I thought it was about time for an update about my sweet girl. Since I am not doing the monthly updates anymore (she's not a baby anymore! Booo!) she is still growing and changing so much I just wanted to write a few things down. I just can't believe she hit the 2 1/2 mark this week.
The picture above is just her. Her personality is one I can hardly put into words. She is so sassy, yet the sweetest little girl in the world. She is silly and loving, smart and sensitive, polite and has empathy for others. She is just the best daughter and I am so proud of her.
But mostly right now... she's 2! And let me tell you what they say about that age is true... "terrible twos." Oh my word.
Let me tell you about the temper tantrums. The "I DO IT!!!!!" and me wanting to pull my hair out because she insists on putting on her own clothes, socks, shoes, coat, hat, etc (do you see a pattern here?) all when we are late getting somewhere and she will not have it any other way. She will literally unzip her coat, and take it off, just so SHE can put it back on herself. If I try to put her shoes on she will take them off and put them back on herself. There will be a full on meltdown during this process. Throwing herself on the floor, literally kicking and screaming. It's pleasant. Ha!
She loves standing here on a step stool and playing with the jewelry on her dresser. She will stand here forever and do this.
And the stubborness- she's from a long line of it on both sides! We are at the phase where she will refuse to wear something, and insist on something else. She insists on wearing her Sofia pj's that are way too light-weight for this time of year. She'd rather freeze than give in. And I can forget trying to have her put a sweatshirt on over the top of them. Or wear slippers. She changes her clothes, jammies and/or princess dresses 83 times a day. Pulls everything out of her drawers and strings clothes all over her room. And I am slowly learning to pick my battles with this girl. My little drama queen. This is new territory for me, as Andrew never cared what I put on him (still doesn't). She would wear a princess dress everyday, and to Walmart if she had her way.
Honestly, most of the time she's just like this. A little dolly. A girly girl who loves to dress up and loves everything princess. If you tell her to smile like a princess, she will usually comply. Pretty much anything I want her to do, if I can relate it to princesses, she will give in- ha! The other day she wanted to have a princess tea party with me in her room. We were downstairs and she took my hand, dragged me upstairs and went running through the hall, arms spread out, yelling "Come ON mom! It will be an adventure!!!!!" Where does she come up with this stuff? Thank you, Sofia the First.
I remember when Andrew was about her age and I was so into everything "boy." I thought the "boy" characters at Disney were more fun, the boy toys were more fun to buy, I just wasn't into the girly princess thing at all.
Ask me now! I cannot get enough of it.
I am just buying into this whole princess thing and Kerigan is just eating it up. She is obsessed with all of them, their movies, and right now Sofia the First is her most favorite. It is the only show that she is glued to from beginning to end. I also love that show! I think Sofia is the sweetest little girl and the show has such a good lesson to learn. I seriously say all the time that I think Kerigan is as sweet and polite as she is because she watches that show! She always says please and thank you, and just has an overall polite demeanor. If she does something wrong she will say "oh! I'm sorry mommy." It is just precious.
Probably the thing she loves most is playing in her room. She has a princess CD that she loves to put in and dance to with her dolls. Often when I walk in on her she's doing something like this! Ha! She loves digging out her princess dresses, shoes and jewelry and looking at herself in the mirror. This will entertain her for hours. She gets out her wands and just spins around and sings her little heart out.
She is so motherly, too, and rocks her babies and puts them "night night." She will have several of them laying on the floor covered with a blanket, one in the cradle, and bed and she will shut the lights and the door and tell me "Shhhh, babies are sleeeeeping mommy."
Another thing she loves to do right now is read. She just loves books, especially her princess ones and familiar ones I read to her a lot. She will sit on the floor in her room with a huge pile of books around her and "read" every single one. She has many of them memorized and will say a lot of the words right and I just think it is the cutest thing ever! This is one of my favorite videos of her reading a favorite book "Ladybug Girl."
I just can't believe how fast she's growing up. We decided since we are working on going potty that she was ready for a big girl bed. So she "helped" daddy put it up on Thanksgiving Day (one of the very few days Daddy actually has off and was home to do it!)
She was so excited and felt so grown up.
I have had her bedding since she was born. I had loved this set from Pottery Barn and instead of buying a crib size quilt I went with a full so she could use it longer and I am so glad I did that. Now I am ready to get going on painting and redoing her room. I will call it my winter project but we'll see how far I get!
She wanted to snuggle in right away and she takes her bitty baby to bed with her every night.
And speaking of going potty... doesn't every girl bring purses and pretties in the bathroom with them? Ha! I swore she'd have mastered this last summer. She's been ready for so long. We are in the midst of it. I'd say she is in pull ups most of the day and stays dry. But she is still having some accidents and I'm not really pushing her.
Let's do this potty thing!! Ha! She loves all her girly big girl panties though. I am hoping soon she will just decide she wants to wear them all the time. Some days she will throw that temper tantrum and insist on wearing them, but she hasn't kept them clean yet! And we've been battling a little bit about going potty because she wants to do it on her terms. And often it's too late. When we are pulling her pants down, Sometimes I will do it so she can sit on the potty faster, and she will actually pull them all the way back up just so she can pull them down herself. Same thing with pulling them up. Oh Lord help me.
Unfortunately, she is also getting out of the napping phase, although she still definitely needs one (refer to the temper tantrums above)... they are magnified when this girl hasn't napped. But let me tell you, when we are home together our nap routine goes a little something like this:
Finish lunch
Play for a little while until she starts rubbing her eyes
Go potty
Read story, turn on music, kisses, shut the door
30 seconds later... door opens.
I put her back, kiss her. Shut door.
30 seconds... door opens.
Repeat about 5-6 more times before I get frustrated.
Try to lay with her. She giggles, asks if she can rub my back, etc.
Before I fall asleep myself, we get in the car.
Drive around town for 30 minutes or so.
She falls asleep in car.
After 10-15 min we go back home and I take her up to bed.
90% of the time she stays asleep (this % has gotten lower the last month or so, we are down to about 20% now. Not much!).
And by this time, about 2 hours have passed, which is the length of time of her nap anyway. And there went my 2 hours of freedom to work on the house, clean, or get anything done. Ha!
Besides potty training, reading books, giving up her naps and getting a new big girl bed, my sweet girl had her first real sleepover with friends the other night! My sweet friend Gwyn took her to stay with her 2 girls Grace and Sophia (which Kerigan was thrilled about because I think she thought she was with Sofia the First! Ha!) They had such a good time. They were eating popcorn and watching Cinderella. They all slept in the same room together and she actually slept all night!
My sweet daughter. There are no other words to say but that you are GROWING UP. That has become more and more obvious these past few months. It is amazing to watch you grow and change and communicate more and more. You practically have the vocabulary of an adult, and the things you say just amaze us. Everyone who meets you thinks you are at least 3. You are wise beyond your years. One smart cookie. It is an honor for me to be your mommy, and get to watch you grow up right before my eyes. Our days together are full. Sometimes frustrating and chaotic, extremely busy and exhausting. But never without joy. Your joyful spirit is what keeps me going. And I thank God for you every single day.
And just for fun... do you think someone looks just a little bit like her mama??
I was 3 in this picture, and I think the resemblance is just amazing. If her hair was just a little longer and our eyes are not the same color but I'm pretty sure other than that she is my mini me!
