Turning 2

Well folks, I can't believe how fast the time is flying by. Molly is turning 2!

Our baby girl is no longer a "baby". She is our vibrant, talkative little 2 year old toddler. 2 years old!! I can't believe she'll be 2 next week.

From the last weight in, Molly is approx. 25-26lbs and 33"-35" tall. Still fitting in 12/18mth pants and 18-24 mth tops.  She's a little peanut!

Molly's party is this Saturday August 13th at 12pm. Everyone is welcome!
The Birthday plans have been keeping us very busy these last 2 weeks. There's a lot of prep in making the perfect Ladybug birthday! Of coarse, after Molly chose the lady bug theme, she has fallen in love with Hello Kitty. Too late kiddo! We can't change the theme now.

We're excited to see Grandma R., Aunt Amy, Vincent & Clara.

Molly has gone through a lot in her 2cd year. She made new friends at school until March. She learned to clean with Mommy, added lots of new words to her vocabulary, and can recite her alphabet and numbers 1-10. Thanks to Daddy who has been "home schooling" her since March.

One big accomplishment that comes to mind is potty time! Molly when in the potty 3 .5 times! (the first was literally 1 droplet of pee, but I'll take it as going in the potty) We've had  2 poops and 1 small pee in the potty. She lets us know when she has gone or feels like she's going to go and so we've been acting on the signs as much as we can. My challenge now will be transitioning her into training pants. Um excuse me but my little lady has a tiny bum and waist, and I can't find training pants in 18mth sizes. Yes, she's going on 24 mths and she fits in 18mth pants. Sometimes 12-18mth. What can I do? Stuff her pants?

We've had a few bumps in the road. Although I want to think our little lady bug is perfectly behaved, she likes testing her Mom and Dad. For everyone else, she's an angel! Which is fine.

The hitting and biting was troublesome for a while, but it seems to have stopped. Our new thing is just not listening. For example, we ask her not to pull the flowers out of the garden or to please sit on your butt when she's on the couch, etc. It takes 2-3 times before she either listens or we take her away from the situation and either put her in a time out or take a toy away.

Speaking of " Time Outs" This works sometimes, but now it's a game. When she's not even in trouble Molly will go sit in her "Time out" chair and say, "I'm in Time out" or "I'm taking a time out". The other day, I asked her to come out of the bath tub,the water drained out already. She said "I'm in time out". Oh boy! I had to tell her "There is no time out right now, come out of the tub". She listened eventually by telling her we won't read books, we'll just go straight to bed.  That did it!

Sleeping?? No! For about a month or 2 Molly finally started sleeping through the night. Well, that's all changed again. Her latest thing is waking up several times in the night wanting to be rocked, eat, or wants juice. We here her say "Mom, Mom, Mom, Mom, Dad, Dad, Dad, Dad" We eventually give in and go see what she needs. Help!!! She went on for 30 min. one night. She's very persistent! 

Although our hearts melt when she calls for us, or when she says, I love you Mommy! I love you Daddy!
I love it when she says "Bless you" when you cough or sneeze. She really is a sweet heart. It makes the whining and crying and no sleep all worth it. We can make it through that as long as she keeps telling us she loves us.

Reading, playing and learning are Molly's favorite things to do. She loves to curl up with a book still. Now she starts to make up stories while she reads to herself. She knows what the book titles are too.
Another thing she loves is playing blocks. She loves to build houses, castles and robots. Daddy also enjoys this game. Since Uncle Brent and Aunt Katie got her an awesome "little People" doll house, she is in heaven! Every day we have to play house now.

What have I (mommy) learned in 2 years? Don't sweat the small stuff. The best advice to give all mom's and dads.  I learned that I have to let things go like the mess on the outfit, the glitter on the table from project time, or let her cry it out. As long as Molly isn't hurt or in danger, I have to let her just cry out her feelings. She usually stops after a minute or two anyway.

We can't wait to see everyone on Saturday. Let's pray for sunshine!
Molly has been a blessing to all of us!

We love you Molly Grace! Happy 2nd Birthday!

Pictures to follow later....