2 and a half

My birthday also marked Isabella's half birthday, it seems the time just keeps going faster and faster! I can't believe my baby is 2 and a half already! Monte and I are both in love with the twos, so far it has been such a fun age (except for one thing - potty training, which I will get to). It seemed to us that when she was potty trained back in February that she really grew up. She continues to talk up a storm, and uses phrases like, "I'm being ridiculous.", "That reminds me . . .", "I actually probably need . . ." "Excuse me there Father/Mother.", "You need to concentrate.". She insists that our neighbors have a banana tree in their yard, and is always talking about it! She cracks us up with her talking, but sometimes she WILL NOT be quiet! She counts and says her ABC's like a pro, knows all her colors, and says the blessing before meals, Guardian Angel prayer, Hail Mary, Glory Be, and sign of the cross (she could teach my 6th grade CCD kids I think, but that's a whole other story, sigh). She asks permission with EVERYTHING she does, even going down the slide the other day at the park, she ran over to me every single time after she went down the slide to ask if she could go down again. She still refuses to get out of her bed without either Monte or I telling her she can, I wonder how much longer that will last. She is very easygoing and compliant BUT was not for about 6 weeks after she was potty trained. She turned into a monster, the littlest things set her off and she seemed very angry a lot. I was very worried that I did some sort of emotional damage to her and that I had potty trained her when she perhaps wasn't quite ready. I found myself saying a lot that I just wanted my girl back! It was an extremely frustrating time for me, my worst as a mommy. I felt so guilty for "damaging" her . . . live and learn. But thankfully I did get my girl back, and she is completely back to her happy, easygoing self. She still needs and wants her sleep, and asks me everynight to put her to bed sometime between 7 and 8. We also work our days around her nap, as she really needs that too.

She LOVES the TV show "My friends Tigger and Pooh", however that is the ONLY show she will watch, despite me trying to get her to watch something else every now and then just to mix things up a bit. Other than that show, she wants absolutely nothing to do with TV. Which I'm not sure how to take. I definitely don't want to use the TV as a babysitter, but I also would like to be able to have her watch something quick while I take a shower, etc.) Her favorite thing is to play outside, when the weather is nice we come in to eat and nap and that's about it, and her favorite thing is her beloved blanky. She loves to color and paint, and I'm convinced that Crayola Color Wonder is just about the best product ever invented. She is every bit a girly girl, and puts on her makeup (my empty makeup bottles I gave her) every morning right along beside me. She has quite the imagination, and I'm pretty sure she has an imaginary friend, she just calls her "that lady". Today "that lady" was in my bedroom all day, and Isabella brought her lots of snacks! She likes to go to Bible Study every week, but gets very shy around some of the other kids there. She loves to go places and often asks me in the morning what we are going to do that day. When I ask her what she wants to do, she usually tells me she wants to go to the mall or McDonalds!! Our town has a big, new gymnastics facility, and almost all my friends are starting their girls out there at 3 years old. One of my friends is trying to convince me to start Isabella this summer as they will take kids before 3 as long as they're potty trained. But I'm pretty sure I'm not going to do it, she just needs to stay little for a while I think, there will be plenty of time for running her around to different places/events when she's older! We're looking forward to a fun summer with her, especially now that Monte is feeling so well, we are going to take advantage of having a "normal" life! The way I feel about this age/stage can be best described by a quote from my mother-in-law when we were at the zoo the other day. "I just want to spray something on her to keep her like this forever!"