!) and is slow to warm up, but she adjusts well and is pretty flexible. I realized how much I enjoy her when I had the option to leave her with Derek yesterday or take her to a baby shower. I chose to take her, just for the fact that I love being with her and genuinely have fun having her around. She's my little mini-me :)
Okay, so maybe she doesn't want to go to IWU, fine!
Can you believe she sat still long enough for me to do this?!?
3 comments:
we're about to venture into the world of 3 year olds next month, so i can tell you for sure that 2 year olds are full of challenges. but i never once felt like it was the "terrible two's". the older they get, the more they learn and the more you can see their unique personality traits unfolding! it's such a fun thing to witness :-D
and i LOVE the picture of her with the, uh, graduation hat on...geez, what are those even called? that will be an awesome picture to share when she graduates high school, hehe!
I loved the 2 yr old phase too...no terrible twos at our house either. Just putting in my 2 cents...if she is physically ready for PTing, I would be hesitant to hold off much longer. Kids never WANT to take the time to go potty. The longer you wait, the more of a power struggle it will be. From my experience, the longer people wait, the more trouble it is. From the reading I've done, introducing the potty between 18-22 mo is best or you miss the "magic window." Just a thought...
Just a comment on the napping. You're lucky she's still taking a nap at age 2 and not trying to climb out of the crib, unlike her mother!
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