Oh, she is cute, this daughter of mine. When she is dressed for bed in her footed sleeper, her blonde hair curling around her face, smiling or laughing, she is utterly, irresistably beautiful and charming. Except when she isn't.
Roars of frustration erupt from her when she can't accomplish a task she feels she should've mastered already. "I can't do it!" Demands emit from her rosebud mouth -- "Mama! (with strong emphasis on the first syllable) Come here!" She'll go from smiling to heart-wrenching sobs (because it is tragic that her Mom wants to put her to bed). She is inconsistent, asking for one food item, but scorning it when you deliver it to her. She has the skills to drink from a regular cup, but you don't dare give her one because one of her greatest joys is to upend cups, glasses, cans, and bottles whenever she can get her hands on one. She can eat with forks and spoons, but often opts for her hands or even putting her bowl of corn or peas to her lips and flipping it up. You remind her to take smaller amounts of food on her spoon and she does the exact opposite.
But. This is the same child who says, "I like your beautiful hair, Mama." (when you may not have even brushed it yet that day). "I'm so glad to see you." "I love you." "Mama, play with me!" She knows how to say grace at the table and reminds us if we forget. She snuggles next to me for our storytime every night and holds a lock of my hair in her hand sleepily, as she has done since she was a baby.
She is incredibly verbal -- the other morning I said, "How did you sleep, sweetie," and I swear she said, "I slept very well, Mama" and may have even said "thank you" at the end.
She adores Thomas the Tank Engine on PBS and is trying to learn all the words to the theme song. It's a nice way to distract her if she's getting cranky -- just start singing, "They're two, they're four, they're six, they're eight, shunting trucks and hauling freight. . ."
She loves to color with crayons and colored pencils (and occasionally washable markers, although the last time she used them she decorated her clothing profusely so I'm going to keep them for when she's a little older).
She remembers people better, now. She often mentions her relatives that live far away.
She did a monologue on the cell phone for her paternal grandparents a couple of weeks ago, giving them a guided tour of the house and her toys. For her bedroom she said, "This is my diaper-changing room." She went on and on and on, talking, waving her free hand -- I wish we'd captured it on videotape.
We're still working on the potty-training. She's done "number one" on the toilet many times and really likes the little stepstool she can use to climb on the toilet or stand at the sink to wash her hands. She has never done "number two" on the toilet. She understands the concept, I think, and will often (but not always) tell us when she's poopy. We'll get there.
It's really an adorable age and we're trying to enjoy every age she is at because it won't come again. However, we do look forward to some leavening of the roller coaster moods of two and a half.
