And the Birthday Girl Is Two

We celebrated Analyn's birthday twice last week. Once for playgroup, and again when Thad was home. For playgroup we decorated birthday hats and ate cupcakes. The kids had fun. Lori was here with Brenton but I didn't even get pictures of the two of them! In fact, I kept forgetting my camera all weekend, and I didn't take pictures of any of the fun stuff that Lo and I did. I'll have to wait until she posts and then snag some of her pics. (Hurry up and post, Lori!) I took her to the BYU-Idaho campus. Those of you who haven't been back there in the last 4 years, the MC has COMPLETELY changed! You wouldn't even recognize it -- outside or inside.









Seriously just skip the rest of this. It's for my remembrance and Analyn's amusement.

Quirks:
-Ana likes to take her clothes off either right before lunch or right after her nap, and run around naked. She's much more happy and wild in just her diaper.
-lately she talks a lot after we put her down for the night. Some times she talks and sings to her dolls for up to two hours! Crazy girl.
-Ana talks a ton for her age. She talks nonstop all day. Most of it I can understand, but sometimes she gets in the zone and spatters out all sorts of foreign languages that are incoherent.
-she mimics my cell phone conversations on her play phones. It usually goes something like this: "Hi daddy/ami?/gamma. You? Good. Milk. Played. OK. Bye."
-ever since she learned the word "scared," she uses it at the funniest times. The other afternoon she started running fast down the sidewalk, then stopped abruptly, turned around, and said, "ohh, too scared." Of what, running fast?

Knowledge:
-Ana can count to 14, say the alphabet, and read books. By read I mean she remembers some of the words I say and puts them with each page. Like when she reads Snow White, on the page with the dwarves walking home from the mine, she'll simply sing, "Hi Ho, Hi Ho!" And then she turns the page. She remembers a lot when I read her books.
-Ana likes to spell. She asks me to spell words in the bath tub with our stick-on letters. She wants to spell things like mommy, daddy, cousins' names, bed, eat, crib, sippy, etc.

Likes:
-pushing her baby doll in the stroller, pushing her grocery cart, playing at the park, playing with friends (she literally cries when we go a few days without seeing any of her friends), eating at her booster seat all strapped in, putting her shoes on and taking them off, although she gets frustrated very easily when she can't figure it out fast enough, reading books, singing along when I sing her songs at nap time and bed time (she's memorized most of the songs I sing).

TV
-she turns the TV on ALL THE TIME! Maybe she just likes the sound? The pictures? She requests "Mickey House" almost every day, but she also likes the Back Yardigans.

Food
-she still drinks out of a sippy, but I'm trying to get her more used to big kid cups. She usually does OK for the first few sips, but then she gets bored and dumps the rest out on the floor.
-Analyn's a pretty good eater. She eats a variety of fruits and vegges, meat, almost everything we eat. Some days she eats more than others, but I'm happy with her appetite.

Dislikes
-Hates hates hates me doing her hair. I think it's the water spraying in her face and the yanking on her rats nests that she hates the most. I wouldn't like that either I guess.
-She hates drinking water!! When I give her water she screams and cries and throws it away. Usually I end up mixing a little bit of apple juice with it so she'll drink it.

Personality
-Analyn is very independent. She likes to do things herself, and doesn't like to be rushed. We hear "Self!" and "Me do it!" a lot.
-Ana is very polite. She says "scuse me!" after every burp or cough, even if it's me or Thad doing it!
-She's good at saying "please" and "thank ute".
-Ana is very outgoing, and LOVES to be around other kids. She can't wait to go to nursery and the two weeks she was sick recently, she hated me because I wouldn't let her go to nursery. When we're at the park, she makes friends with whoever's there. She'll follow other kids around and laugh when they laugh, even if they are older and don't talk to her. It's pretty funny. Sometomes she'll pick up phrases that they say and say them around the playground to other kids. Things like, "What's you're name? Ana."
-Ana is still very much a momma's girl. She doesn't like her daddy to kiss wounds, comfort her when she's scared, or put her to bed. These things are only for mom. I'm not sure how she got that way. We tried really hard to make it a level playing field. But I've decided that some kids just prefer their mommas for a while. Hopefully the second child will cure her of that???
-Ana loves to cuddle, be tickled, and give kisses and hugs. She's very loving.

Changes Ahead
-Analyn has started taking her diaper off more. She likes to sit on her play potty and make it sing. I don't know if she'll be ready to potty train before the baby comes. I guess we'll see.
-Ana can now successfully climb in and out of her crib. She doesn't climb out a lot, but she knows how to do it. I think she's ready for a big girl bed.