Laurel is 2!

Oh me, oh my. I cannot believe that this precious girl is 2 today. I feel like the past 2 years have gone by so fast. My baby girl is disappearing more and more by the day as she is turning into a sweet, smart, prissy and just sometimes a little stinker of a little girl. She has figured out that all she has to do is flash that face (above) and she can get almost anything. She has also figured out that if that doesn't work, she can turn on the crocodile tears and that is pretty effective, too. Because of these things, disciplining her has been very hard for me. I am working on it, though because at this rate she is going to be a nightmare as a teenager. She loves time outs, literally loves them. I am pretty sure she thinks they make her like big brother and that is cool. Spankings, on the other hand, she is not a fan of. Most of the time, all I have to do is threaten one and she shapes up. Even though she has those defiant moments, though, most of the time she really is so sweet. She loves to cuddle and rock and asks for hugs and kisses all day long. She would still be perfectly happy for me to hold her for most of the day. If it is possible for a 2 year old to have a love language, I am positive hers is physical touch. She wants to be holding hands, being held, sitting in laps, etc. constantly. On Mondays when Micah is in school, she is my little buddy. She loves to go run errands with me and be my little shopping companion. 

For the things that Laurel is doing at 2:
She is still a great sleeper sleeping from 8pm-8am on most days and she still takes an awesome marathon nap in the afternoon. She does down around 1pm and the earliest I ever hear her is 4:30pm and somedays I have to go in and wake her up at 5 or 5:30. She cannot sleep without her bunny and blankie and paci (which she still calls "ba"). She is way more addicted to the paci than Micah ever was so I don't know what we are going to do about that. Right now, she only gets it at bedtime and naptime so I am not quite ready to make her give it up. She went to the pediatric dentist last week for the first time and she said that the paci was having absolutely no effect on her teeth and that we could keep it until she is 4 (I do not plan on it sticking around for that long but I certainly don't feel bad about a few more months). We'll see what Dr. T says at her check up this week. She is still sleeping in her crib but that is about to change! Last week, we moved her into our guest room and started setting up her big girl room! That room is so much bigger than her nursery so we decided it would fit the furniture better. Both rooms are not finished yet so I'll post pictures soon once her room is done.

We have not started officially potty training Laurel but she is probably ready. She goes on the potty a lot and always tells me when she needs a diaper change. I guess when your toddler comes up to you and says "I have poopies change me please" that means it's time to potty train? I don't know, I am going to work on the transition to a big girl bed first and then we'll work on the potty training.

As I mentioned above, she is such a little chatterbox. She repeats literally every word out of Micah's mouth which he thinks is awesome. He gets her to say words that he isn't supposed to say all the time (so far just potty words and stupid but this is bound to get worse). She can communicate pretty much anything she is thinking, feeling or wanting. She puts sentences together, sings full songs, and always amazes me with her expanding vocabulary. Her most common phrases are "mommy, sit down read books!" along with "me too!" or "I do!" in response to anything and everything Micah says and does. I also hear "no! do it myself!" all day long from little Miss Independent. She is also very tough. I sometimes even use the word durable. I guess that is just the product of having an older brother but it takes a lot to make her cry (unless, of course, she is in the mood to be dramatic).

Her favorite thing to do right now is read books. I think she would be content to sit and read all day.  In her new big girl room, she has a play tent that she calls her "princess fort" and she and Micah love to sit in there and read. Another new thing from the last month or so is that she and Micah really play and interact with each other now. He will sit and "read" to her or they will run around inside and outside together and play all day. It is so precious to watch them become little friends! In the fall, Micah will go to Pre-K 5 days a week (half days) and I am really curious to see if she likes the one on one time with me or if she misses her little buddy.

Her 2 year check up is next week so I'll post her stats after that. My main concern at every check up with both kids is their eating. At Micah's 4 year check up, Dr. T said "well, he is growing so well I know I don't have to ask if he is a good eater!" and I just laughed because both of them are not good eaters. They are the pickiest kids imaginable, only eat veggies if they are hidden in something and never branch out and try new things. We got into a horrible power struggle just last week with Laurel where she stayed in her chair until 10:30pm because she refused to take one bit of her mac and cheese (which is currently one of her absolute favorites). Mealtimes are my most frustrating times as their mom. Any tips are appreciated.

**2 year Stats:
Height: 34.25" (83%)
Weight: 29 lbs (78%)

I looked back at Micah's 2 year blog post to see his favorites and it is funny how many of them are the same. The only difference is that Laurel doesn't have different names for them, she just calls them waht they are. Here are some of her other faves right now:

- Foods: mac and cheese, goldfish, smoothies, pouches (still), pizza, yogurt and nuggets. She just recently started eating peanut butter and honey sandwiches as well as pesto pasta.
- Babies! She loves to play with her babies. She rocks them, hugs them, pats them, says "Shh shh shh" and pretends to put them to bed.
- Veggie Tales: these are the only characters that she is really into right now. She will not sit still for long enough to watch a full show much less a movie. I have tried the princess movies and she'll point and say "oooo Princess!" but that's about all. She has a major crush on Bob the tomato from Veggie Tales so she will actually sit and watch him for a little bit.
- Outside: she loves to play outside with Micah. She like to blow bubbles, play on her riding and push toys, ride in the wagon, swing, slide and ride around in the Jeep.
- Boys... I know that sounds funny but she really is such a flirt. Her faves right now are Archer and his little brother Ashton and her buddy Luke (who is really another one of Micah's buddies). *sigh* I foresee many issues when Micah's buds try to date Laurel A LONG TIME FROM NOW.
- Drawing: the only thing aside form reading that holds her sitting still attention span is sitting at the table in the playroom and coloring and playing with stickers
- Cooking: she loves to put on her apron and go pretend to cook in her kitchen. I can't wait until she is old enough to cook with me
- Singing songs: her faves right now are You are my sunshine ("sunshine song"), Tell Me Why ("mommy song"), I Love you Lord ("Wuv you Word song"), Jesus Loves the Little Children ("children song") and Old MacDonald Had a farm ("farm song!")

Dislikes:
- Anything that requires her to sit still (diaper changes and riding in the car)
- Not being able to do something by herself
- Getting her teeth brushed
- Being told "no", especially by Micah when he doesn't want to play with her

Other things Laurel is doing at 2 (because I am a teacher at heart):

- can recite her whole alphabet and recognizes some (but not all) of the letters

- knows her colors (most of the time)

- knows some of her shapes

- uses utensils to eat everything... even more than Micah does

- counts and counts objects up to 10

- undressing herself only when she is not supposed to and never when we ask her to (before bath). If her diaper is ever exposed, it is off within seconds. 

- uses her manners: please, thank you, bless you, welcome, she has great manners and says them so sweetly. 

- I don't know if Micah did this at this age, but she can sing an entire song. We sing before bed every night but lately she just sings to me and it melts me every time. She definitely gets that from her Daddy.

We are spending the day as a family today so I'll post pictures soon of how we spent her birthday.

Baby girl,
I can't believe you are already 2. I can't imagine our little family without you in it. You have so much spunk and you keep me laughing. I love watching you chase around your brother and trying to be just like him. I love seeing your sweet face when you figure something out for the first time. Your sweet spirit melts me into a million pieces and I love how cuddly you are. I love getting to watch your littler personality develop and am so blessed to be your mommy. I cannot wait to see the woman that you grow into. Happy happy birthday sweet Laurel. You bring so much joy to our lives and I love you more than you could ever know!
Mommy

{My talented sister took these pictures when we were in College Station for Spring Break. That lovely "field" (aka empty lot) next door to my parent's house is still our favorite photo spot. We did Laurel's 18 month pictures there as well as our family pictures last fall. Who would've known that for spring, it would sprout a field of bluebonnets? I can't wait to go back next weekend for Easter because I hear that the wildflowers have tripled. I really hope that it stays an empty lot forever.}

Photos courtesy of Natalie Blazei Photography