Where did November go?

Wow, it's already December! I was so busy in November that I forgot to post any updates! I spent most of November playing, so I'll bring you up to speed.

Lately, I've been doing lots of make-believe. Sometimes I place pillows on the floor and tell Momma or Dada "sleep", and then I cover them with blankies. Other times, my guys also join in and go to sleep.
I also like to bake cakes (my favorite thing to bake) and pizza. Momma and Dada sometimes take me out to dinner at this fun pizza place downtown called Protos. At Protos, the pizza cook rolls the dough out flat with the rolling pin and throws the dough into the air! I like to pretend I'm making my own pizza by rolling out blankies with my rolling pin and then I throw it into the air.
I also like to direct my parents to draw on my Doodle-Pro. I usually ask Momma to draw kitties, and Dada to draw a school bus. Here's a family portrait that Momma drew for me.
I've been getting really good at making towers with my new Duplos. This tower ended up as tall as me!
My hair is getting really long. Sometimes I like it when Momma puts my hair into a pony, but it is so frustrating that I can't see it, even with all of these mirrors.These days, as soon as I see Dada taking a picture or video, I HAVE to see the image on the back of the camera (even if Dada hasn't had a chance to take a video yet) so I usually charge the camera. But, this time, Dada snuck up from behind the couch and caught me dressing up in a funny ski hat.


In other news, over Thanksgiving weekend my parents tried to begin more formal potty training. After a few hours, my parents stopped the formal training because it turned out that I had three teeth beginning to poke through so it wasn't the best weekend to make the full transition. Instead, I've been using the potty chair to go pee a couple of times each day (morning and after bath), but I'm still wearing my diapers. I get stickers for my potty-chart every time I go, which I really like. I'll keep working on my training and soon I'll be a big girl!

School Parties

The Friday before Halloween, we had a Halloween parade at school. My classmates all dressed up in our costumes and we walked around the block with our parents and grandparents. Gramma Loretta and Grandpa Roy were in town for my birthday so I was able to show them my school and introduce them to some of my friends.
This is my boyfriend, "Harkie" (Harken). Even though Harkie was grumpy and having a toddler moment (it happens!) because he didn't like his costume, he still gave me the usual Harkie bear-hug.
This is Fiona...
...and Fred and Olivia. My horse was a huge hit for several of the kids.
My teacher Shana also dressed up - although it scared me and I think she's much sweeter in normal clothes.
Today, they celebrated my birthday!
During our afternoon snack time, we had special carrot cake cupcakes that Momma made for my classmates. Here we are sitting at our tables. Notice that I'm sitting at the big kid table!After snacks, it was MY turn to pull the string to release the balloons from the ceiling! I've watched other kids pull down the balloons since January, so I was really excited to finally have my turn.
During a recent art project, we learned about our bodies. We traced our bodies on paper and then they placed them on the wall. I'm the body at the far left in the purple dress and blue tights (with the cloth diaper booty).

Happy Halloween

Howwwdy Partner! This Halloween I was a cowgirl riding a pink horse. As I walked to the first house, my parents helped me rehearse what I should say once the person opens their door. I say, "Trick treat."
The first door opened, but I got stage fright and couldn't get the words out. But, they gave me some candy anyway. I did manage to say, "neigh" when they asked me what my horsie says.
Earlier in the day, I helped Dad carve our pumpkins. I reached inside the pumpkin to feel the insides, but they were sticky, so as soon as I got the pumpkin goop on my hands, I told my parents, "clean it" (I don't like dirty hands). Dad carved one smiley pumpkin and one kitty pumpkin.


Here's my first experience reaching into the inside of a pumpkin:

Amateur Photo Hour Take 2

On Saturday, we took a trip down to the river to play and take some pictures of the beautiful fall colors that we are having.
Hmm, I wonder where this path leads....
...to the river! I don't like wearing my shoes because I don't like it when sand gets into my shoes.
Did I mention that I still love climbing?
Whooooaaa - Airplanes!!!

24-Month Milestones

Height: 34" (50th percentile)
Weight: 29 pounds (65th percentile)
Head: 50 cm (96th percentile)
Teeth: 7 bottom teeth, 6 top teeth (& 3 canines that have barely broken through)

What She Eats: (she eats about the same things as at 18-months). Reese likes to keep her hands clean, so she'll usually use a spoon and fork to eat most things and often insists on having a napkin. If she gets her hands or the table dirty she'll say, "clean it".

• Breakfast (7:30 am): Eats using a spoon. 1/2 cup yogurt, with 1/2 cup of O's cereal & baby oatmeal mixed in.
  


• Lunch (11:30 am): slice whole wheat toast, 1/2 cup fresh sliced fruit, 1/4 cup of cheese cubes, and 2% milk. Switched from whole to 2% around 23 months.
  


• Afternoon Snack (3-4 pm): 1/4 cup fresh sliced fruit.
  


• Dinner (5:30 pm): Eats what parents are eating, but cut into smaller pieces. Slightly more finicky if things get to0 spicy or too many onions so we have to tone it down a little. If she doesn't like it, she'll take a couple bites and then push it forward and say, "all done." Which, as Ryan has pointed out, is much more polite than saying, "Mom, dinner is yucky."
  


• Very particular about her cheeses. Currently likes Gruyère and "smokey cheese" (smoked cheddar). No longer likes Babybel cheese.
  

Sleep: 1 nap per day at 12:30pm. Normal nap is 1.5-2 hours. Longest nap (ever) was the first nap in her big girl bed at ~23 months when she didn't wake up until 3:30. In the last couple months we pushed back bedtime/bathtime because she was playing so well in the evening and not as exhausted as she used to be by that hour. She is now in bed by ~7:15 and usually chatters in her bed for 15 mins before relaxing to sleep. Still wakes up at 7 am on the dot, though a couple times per month will sleep in until 7:30 if it's not a "school day."

Walking & Playing: Reese is much more stable on her feet and often prefers to run rather than walk - a very cute run where she kind of swings one leg around. Walks up and down stairs by herself holding the railing. Still loves the park and really likes going to Reese's park and Camel's Back park to see kids while she's climbing and playing. There aren't too many obstacles that she can't navigate at the park without help, but her parents still keep a close eye to ensure that she doesn't try something too extreme. Today was the first day that Reese chose to walk home all by herself (all the way!) instead of being chauffeured in the Chariot.

Personality: Reese is a sweet and sensitive girl. However, she knows what she wants, and often wants to do things by herself.

Vocabulary: Reese has a great vocabulary and will attempt to repeat most anything you say. Her parent's favorite phrases are:

• "I do it" (I'll do it)
  


• "More milk peez."


• "Tschoo" (tissue for her nose)
  


• "(Dada/Momma) Sit. Read. Book."


• And our favorite, "Da, da, da, da, Super Reese."

Miscellaneous things she does:

• Loves to play with cars/trucks and loves to scope out the garbage truck and school buses. When we hear the garbage truck, we must go onto the porch to watch, then wave to the driver.
  

• Loves to read books. Current favorites include: If you Give a Pig a Pancake, Night-Night Little Pookie, and Mother Goose Nursery Rhymes.
  

• When Reese was born the Herren's gave us a deck of cards with "52 Activities for You and your Baby." We've spent hours looking at the pictures on the cards, reading the activity title, sorting the cards, etc. Reese now knows what most of the cards say as if she can read them. Example: A picture of bubbles, she says, "Bubble Dazzle"; a picture of a flower, perfume and lemon, she says, "Common Scents"; and our favorite, a picture of a boy marching and she says, "Grand Luke." It's actually Grand Duke.....though we've chosen not to correct her because Grand Luke has such a nice ring to it.

• Loves all her dolls, stuffed animals, and blankets. They go from room to room with her and she gets frustrated sometimes when she cannot carry them all at once. Most of the time Mom and Dad help her carry all her "friends" when they wake up in the a.m. or from naptime - she doesn't yet have the patience to make several trips for the crew. Favorite toy (at the moment) is "Baby Kitty" which she covers with her tiny ribbon blanket.
  


• Loves to dance. Favorite tunes are by the Black Eyed Peas and Johnny Cash (the Joaquin Phoenix version). Favorite song is Banana Pancakes by Jack Johnson. She says, "Jack Johnson....cakes!"

• Can easily count to fifteen, though on most occasions she skips three and four. "One, two, five, six...."
  

• Has started to make believe play more frequently. Changing Bear's diaper, feeding us food and drink, baking on the couch, and playing ball with Baby Kitty.
  

The little things we hope we'll never forget:

• The way she says, "snuggle" when she wants a hug.
  


• When she closes her eyes, smiles, and says "happy" at the dinner table.

• Her belly giggle.
  

A Birthday Visit

Gramma and Grandpa came to visit for my birthday! We played and I thought Grandpa was SO funny!We had lots of sweet, sugary treats. It was probably more sugar than I've consumed in two years but I ate every...last...piece!
I tried to eat the cupcake with my hands, but it was so sticky...
.....the fork was much cleaner. While Gramma and Grandpa were here we took walks around the block. We even stopped and played in the beautiful leaves at Baby Ethan' s house.

The Puppeteer

I love to play with all my "friends." Fortunately everyone, including Daddy, is very amicable to my rules as I am very particular about where everyone sits, who reads to whom, and who dances with whom.
Here, I'm directing Dada to do a silly dance while holding all my guys.

My Big Girl Bed

Today my parents took me shopping to get my first Big Girl Bed. I tried it out at nap time and it was SO comfortable that I slept for over three hours (a personal best). Dada eventually came in, turned on the lights, opened the windows and still had time to sneak a quick pix while I was in dreamland. Let's hope the bed is equally as comfy tonight!

I'm a Junior Firefighter!

I was grocery shopping with Dada today, and as we were walking back to our car we saw a real fire truck and four fire fighters in the parking lot! Lately, I've been reading all about fire fighters in Richard Scarry's book, The Busiest Firefighters Ever, but these were real live fire fighters!!! Good thing Dada had a camera on his phone to take pictures for me.

The fire fighters made me a Junior Fire Fighter and they gave me a fire hat and a sticker badge.

I put on my new hat and the fire fighters showed me all of the compartments on their truck. The compartments contained hoses, nozzles, rescue equipment, and traffic cones.You can bet that I'm never going to miss a trip to the grocery store. How exciting!

Go, Dogs. Go!

Today my parents took me to a dog frisbee catching competition. There were doggies everywhere, so I was thrilled. There were small doggies, slobbery BIG doggies, really furry doggies, and doggies that could be mistaken for squirrels.

Dog frisbee competition is a very serious event, so you should always put on your game face.
Go, Dog. Go!
Jump, Dog. Jump!
Whoa, that is a BIG jump!
There was even a high-fashion doggie wearing a scarf.

My Learning Tower

Mom and Dad bought me a Learning Tower so that I can be a better helper bug in the kitchen. I can get up and down from my tower all by myself, just like a big girl!
I've really enjoyed playing with playdough or "mixing" oatmeal/water while they make dinner. Sometimes they even let me help with dinner. Here I am making pizza dough with Dada.

Stanley, ID Camping Trip

We made our last camping trip up to Stanley over Labor Day weekend. This was my third camping trip and I'm really getting the hang of it. I can't get enough of those mountain lakes!
My favorite part of camping continues to be the dirt and the sticks. Seriously. I like to count sticks and group them into piles, then reorganize them again.
Jump, jump!!
Who would have thought my bunting suit could have come in so handy in September, but it was perfect for those cool mornings. Temps were in the upper 20's and lower 30's in the morning. Brrr!!! Fortunately, it warmed up into the lower 80's by the afternoon.Bye-bye Stanley! See you next year!