Two and a Half

Nora is officially two and a half years old!! She is such a big girl now. She wants to be so independent and do things on her own and insists upon doing so, even when we are not in the mood. Every morning she wants to put on her own clothing from underwear to shoes and every evening she wants to pick out her pajamas and put each article of clothing necessary for bedtime on by herself. She wants to climb the stairs both up and down all by herself... which takes forever. She wants to buckle her own carseat. She wants to put on her own chapstick. She is Miss Independent. We are working on finding the right amount of control to give her so that we are ALL happy with our routines.

Big girl with baby Jo!

She is doing phenomenally well with putting sentences together and using words of all kinds. We especially enjoy hearing her talk about her friends at school and her plans for making us cupcakes and cookies. She will tell us about what the caterpillar she found on the playground at school looks like and who built blocks with her and when their next play date is going to be and how so-and-so bit so-and-so and had to go to time out and just about anything. Especially right before bed when she doesn't want to fall asleep...

We are also potty trained!! Separate post coming soon...

Yet, she is two and a half and right in the middle of the I-will-throw-a-tantrum-when-I-don't-get-what-I-want-or-am-super-hungry-or-tired phase. So things continue to stay interesting around here when you throw a 15 month old into the mix of it all, but we are having a blast watching them grow together!

Updates since two years old...

Puts small sentences together Nora is now an extremely vocal little storyteller. She puts together sentence after sentence and even has little mannerisms that she has developed that I'm sure she picked up from someone around the house... (ahem: me.) She says "Sooo" a lot and puts her little hand out, palm up, while she explains things. She uses words like "indeed" and "also" when she talks. She amazes us with her articulation and what words she puts together. She also seems to know just the right things to say... "Mommy, let's talk for a little bit." and "Daddy, please hold me." ... when she doesn't want you to leave the room at bedtime.

Eating a thin mint for the first time! 

She said, "I like this. This is tasty. This is my favorite."

Knows basic colors & shapes Nora was telling us the other day about what our favorite colors were. Nora's is yellow (surprise!), mommy's is pink, Janie's is purple, and daddy's is red and blue. These are the same colors she has associated with us for MONTHS. It all started with a picture that she made at school. We hung it on the fridge and it has stuck. We always get these same colored plates, bowls, cups, spoons, forks, and cupcakes (play dishes & food) and apparently now they are our favorite colors, despite what our actual opinions may be.

Can count to 10 Nora is good at counting to 10 but things still get jumbled up after that. She can also tell you how old she is and how old she will be next and she also thinks she is going to mommy's school when she is 3.

Knows a few letters We were doing an ABC puzzle the other day and determined that Nora knows about 20 of the letters now! She knows that N is for Nora. She can tell you her full name (sometimes).

Every time we get a box... it stays for a little while.

Enjoys playing with baby dolls & pretend kitchen One of Nora's favorite things to do these days is still to play with her kitchen. She gets out cupcakes and cookies for everyone as well as both coffee and tea. She doesn't cook for us as much as she bakes these days. She is also still really into feeding her baby dolls and her singing Elsa doll.

Loves reading books & doing puzzles Nora doesn't pick up the puzzles as much as she used to, but is still very interested if we decide to get them out. I think she might really enjoy playing an age appropriate game but we don't have any so that is on my radar for a future gift... Nora still loves reading but mostly does it just before bed and nap time while at home. We read the same book every. single. time. until either mommy or daddy gets sick of it and we "accidentally" lose it for awhile. Nora gets to a point where she memorizes most of the book and could literally read it to you and therefore - NO SKIPPING PARTS OR PAGES. Parents - you know how this can be. And then she stops to inquire things like, "Where is his mommy?" or "Where is he going?" or "What does this girl say?" or "What is this called?" making reading time really long. Ultimately, we love it, but sometimes in the moment it can be a bit exhausting.

Tucking in Ford.

Sings songs & sometimes makes up her own Nora LOVES music. It took us into January to get her to stop asking to hear "Santa Claus is Coming to Town" every time we got into the car. She loved listening to the Christmas music this year. She also has this CD from school that we listen to but she chimes in "I don't like this song," or "Next song, please mommy," quite often. She will ask me about songs on the radio: "What's this song called?" or say things like, "I don't like this song. I like Shake It Off. It's my favorite." She will sing nursery rhymes and other songs to herself while playing sometimes as well though I don't hear her make up her own as often. We also still have a very particular bed time routine with songs as well. We have to sing Twinkle Twinkle TWO times, then the Eyes of Texas, then Rock-a-Bye to both herself and her baby doll. Every night. No skipping. No skimping. But whatever - it's predictable and it works. Just makes us sound like crazy people to anyone else putting her to bed.

Is a great big sister Janie and Nora have really been getting along for the most part. Janie thinks Nora is the best and everything she does Janie wants to do, too. Including going to the highest part on the playground. Nora has figured out how to share with Janie and they both think the other is hysterical. We do have our moments, of course. They both want the bath time baby doll now. That causes a huge argument. When Nora is tired or hungry, she gets super mad if Janie even looks at her plates of cupcakes. Janie has figured out that she can take one of Nora's play dishes and run away with it and get a HUGE rise out of Nora. So then a little game of chase starts. Janie is shrieking with delight while Nora is screaming with disgust and frustration because her sister has her cup. We have to hide our giggles before dissolving these situations! Magnadoodle = another common ground for arguments. But on the whole, they are pretty sweet with each other.

Look up, Nora! 

Helps in the house and the yard Well, it had been winter so the yard work is just now picking up really but Nora can be a big helper. She loves to feed the dog, which we've given her quite a bit more freedom with. She knows how many scoops to give him, how to open the doors, and how to open the container. She also will get tissues for whomever and usually is eager to help throw things in the trash can.

Eats meals with mommy or daddy I think we've gotten a bit better about this, thank goodness. Nora does still ask to sit with mommy or daddy at meal times on occasion, but she is so much better about sitting on her own consistently at the dinner table. She is a pretty good eater, though Janie can out-eat her any day of the week so I'm not sure what that actually says about Nora's eating habits. We've finally gotten into a pretty good routine of making dinner at home and all eating at the dinner table together. It's no easy task getting it all together - but with Janie's dairy issues (hopefully) off the table and also her eating finger foods, it makes eating as a family better and I think everyone benefits from it.

Helping mommy with some Christmas projects...

Uses utensils Nora uses all her utensils quite well and is actually particular sometimes about which type of spoon or fork she uses. We have a few different brands that are shaped slightly different and MAN she knows it.

Drinks from a cup (sometimes) Nora is also quite particular about her cups. Not one cup in general just the control that goes along with choosing a cup. She can drink from a straw and out of a regular cup and out of a cup with a rimmed lid or a regular old sippy cup but you can never just give her a cup it seems. The good thing is that when we cannot give her a choice, she goes with it (running low on clean cups or need a travel cup for the car) but we don't mind letting her have control over the cup she drinks from usually. She is proving to be a bit of a particular child on the whole!

Likes to brush her teeth Sometimes we get tantrums when it comes to brushing teeth and sometimes we get instructions on how to do it but Nora generally likes to brush her teeth. She is still learning how to spit so we are using that yummy fruity toddler toothpaste so things could change with the mint. Who knows when that will be!? We did see the dentist around the holidays and it went surprisingly well so I'm happy with that.

Has 16 teeth Nora has gotten at least 2 of her two-year molars. I haven't looked lately, actually. So she has at least 18 teeth.

With her Hedwig owl. We love Harry Potter!