Two and a Half!

Annaliese is 2 1/2 years old! And on the one hand, she is such a joy...she can be so happy, full of smiles, laughter and a willingness to help out. On the other hand, she is becoming fiercely independent and will fall apart in an instant if something doesn't go the way she wants it to. I can honestly say that for the first time, we are at a stage that I don't particularly enjoy...mostly because she just doesn't listen that well and things that used to be so simple (like naptime) are becoming a daily struggle. 

 I tried to get a cute picture of her next to her blanket...she is definitely bigger than the bear now! She was mildly cooperative!

She is definitely growing into a little girl...one with her own ideas, wants, and needs. She is quick to tell us "not yet" when asked to do something or to tell us that she wants "two more minutes" if she doesn't want to be done with something. She knows what she wants to eat (for example, I poured her a bowl of Kix for breakfast yesterday. She didn't want Kix. Apparently she wanted Frosted Mini-Wheats. So she took her bowl of Kix and poured them all in the trash...lesson learned- ask Annaliese what she wants for breakfast!) what she wants to play (usually that would be outside!) and has an opinion about just about anything!

Here's a little summary:

Sleeping: We try to get her to bed around 6:30...lately she's been getting up at least once so it's closer to 8 by the time she settles down. Her wake-up time has began to vary...now that she can get out of bed on her own, she comes into our room anywhere from 5:15-7:00. I'm not sure why the change, but the early wake-up time has been hard on us all! Annaliese still needs a nap everyday, although, as I mentioned, it has become more of a challenge. It can easily take up to an hour for her to settle down and finally fall asleep. It has becoming a very exhausting part of the day, and not one I look forward to.

Check out that hair! That's how it looks every morning:)

Eating: Annaliese loves to eat whatever anyone else is eating! She particularly enjoys toast, chips, turkey, strawberries, oranges, warm milk, juice, and crackers. The only things that she consistenly won't eat are raw vegetables and cooked peppers. She would snack all day long if we let her, and will frequently ask for chocolate for lunch (I wonder where that idea came from!!!)

Clothes: All her shirts are 2T or 24 months; I've just added all the 24 month pants to her drawers. Most of them are still too big around the waist, but the 18 month stuff is getting too short.  Her shoes are size 6, although she is a huge fan of the purple jellies that Auntie Melissa gave her for Easter...and those are a sz 7 and she wears them all over the place!

Getting the dirt out of the purple jellies:)

Activities: Riding her bike, blowing bubbles, playing with Brodie, swinging on her belly, watching VeggieTales, swimming, baking and cleaning are all favorites. She also enjoys reading stories...the current favorites are her Bible and 10 Little Ladybugs. Visiting the horses, chickens and ducks has become a thing of the past. She no longer asks to go see them and doesn't hardly talk about them at all!

Vocabulary: Annaliese is talking like crazy and almost everything she says is understandable. She is always telling me "I want Haleigh to grow older." She then proceeds to tell me what she wants to do with Haleigh...eat 'urgurt' (yogurt), swing, sit on her... I recently over heard Annaliese saying "holy cow. holy cow" over and over while sitting at the bottom of the slide and when Haleigh was crying one morning, Annaliese ran up to her with a pacifier saying "shut up Haleigh. Shut up." Not sure where she picked up either phrase...but it was hard not to start laughing! She also says "I don't want to like it" anytime she doesn't like something.

Watching a butterfly

Dancing to the music while watching "Frozen."