Currently, Chief is... {2 years}

Two years old.  She's not a baby anymore!  Let's take a look at the past 6 months...

Watching Elmo at 19 months old

Growing at a slower rate now, but she's sooooo tall!  Up until 18 months, she was tracking pretty exactly with the clothing sizes (ie from ages 6-9 months, she was wearing 6-9 month sized clothing) but then by the end of June, she shot up to 2T, and before summer was officially over, she started wearing 3T!  We now have clothing for every season in this size, so hopefully she's still wearing it by the time spring rolls back around!

Swinging at 20 months old

Eating healthy food, thankfully, though if we only ate what she requested, she'd live on a diet of burgers, pizza, and "Chinese food" (which mostly just means rice).  She's not really a picky eater, though on any given day she'll prefer certain things on her plate over others.  When she is acting picky, she's the world's weirdest picky eater- she'll eat all her carrots, for example, and beg for more, and leave the fried chicken untouched.  (Not that I'm complaining- I'm just saying, she's an odd one.)  She knows where the applesauce pouches are stored in the pantry and she can open the door to get to them, so now, before school in the morning, she can bring one to me and ask me to open it.  She's pretty much mastered the use of utensils, though sometimes she gets impatient and digs in with her fingers instead.  She's also mostly mastered drinking from a cup without a lid, but we still encourage the use of straws whenever possible.

Looking at fishies with Nana at 21 months old

Talking pretty much in complete sentences now, and her pronunciation has greatly improved.  She's finally corrected the way she pronounces her own name, and she's slowly starting to get away from speaking in the third person.  She can mostly articulate wants and needs, and while we're not quite at the WHY stage, we are very much at the WHAT stage (though she'll just point and say "That?" to ask what something is).  We're definitely thankful for her ability to communicate, because at least for now, tantrums are few and far between.  (Though we have experienced them, and they are usually caused by being "hangry".)

Learning about airplanes with Daddy at 22 months old

Making facial expressions that look like miniature versions of each of us.  When she smiles, she looks just like me, and when she's concentrating on something or when she's frustrated about something, she looks exactly like her Daddy.

Trick-or-treating at 23 months old

Listening to Elmo, Elmo, and more Elmo.  She'll sing the goofy songs she hears on Sesame Street, whether they're about letters or numbers or the word of the day.  She also sings her nursery rhymes, and she'll try her best to sing the hymns at church (though mostly she'll just sing nonsense words along to the same tune).

Playing in the leaves this weekend

Sleeping all night long, and one nap during the day.  Lately, when she starts to get tired, she'll announce, "No go night-night," before we even have a chance to mention anything.  But bedtime isn't really much of a fight.  She may sit up and play with her stuffed animals for a bit after we put her down, but she'll fall asleep without fussing.  Last night, we gave her a big-girl bed for her birthday.  It's low to the ground and has railings on half of each side, and it still uses her crib mattress.  She was excited about the fact that she could climb in and out on her own, but when it was time to actually go to bed, I think the new-and-different-ness scared her a little bit.  I sat with her and rubbed her back until she decided to lie down, and she slept just fine- and she napped just fine in it this afternoon, too.

cupcakes for the birthday party at daycare

Loving Elmo; books; animals; helping- particularly with housework (though it's debatable how much actual "help" she provides); shopping for shoes (even if she only gets to try them on and we're not buying any that day); babies; hugs; her best friends at school; Elmo; Legos (Mega Bloks and Duplo); pickles; Disney movies featuring one or more animals; Elmo; doing things by herself; carrots; milk; Elmo; counting; identifying numbers on the signs at the store; Elmo; also, Elmo.

Hating standing or sitting still for any reason; the suggestion that it might be bedtime soon; not being allowed to live on a diet of yogurt and applesauce exclusively; not being allowed to talk; turning off Elmo.

And now she's 2!  I can't believe she's so big!

What is your toddler currently in to?

Much love,
The Geeks