Anika, you are two-years-old now! I am trying to get you to flash the peace sign to people when they ask how old you are, but you just don't quite understand it yet.
You weigh 33.5 lbs (97th percentile), are 35.25 inches tall (82nd percentile) and I'm not sure what your head circumference is, but at your two-year checkup, it was in the 99 percentile. We're pretty sure you're going to be able to hold your own against your little brother! :D Every day, I swear you grow taller and taller. Your blond hair is just now growing down over your ears in upturned wisps. I bought you your first barrettes last week, and we tried them on you while you watched in the mirror from your step stool. You smiled at yourself coyly. I can only keep them in your hair for a few minutes at a time though, unless you forget they are in! You have all your baby teeth, with the exception of your two-year-molars - which are just breaking the surface on the bottom. When you smile your big, genuine grin and I see all those tiny teeth, my heart just melts... But I have to admit I will be very glad when all your teeth have broken through. You do not take well to teething. It wakes you up and night and you then decide to wake us up too. We will rock you in the glider or sleep next to you in the guest bedroom, which somehow makes you feel better.
Sleep is still a struggle with you; you just plain ole' don't like to do it, especially naps. We have our afternoon routine: around 1 or 2 pm, I tell you it's nap time. On a good day, you obediently head up the stairs and into your bedroom. After turning on your bird crib soother and grabbing a blanket and Ele or Bear, your two favorite animal friends, you hop onto our laps and we will read three or four books (although you'd have us read to you until the end of eternity if you could). Then we tell you it's time for bed, and you jump off our laps and hop into bed, where you lay your sweet little head down and fall asleep without a peep. This does
actually happen, but not
every time - more so at night than for naps. There are struggles galore for naps. I am sure if you had your way, you'd never take a nap. I am dreading the days without naps, but I sense that they are fast approaching... My only hope now is that once the teenage years are upon us, you will start to love sleep like most teenagers do so Mom and Dad can get some rest too!
You are going through a girly phase, where all you want to do is wear dresses. You don't have a favorite color so much as you just want to be wearing a dress at all times, or at least something with frillies and fluffies and ruffles on it. You love to climb up to the mirror and comb your hair and brush your teeth. You definitely think you are a princess! We think so too. You will dance and sing and play your "piano" and other instruments for us, and others as well. If there is any semblance of a stage or platform in the room, you will head for it and put on quite the show for whomever will watch you - especially once you are comfortable around them. I hesitate to use the term "Drama Queen," but it does fit you at the very least in the literal sense. You would thrive in show business, I swear! Whether on stage or producing or directing behind the scenes. We will encourage you in anything that you pursue.
Playing airplane with Dad.
You were having a blast! All smiles...
You are a very active little girl, always needing some kind of interaction or instigation; Mom gets very tired most days. You enjoy coloring, playing with playdough, playing with your My Little Ponies and die-cast cars, and reading, reading, and reading. You love listening to us read to you, sometimes the same book three times or more! We do watch movies/shows together to get us (Mom) through the days, especially lately at the end of pregnancy with you little brother. Your favorites are The Lion King, Cinderella, The Little Mermaid, Word World and Thomas the Train. Even while watching movies, you want me to be there with you as you point out all the exciting things going on. At least I get to relax physically, if not exactly mentally. If I close my eyes at all, you stand up and hug me or sometimes hit me or take my glasses off. You have been getting quite a few "time outs" (i.e., facing a corner sitting in a chair) for hitting me, Dad, cousin Jak, Griz, etc.... You will eventually learn that hitting isn't an appropriate expression of your feelings. I am sure we would have less outbursts if you were talking more, but we are still eagerly waiting for your speech to explode. You only say a few words: Mama, Dada, Blue, Ball, Uh Oh, Yeah, No... there may be a few more that I can't remember. The pediatrician thinks you may just be a very stubborn toddler (surprise!) and has encouraged us not to discuss it in front of you or push you toward talking, which is very hard for us. We want you to talk to us
so badly! It isn't a matter of comprehension, because you can point out at least half the letters of the alphabet and numbers up to ten and all the colors of the rainbow, if asked where one is. You are very expressive with sounds and actions, but unable or unwilling to translate those expressions into words. We are playing a waiting game, trying not to make a big deal out of it. But come the end of the year, we may put you into an early intervention program for speech.
Although you need more interaction that most toddlers, you are getting much better at playing by yourself for longer periods of time, especially if you know we are nearby. We are getting better at giving you space to play independently - if you come over to me and pull my hand to take me somewhere, I will often tell you I am doing activities of my own and you'll need to play alone. Griz helps a lot in this arena, because he amuses you with his antics. Since the weather is so beautiful lately and summer has finally surfaced, you want to be outdoors most of the day. We have a fenced backyard at our house now, where I can watch you playing while I clean, read, sew, organize, or relax. It is a wonderful setup. You love running through the sprinkler or just playing in Griz's water bucket everyday. I can't keep you out of it! You will take your play cups and fill them up and "water" the potted plants on our patio cup by cup. We planted your own pot of yellow marigolds and some other small purple flowers that you like to tend to. Unfortunately, I wasn't watching you closely enough and today you beheaded most of the marigolds and brought them to me, maybe as a peace offering. You don't quite understand that plants are living things. Either than, or you just wanted to pick them. Or both!
Lately, you have discovered that dirt is a very fun toy indeed. You will brings handfuls over to the patio and line them all up in the row and count them. Earlier this week, you also hand delivered a play plate piled high with delicious dirt for Griz's dining pleasure. You gently placed it down in front of him while he was lounging on the lawn. Griz just looked at me like "What the... I'm not eating that." And then he jumped up and knocked all the dirt entree into the grass, which upset you a bit, until you realized that you could just go over the garden bed and "cook" some more up for him quite quickly. You find new and fun things to do outside everyday.
"Cooking" up the meal o' dirt!
Here ya go Griz! Eat up!
Down the street, there are also a few outdoor heated pools that you are in
love love love with. There is a small pool perfectly sized for you, 2 feet deep the entire pool. You have the freedom to walk around anywhere in it, and if you fall beneath the surface you can eventually find your footing and come back up. We do have to help you sometimes to pop back up, but you aren't phased one bit by slipping under the water. You are a little water nymph and would love to swim by yourself in the big pool even, but you're not quite ready for that yet...
We also visit the park in the neighborhood quite a bit, and other parks. We visited Cloverland Park yesterday. First, we both enjoyed some Tropical Sno shaved ice cones fresh from the cart under the shade of a big tree. You were careful with your spoon/straw and only got a little bit of the cherry/ice shavings on your dress - most of the mess went into the grass anyway. You wore your blue dress with white daises on it, with a matching sun hat - which was made even more adorable because you ran around the grass finding tiny matching white daises to pick and give to me. There was another little girl there, probably a year older than you, who bonded with you. You both ran around the park together holding hands. You both went from tree to tree, under which you'd sit down and relax in the shade a bit - until you'd both get back up and grab hands and run to another tree again. I am
kicking myself for not having my camera... it was such a sweet sight on a beautiful sunny day with you!
You are quite the daredevil at the park, going up and down the stairs and slides by yourself, trying to climb ladders and rock walls and jungle gyms without my assistance. I have to watch you with eagle eyes! We do help you with appropriate park activities, but as for things like the fireman's pole, well you're just not ready yet Anika! Physically, you want to do things so much older than your two years. You can dribble a soccer ball around like it ain't no thing, and you're constantly throwing balls around (we'll have to curb this soon, but not yet...). You can't quite catch a ball yet, but are very good at kicking or throwing it towards someone. Like I said before, the climbing is exploding lately. You want to climb up everything! We have decided to move all the furniture away form the second story windows, because of the danger this new phase is posing. A few months ago, we turned around in the garage and there you are almost to the top of the ladder all by yourself! Every day is a new experience with you, Anika... I am learning with you and wouldn't trade these moments for anything!
Here are some photos from your birthday party!
You got ladybug wings from Auntie Gretchan! And you're wearing the apron I made you.
Posing with a tired, but happy Mama.
I made you Lion cupcakes this year!
Last year we had to walk you through what to do with the cupcake.
But this year? No instructions needed!
You dug right in...
Post cupcake bubble catching...
... and flying with Bear - courtesy of Dad's strong arms!
And you were a good helper with the cleanup crew too.
