Two!

Lilla turned two years old today. I don't know where the time went, but I know it's been fun!

I'll have pictures from her birthday party this weekend, I just thought I'd write about all the little things Lilla is doing now:

1) She knows her colors (most of them) and will now describe things by their color....which is cute. "Yellow slide, or green pants."

2) She can count to 10 in english and spanish (thanks Dora) and actually can count to about twelve in english but then skips to "eighteen, thirteen...."

3) Still a good sleeper, her bed time is getting to be 8pm and she wakes up at about 6:50, not so good on the weekends, but oh well. She is still in her crib, but has a big girl bed set up in her new room. I think the transition will start later this fall into winter.....should be fun.

4) Dora and Diego are by far her favorite cartoons. She also knows and likes Super Why, Mickey Mouse, Sesame Street, Authur, Martha Speaks, and many more that I'm not even aware of....it's kinda scary sometimes to find out what she knows.

5) She has about 20 "buddies", which are her stuffed toys that come out every evening for story time. All of them have a name (usually what they are, example "bear") and ALL of them have to come out every night. It takes about 4-5 trips for her because we keep them in her room. Good times. These buddies "sleep" in her book shelf next to her crib and she knows who sleeps where. Dolly, baby, Frankie are on top, Sesame Street animals and big bear on the second shelf, the rest in a basket on the bottom shelf. Last night moose tried to sleep up with Dolly and Frankie and Lilla corrected him and put Moose in the basket with the other various animals. Silly mommy, can't pull a fast one this toddler. These buddies are not be confused with her bath buddies that have a strict rule of staying in the bath tub, because, well, that's where they sleep.

6)She knows and can identify all of our family members and can now remember friends and will talk about them for days after we see whomever. "where did Liam go"? "Where did KT go?" "Where is Alli?"......we haven't seen Alli since August, but she pops up every once and a while.

7)Still can't get her to eat a vegi, however, she likes soups, so mom will be making vegetable filled soups to trick her....=)

8)Lilla likes to sing A LOT. The songs she sings the most are ABC, Ring around the Rosies, Twinkle Twinkle. ABC needs a lot of work, but Ring and Twinkle are pretty much complete, meaning all the words are there and in order. =) However, that being said, Lilla is pretty good at identifying letters. I'll be wearing a shirt that says something, and she'll start telling me the letters. Again, kinda scary what they pick up. I love watching her formulate an answer or ask a question.

9) She asks a lot a questions and talks ALL THE TIME. Which, for you that know me and John, is not surprising. We are chatters. When we're not in the room with her she'll start yelling Mommy, or Daddio until someone goes to see what's up....which is usually nothing, she's just testing us....and she's real good at it.

10)Yesterday, I think was our first, full on, can't really tell you why, temper tantrum. From Suzy's house (daycare) to our house....full on crying, screaming, and fingers in the mouth choking. Good times. Hopefully we don't have too many of those episodes in our future. =) Besides that episode, she has now started the game of "I don't like fill in blank", today was "I don't like milk" because she wanted some water....yeah right. So, that's super fun and I amazed at how young that game starts. She also, when mad, will fling whatever is in her hands down (usually a doll or her milk), go pick it up, fling it down....on and on. OR if you are holding her, she will hit you. That goes over REAL well with mom. We've had many crying episodes because I'll walk away or take whatever she is flinging. Negotiations with a two year old has become part of the daily grind.

11) She's just funny. I catch myself laughing at her all the time, usually just from the things that come out of her mouth. She's very good at saying "No NO Bailey" for no reason at all. She pretty much thinks Bailey is hers and Bailey should do everything she says. "Come on Bailey" is great because Bailey will just look at her and not move a muscle. =)

12)She's a pretty good helper and she likes to help. I can get her to do almost anything if she thinks it's a game. Putting away dishes is the most fun because I HATE that job, and she likes it. She also likes to move folded clothes, usually to the right spot, sometimes we end up with piles of now unfolded clothes....but that's what you get when working with a two year old, right?

13) One last and probably the best thing....Lilla knows and will say thank you at the appropriate moments. I wish I could take credit for it , however, as it turns out, neither can our daycare lady. I asked her if manners were something she was working on lately, and she said she was going to ask me the same thing. So, somewhere along the way, Lilla picked up how to say thank you. I know it will not last forever, so for now.....I'll enjoy the "thank you" I get for changing her diaper. Seriously, how cute is that?

So, as you can tell, I'm a proud mom of my growing lovely daughter. She is the absolute joy of our lives and I can't wait to see what will happen next with our Lilla.=)