Oh this sweet, opinionated, loving, strong-willed two year old of ours. We love her so much and simultaneously wonder how we are ever going to teach her anything. She seems to have jumped into full fledged two year old mode, but even with the tantrums and stubborness - we still adore her and don't know what we would do without her. She still has the ability to absolutely make my heart melt and make me feel like the most special mother in the whole world.
Stats: 24 month clothes are too small but 2T fit well, and she even has a few 3T things. (Although she has some 2T pants that are too big for her.) She's in size 4 diapers and size 7 shoes.
--The biggest change of this darling girl's life happened. She became a big sister. She loves her baby brother. Adores him. It's so special to watch them together. She mostly smothers him and he mostly endures it, but you can see the sibling love that has been there from the very beginning. Lydia likes to "Look at our baby" which means putting her face right by his face, nose-to-nose. She likes to hug him, which consists of her laying her body over him, and kiss him, which is the sweetest of all. She's even started to give him an ugga-mugga (from Daniel Tiger) where she rubs their noses together. She's always worried about him, especially when he's crying, and she always makes sure that he is taken care of. She's a wonderful older sister.
-- Her vocabulary and communication skills have reached a whole new level. It's amazing how well she can communicate the things that she is thinking. She makes 6-8 word sentences all the time, and strings those together into paragraphs/stories. She still says some sweet little-girl talk things like: "Ya-wum-ba" (You're Welcome), "Tan-tee" (Candy), "Ott" (Off), and "Ogie-yurt" (Yogurt). She used to say "yesterday" for everything that happened previously, and now it's "last night". Like "re-nember last night when Amy was here". Or right after Austin stops crying - "Last night our baby was sad, but now he's happy."
--Another huge thing that has changed over the last couple of months was the number and level of tantrums. We've honestly never had to deal with a full blown kicking and screaming tantrum until just recently. The first several times, we really didn't even know how to handle it - it was so out of the ordinary for her to be so upset. We've really had to learn about how we want to handle the tantrum throwing and we've been working with her on how to handle her emotions. I wish that I had a picture of her throwing a tantrum, but when she's in tantrum mode- the last thing on my mind is to grab a picture. Just picture the exact opposite of this picture:
--She's still super active and loves anything that gets her out of the house and moving around.
-We have been working really hard at "using our words" when we want something or when we are upset. She's getting much better at it - and so am I.
--She loves to help with everything. I try to be her biggest supporter, because... childhood! This is how you learn. Right? We make lots of messes, but have a lot of fun along the way.
(I kept telling her not to eat the batter, and she thought it was the funniest thing. *Sigh* I promise if we make you pancakes, I won't let my toddler lick the measuring cup.)
--She gets joy from the smallest things. Olives on her fingers = the best thing ever. Building a giant tower = the best thing ever. Jumping on the couch cushions = the best thing ever.
--She is so sensitive. If you ask her not to do something, or she gets in trouble for something, she hangs her head and drops her arms to her side. She usually starts crying. You can tell it makes he so sad. She also is so sensitive to Austin being sad. For the first two weeks, every time he cried-she would cry too. Now if he cries she says "Oh no! My baby." She'll sing him a song or try to stick his pacifier in. Until he stops crying, she's very agitated. Such a sensitive soul.
--She's started holding her hands up to her eyes to "see". She uses her binoculars to "see you" and it's super darling. She also uses toilet paper rolls as telescopes and any other items with windows to look through.
--She shakes her hands/arms when she gets excited about something.
--She likes to carry things around in her bunny bag or her little purse.
--She likes to collect things like puffs and buttons and will carry them around in her little collections.
--She likes to play with legos and will build towers and castles.
--I asked her what her favorite thing to do was and she said "To play. And to eat."
--She loves to read books. Some of her recent favorites are: The Very Hungry Caterpillar. Fancy Nancy. Zoe Gets Ready. The Very Cranky Bear. Cloudette.
--She has started turning my own words against me. For example:
Lyd- "Can we have some treats?"
Me- "How about we make some dinner together?"
Lyd: "How about we have some treats?"
(How about, maybe, and later vs. right-now all play big roles in our conversations.)
--She only naps about 20% of the time. The other 80% she just plays in her room and I call it "quiet time". I really wish that she would nap, but going into her room after an hour of her not-napping and telling her sternly "Lydia, close your eyes! You need to fall asleep!" doesn't seem to work. I used to be able to just take her to the museum or park and let her play hard before naptime and that would wear her out, but now even that doesn't work. However, when she does nap - she sleeps for 3 hours or so, so I KNOW she still needs the nap. *Sigh* Luckily, she's pretty content to play quietly so I can still feel okay about her getting some rest at least. (And me some rest, let's be honest.)
Some more pictures from the last several months:
