raising a mommy: our little girl: 28 months

These P updates are getting more and more sporadic. It's not that she's doing fewer awesome things, it's just that I don't notice as much anymore because they seem more normal. Or something. I'm not sure. Also, P would rather be outside than anywhere else, making it difficult for me to finish up all of my inside chores and still have time to blog. I'm not complaining about this at all - I love it, in fact! However, we may have to raise our budget this summer for sunscreen.

As always, P is talking up a storm. Though mind-blowing at times, her speech has also been one of the saddest developments for us lately. She is continues to say more words correctly that she used to say in endearing toddler ways. Luckily for us, we still hear "pan-yo" instead of "piano" and a few others. She's also getting better at consonant clusters to begin words. She doesn't quite say them together yet, so words come out sounding like "b-read" and "p-ray." So darling!

Letter recognition has really taken off lately. At last count, I would say she knows just over half the alphabet. I credit this to Sesame Street, her letter puzzle, some Baby Einstein letter books, and a really annoying little caterpillar that she pulls around the house that sings it's ABC's. I wouldn't say we "work on" letter recognition with her, but we'll ask her what certain letter are when we're reading or coloring.

This kid has a crazy good memory. I didn't think two year olds were supposed to have too much in the way of specific long term memory, but she sure does! It's usually little things that I don't even remember until she brings them up. Last fall she decided that clothespins should be called "owies" because they can pinch you. Then the clothespins went away all winter, only to be brought out a few weeks ago. What do I hear? "Mommy, do you have the owies?"

Bedtime routine has been expanded to include flossing. She loves it. We even caught her flossing with a piece of thread that had frayed off her sock one time. Gross, but pretty darn resourceful.

We have yet to make any headway on potty training. We do, however, have a bath time baby with a strategically placed hole that may aid in this endeavor. It sure would be nice to have her solidly trained before the next little one comes along, but I'm certainly not concerned about it. I can handle two in diapers for a little while!

As stated earlier, there is nowhere this kid would rather be than outside. She loves to play in the yard, practice riding her trike, and go down her kiddie slide. And walking. And running. She LOVES to go walking and running. And by walking and running, I no longer mean riding in her stroller while mommy pushes her. She wants to walk and run by herself. She gets very upset whenever I tell her it's time to turn around and go home. One of these days I'm going to pack food and water and walk until she tells me to turn around. Our record so far is five miles in one day.

The other day (I am not making this up) she ran a half mile all by herself. Now, I won't say there was no stopping. She is her mother's child and gets easily distracted by things like planes, puddles, and piles of dirt. However, she covered the full half mile before she walked any distance. Obviously, I won't love my children any more or less if they do or don't share my interests, but I'd be lying if I said this wasn't one of my proudest parenting moments so far.

Favorite phrases we've heard recently:
"I want to snuggle with your face." Then she wraps her little arms around your head and nuzzles her face against yours. She is shockingly strong.

"Can I use your hands?" Meaning: "Hold my hand, pat my head, let me hug your hand," or basically just "give me any kind of physical contact!" This is especially fun when she's her car seat in the back seat of the car and I'm in the front. I've lost count of the number of times my arm has fallen asleep.

Me: "P, do you want ice cream with strawberries and chocolate?"
P: "No, just strawberries."