Happy Two and a Half Years!

Since I don't do the monthly updates on Olivia any more, I thought I'd go ahead and do a post today since she is technically two and a half now!

We don't go back to the doctor for another 6 months, but here are her at home stats:

Weight: 34 pounds

Height: 37 inches

She is wearing mostly 3T clothes.  She still has some 2T items from last year that fit. Most of the 3T fits well and has plenty of room.  Some fit "just right".

She is wearing a size 9 shoe with plenty of room.

She has declared her favorite color to be purple. She knows the favorite colors of mommy, boppa and Miss Laurie and likes to point them out frequently.

When asked her name, she likes to give her full name.  She also knows both Michael and my name (she says "Befame"), and when she found out Logan's middle name was going to be Michael she immediately commented on him and Boppa both having the same name.

She is very interested in our family numbers and dynamic.  It doesn't matter what we are talking about or where we are, she picks out the biggest item--could be a rock or a box or a Christmas tree--and names it Boppa.  The middle size is mommy and the small one is her.  We try to encourage that she adds Logan to the mix.  Sometimes she does, sometimes she does not.

Her stuffed animals are her favorite toys.  (Although, she does NOT NEED ANY MORE!)  She makes stories up for them, tucks them into bed, carries them all around, feeds them, and on and on it goes.

She is also still a lover of books.  She loves being read to, but she will also still just sit and read to herself for very long periods of time.  She spends the majority of her days "reading" books.

Not only does she love to read her books, but she loves to stack them.  She will flip through the pages of the book one page at a time from front to back.  Then she lays it on the stack.  All the books must be facing up and turned in the same direction.  If you lay a book upside down on a stack or sideways, she WILL let you know what is up (and then promptly fix your 'mistake').

All things animal and nature are still dear to her heart.  She clearly does not get this love from me, but I try to encourage and go along with it the best I can.

Her talking and verbal skills are still her strong suit.  There were 3 people at Thanksgiving that made a comment about how well spoken she is for her age and how clearly she speaks. Cashiers often comment on this as well.  Of course, her verbal skills and size mixed often makes people think she is at least 3 and they sometimes expect more from her than is appropriate.  (For example, asking questions that no young 2 year old would be able to answer, etc).

We have been working on the motor skills.  This last month or so we have really been focusing on jumping.  It started at The Little Gym.  I would encourage her to bend her knees together an jump with both feet off of the balance beam--of course, while holding her hands.  We kept up that momentum and practiced when we could.  All on her own one day she started saying "Bend your knees together and jump!".  She is getting better and better daily!  She can jump with both feet some of the time, but is still perfecting the skill. :)

Along those lines, I think I have mentioned it before, but it seems that one of her strongest love languages is words of affirmation.  She is definitely not one for physical touch!

She gets to watch a show are 2 a day.  She got spoiled while we were staying with her Grandma because we were able to DVR some of her favorites.  We will be' back to the old school ways now. :)  (Although we still haven't even moved our TV over yet, so she hasn't watched anything for 2 weeks.)  I let her choose what she wants to watch from a small list of choices.  She goes through phases, but some of her favorites are Curious George, Sid the Science Kid, Word World, Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood, and Super Why.  As you can see, it's all basically choices that come from PBS.  Therefore, she isn't into the princesses, Dora, or Doc McStuffins yet (which are what half of the toys are in her age range these days).

Her eating can be summed up in four words: She is a toddler.  She would eat pasta every day if I let her.  She loves it any way it can come--with pesto, red sauce, alfredo, etc.   She also loves bread.  Ok, pretty much any carb! :) Hummus remains a favorite as well.  Everything else can go either way.  She will love it and ask for more and then the very next time she will say she doesn't like it.  She also will refuse to try many things that I make for dinner.  She loves applesauce, pirate's booty, and smoothies.

She still drinks almond milk.  She does get cow's milk when it is mixed into baked goods, but she has never had any to drink.  We have given her yogurt made with cow's milk, but she is very picky about it and much prefers the coconut milk yogurt.  She loves mac and cheese, but that is about the only cheese she will eat.  Even then it has to be certain kinds.  We got her baked ziti at a restaurant once and she picked off all of the strings of cheese.  She won't eat pieces of cheese or cottage cheese either.  I made her a grilled cheese for the first time a few weeks ago and she ate the crust, but not the cheese part. I guess since she didn't have dairy for 2 years she just doesn't like it.

She pretty much gave up her nap soon after we moved back to Ohio.  It makes me very sad.  I didn't expect her to nap until she went to Kindergarten, but I was hoping it would be until she was at least 3.  We still do a quiet time every day though.  Mommy needs it!

I know I said in the past that she was a very easy toddler.  Well, that all changed after she turned 2.  She started getting feisty.  It got exponentially worse after we moved to Ohio.  I'm not sure if this is the typical 2 year old phase that everyone goes through, or if this is just her true personality coming out.  I guess time will tell, but in the meantime we are doing our best to come up with the appropriate disciplines for her. I'm sure this is only going to get worse after Logan arrives.  So far, two isn't our favorite age. ;)

Even though she has become extremely strong willed and opinionated, she is still fun loving and silly.  She loves making people laugh and once she gets a reaction out of you she just keeps on going.  We thought we knew her personality and what/who she was going to be like, but she continues to change and keep us on our toes daily.