Two and a Half

I'm not sure how the hell that happened so quickly.  But here we are, smack-dab in the middle of the terrible twos, and truth be told...they haven't been so terrible.  Yet.  We are back from vacation (more to come on that later) and although Punky had some moments on our trip, she was really well-behaved most of the time.  And she had the time of her life.

There's no denying it now: she's a little girl.  All of her baby features have disappeared, physically and otherwise.  Now that I've come to that realization, I can't help but feel a bit sad.  I get teary when I look at old pictures of the tiny baby I held for hours at a clip.  I truly love this stage, and I'm so proud of her for all she's become, but I also miss the snuggly baby days.  Not enough to have another one, mind you, but enough to make me pout when I see little babies.

In some ways it's hard to believe Punky's only two and a half.  She's so smart, and independent, and tough.  And she talks like a teenager.  From her choice of words and complex phrases to her animation and dramatic tone, she sounds like a child much older.  She also stumbled into the world of bad words this month.  I knew it was only a matter of time until she repeated something we tend to let slip around here.  Just a few minor offenses, no eff bombs or anything, but still things she shouldn't be saying.  We're trying to nip it in the bud before it gets worse...which means her dad and I really need to work harder on our own word choices.

For Punky's future knowledge, here's the facts at two and a half:

Favorite meal - chicken fingers and mashed potatoes.  Throw in some apple juice and string cheese and she's in heaven.  Cinnamon Toast Crunch cereal still tops her list for breakfast, and it's usually the first thing out of her mouth when she wakes up in the morning.  She has probably eaten it five out of seven mornings for the last year now and she never tires of it.

Favorite snack - orange cheesies.  I got away with buying her the nutritious, whole grain, slightly tasty, toddler cheese puff snacks for a long time.  Then her dad introduced her real junk food.  Now she specifically asks for the big, orange ones and flat out refuses to eat the smaller, yellow, healthier ones.  Way to go, Daddy.

Favorite things - her blankie is still number one, and her glow-in-the-dark drumsticks are a close second with books and baths remaining near the top of the list.  She plays a lot with her Disney character toys, her kitchen set, and all her musical instruments.  She still likes to color, and paint, and make a mess with play-doh.  Now that we've finally had some warm weather, we filled her baby pool a few times.  What a difference from last year; she's really too big for it now.  Unfortunately we're not allowed to have anything bigger where we live so it needs to serve the purpose yet this year.  Next year it will become a sand box, I suppose.

Favorite phase - "Absolutely super dee-dooper!"  It's her response to almost everything these days.  Her day at school, her macaroni and cheese dinner, the flavor of her new toothpaste, the color of Minnie Mouse's dress, my suggestion to go for a walk...apparently they are all absolutely super dee-dooper!  I have no idea where she learned it.

New skills  - catching almost any size ball thrown to her, counting by twos, and removing the child safety locks from the kitchen cabinets.  She seems to suddenly have a better understanding of numbers and how they relate to one another.  If I ask her a basic math question, like two coins plus one coin for example, she answers correctly.  I think that's pretty impressive for two-and-a-half.  I've been trying to get her to sound out basic words since she knows the letters and the sounds they make, but it isn't quite clicking yet.  She can, however, tell me what letter a word starts with by the sound of the letter so I don't think it will be long until it all falls into place.  I still think she will do some basic reading at age three.

Her sweetest moments - "Did you have a good time at work today, Mommy?"  She asks me this almost every day when I get home.  It's too cute.  She went through a bit of a no hugs and kisses phase but now she's over it.  Hugs are plentiful these days, and when she throws in a squeeze and an "I love you so much!" my heart simply melts.  And when something delights her fancy, she lets out an excited "Holy moley guacamole!"

Two and a half

Potty training - no way, no how.  And I still don't get it.  She's caught on so fast to everything else.  I have no idea why this is proving to be so difficult.  We didn't push it in the months before vacation.  She obviously wasn't ready and we figured it would be easier if she weren't trained given the nineteen hour drive and waiting in line at the parks.  Now that we're back, it's time to get serious.  She's only had a potty seat thus far; now I'm buying her an actual stand-alone potty.  The next few months ought to be interesting.  I wish I knew where to start.  

Her well-child visit isn't for a few more weeks yet so I don't know exactly how much she's grown but it seems like she had a spurt recently.  Her legs look so long now and she's definitely gotten heavier.  Or maybe it just seemed that way when I had to carry a sleeping child through Disney World in one hundred degree heat.