2 Years, 8 months

Our little girl is definitely hurtling towards 3. Her awareness and conversation skills just keep growing by leaps and bounds. She continues to be delightful and she just enjoys things so fully. It’s still chilly here – 40 degrees this morning when we left the house – but we’ve spent recent afternoons blowing bubbles, drawing with sidewalk chalk and riding the big wheel.

At the park, she spends practically all her time in the sandbox now.

Potty training is still ongoing. We’re now up to using stickers as a reward and it’s pretty darn effective. We also have a new book “No More Diapers for Ducky” which we read on the potty. This seems to be sinking in. Daddy calls it brainwashing. On the page that says, “Ducky’s diaper is wet. Ducky’s diaper is cold.” I’ve added “Ducky’s diaper is yucky.” And I let her finish each of those sentences. Hey, whatever it takes. We’ve actually had a few instances in the last couple of days of her telling me she needed to go. We still have lots of wet “diaper pants” (pull-ups), but I’ll count the progress that I see instead.

She has become aware of the camera and the fact that she can see herself after I take her picture with the digital camera. She needs to learn the art of (1) being somewhat still and (2) staying at least arm’s length away from the camera. She is so eager to see the picture of herself that she comes at me before I even have a chance to take it. Her eagerness is cute, though.

We’re still having nap issues, too. Sometimes there’s no nap, sometimes there is. If she lets herself lay still and close her eyes, she falls asleep for two hours. But when she doesn’t … On the other hand, that gives us a little more freedom with our days knowing she can survive without a nap, as long as we still give her the opportunity at least 6 days out of 7. She usually doesn’t go two days in a row without a nap.

She’s doing a little better with hair washing, but it’s been a process of tricking her a little. Currently, she is washing her own hair by using Avon’s roll-on soap and then I let her use a wet washcloth to wash it off. She still gets a little concerned when I pick up a washcloth, but otherwise I think we’ll be okay.

She has started to interact with her stuffed animals. For a few days she was pretty attached to a light green bunny that she received for her first Easter. Then she discovered large plastic animals and she thinks they’re just the best. They go everywhere with us. I got her a set of dinosaurs and babies and those were popular for a while, too. It’s amazing how much fun it is to watch her enjoy her toys, make up little games and conversations with them, etc.

About the most consistent thing she is doing lately is wanting to take “somefin’ wif us” everytime we leave the house and car. It might be the green dinosaur that has to go with us to the car, but by the time we get to where we’re going it might be the plastic cow that needs to go inside with us.

It’s also funny to hear her say things to herself like “Watch where you’re going.” “Calm down.” She gets really distressed if she has dropped an object and can’t reach it. This has come in handy in the store if she drops the thing she insisted on bringing in. For example, I was in the grocery store picking out something and then I start to move and she starts saying in her very distressed tone, “Get lion! Get lion!” Otherwise, I would have merrily gone our way and realized later that the lion was missing and had no idea where it was.

I’ve discovered when she is having one of her meltdowns – whether it’s over a toy she’s about to lose forever or something she really wants like a leaf off a tree – she is really good about telling me what she needs if I just calmly ask her what’s wrong. I sometimes have to ask a few times, but she understands that if she calms down enough to tell me the best she can, I can usually make things better. I never would have guessed that she would be this cognitive at this age.

That’s the part I love about her inching towards three – hearing her express herself whether it’s through needs, wants or imaginary play with her toys and books. She’s neat and wonderful, and I love her so much.

[pictures dated 5/22/08]