TWO

Baby Girl - you are two today! I'm scared that as fast as these two years went by that soon you will be 16 and we will only have two more precious years with you! This past year you have gone from a baby to a little girl. You are no longer an extension of us, but have your own ideas, wants, emotions and actions. Like daddy says - "there are 3 personalities in the room now!" A friend asked us if it is the terrible or terrific 2's. My honest answer is that it is very much both, switching from moment to moment. Emotions run high in both directions. I kind of feel like you have been two for a few months now! But today it is official!


Milestones:
Sleeping in a big girl bed with blankets, a very small pillow and a pool noodle under the sheets to keep you from falling out (Thanks Kaitlin!!)
One leg leading skipping
"What's wrong with the internet?" the complexity of your questions grows everyday
Answering some why and what happened questions
Sometimes spontaneously saying 'thank you' for appropriate and funny things
Pretending to go places (like the store) with your babies
Playing hide and seek (you can hide, count to 10 and say "ready or not here I come" and sustain looking for us with assistance)
Identify a triangle, circle and oval
Sometimes you know red, pink, yellow and blue
You imitate lines, squiggles, and circles and say now I draw a chicken then scribble. The other day you drew an oval and said "it's an oval."
You will 'read' books to us that you are familiar with.
Just this week your interest in jigsaw puzzles developed and you can put together pieces if I set them up one at a time or it is the only piece left.
You put clothes on that I lay out for you, they just might be backwards or inside out though.
You put on your own Velcro shoes - just not always on the right feet.

For the past several months your biggest change is your ability to communicate. We are so amazed by what you can tell us. Everyone comments on your cute little voice. In the car you were upset about your stickers and I said to and hand them to me and you responded - "Mama I can't, dropped them." You talked non stop on the phone with your great grandparents today. Telling them the pool was closed (our community one was) and that daddy went to the big pool. You talked about the birds and the trees. Later I asked you what tomorrow was and you said "my birthday." I asked how old you would be and you said "2!" You have the vocabulary to describe almost everything you see or events around you. You learned the words other and somebody this month. "Mama, that is somebody's car." or better yet at the grocery story pointing "That is somebody." You will ask, "can I have the other or different one?" You know what under, on top of, next to, and turn it mean. You want to know where everyone is. The day after Uncle Jeremy left, your new day care antie was able to understand "Uncle Jeremy back in Colorado." Tonight we took separate cars to the pool and you asked, "where'd daddy go?" I told you, you asked again, so I asked you where he went and you replied "Daddy in silver car going home." You enjoy singing and know most of "Twinkle, twinkle." You will start a song or say part of it requesting that I sing it. Yankee, Twinkle, baa baa, Jesus, monkey. You also enjoy giving me a topic and having me make up songs. "Mama sing _____" We sing some pretty funny things. When it is raining, you sing "it's pouring and snoring."

Things you love -
Nancy - your plastic baby that we finally named. She goes everywhere with you - bath, bed and the beach if you insist. You dress her, change her diapers, feed her, put her in time out and love on her.
Popsicles - the homemade fruit kind
Monkeys and Curious George
Puzzles
Reading
Playing with friends
Swimming (you can kick, paddle and sometimes come up on your own to get a breath)
Cuddling
Being carried when were out and about - especially shoulder rides


Things you dislike -
Using the potty
Being told no or that we don't have something you want
Occasionally you just don't want a diaper on - this is problematic considering that you also don't want to use the potty.
Other people talking to me - you will start shouting "Autumn talk to her Mama!"
The sun in your eyes
Sand in your shoes
Bug bites

Potty training: I thought you were making progress in being ready. In Colorado before we left you had 4 successes in one day. Right now you don't want to sit on the potty, but you want to wear big girl underware. We've tried a few times and now have decided to put the underware away for awhile until you are willing to try to sit and go on the potty regularly. You love your Elmo potty book and we read it almost every day at your request, but you just are not yet ready to be fully trained and we don't want it to be stressful or a fight.

What you go to time out for: Screaming and disobedience
You put your babies in time out and say "listen, listen." We usually explain what you have done wrong, have you say sorry and then repeat what you are or are not supposed to do. You definitely get it and sometimes even put your self in time out.

Where you have been in these first 2 years - Loveland - Roosevelt, UT - Glenwood Springs - Denver - Portland, OR - Billings, MT - Pullman, WA - Washington DC area - Grand Junction - Zion National Park - Las Vegas - Death Valley - Mammoth Springs - Yosemite National Park - Lake Tahoe - Lasson National Park - Red Wood National Park - Salem, OR - Olympia, WA - Mt. Rainer National Park - Pullman, WA - Helena, MT - Yellowstone National Park - Kona, HI - Maui - Pullman, WA - Olympia, WA - Seattle, WA - Maui - Kona, HI - Phi Phi Islands, Thailand - Krabi, Thailand - Yangon, Myanmar - Bagan, Manmar - Bangkok, Thailand - Waikiki, HI - Molokai - Maui - Pullman, WA - Boise, ID - Glenwood Springs - Loveland/Fort Collins - Washington DC area - Colorado - Kona, HI



Although the emotional 2's are in full force, the joy you bring to our family is beyond our wildest dreams. You are spunky and bright. The world is full of wonders that you want to explore with your eyes, hands and ears. This last week you have been asking where the moon is and talk about up in the sky. You will spontaneously tell us you love us, cuddle and snuggle with us and give us big kisses!

Thank you for who you are Autumn! We are so proud of you and look forward to exploring the world with you and watching you grow up in it!!

We love you,
Momma and Daddy