Riley Paige turned TWO this past Saturday, August 23rd. It's kind of crazy to think I have a two year old but at the same time I can hardly remember life before her. Kids change things! Riley has been such a joy to our life. She was the ideal baby. She was sleeping 7-8 hours a night at just 6 weeks old. She hardly ever put things in her mouth that shouldn't go there (opposite of Isabelle), she was mostly pleasant and happy. Her terrible twos came a little early...she learned to throw a tantrum around a year old, and has been pushing our buttons since because she is so stinking smart! She is still in the terrible twos but the good outweighs the bad. She recognizes most of the alphabet letters, will sing the ABC song along with anyone singing it (she doesn't quite have it down all by herself...but she's close!), can count to ten (although occasionally misses 5 which I find ironic because she can count down 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 PERFECTLY), she has quite a large vocabulary and repeats EVERYTHING (and I mean everything) we say.
Some of the latest: when asked what's in her diaper she can say, "It's poop in there." I love to hear her say that. She gave up her paci for good yesterday. So far...it hasn't been as painful as I thought. Still, she asks for it. She will sing "Shake, shake, shake,...Shake, shake, shake...Shake your booty....Shake your booty" and dance. She is OBSESSED with Mickey Mouse Clubhouse on the Disney channel, loves all things Elmo, Mickey, princess, Nemo, and more..., she especially loves animals. She loves bath time but hates getting her hair washed (rinsed, really). She is a kind big sister (usually) and can make Izzy laugh when she wants to. She also really likes to hear her own voice because she jabbers all the time (and not quietly); when I ask her how old she is she can hold up her fingers and say TWO. I love when she says "thank you," "careful," "bless you," "letters," (when she wants to work on her alphabet) "help me," "Izzy's crying" "what's that?," "yes," "you did it!," and so much more. Everyone always comments on her sweet little voice. I love all her hair but she hates to sit still and let me attempt at pulling it up/making it cute/keeping it out of her face. She has also recently become interested in trying to put her own clothes on (this still requires much help!).
Also, Riley peed in the potty today. Not so much of her own free will and choice but still...we are hoping to get well on our way to potty training soon. She woke up from her nap and I immediately set her down on her potty chair and she was quite grumpy because she was still waking up but she peed. I gave her chocolate... Maybe that will encourage her to go in the toilet...we shall see!
It amazes me everyday how much she is absorbing and learning. Oh to have the sharp mind of a little kid! They don't forget anything. She has a scratch on her leg and pointed at it the other day and said, "boo boo" and I said, "Yes that kind of owie is called a scratch." She repeated it and showed it to me all day calling it a scratch. I know it's normal for vocabulary to be expanding so quickly but I am just AMAZED!!! It's so fun to hear the things she comes up with. She loves books and coloring. Coloring utensils have to be kept well out of reach and are used only under supervision. Except on those rare occasions when she gets her hands on them somehow. She loves sweet stuff like her mom and asks for cookies, chocolate, and candy frequently. I am so embarrassed! If it's not one of those, it's fruit snacks. She loves cereal, milk, juice, water, spaghetti, chicken nuggets, french fries, cheese, and meat; feeding herself is something else she enjoys and while it's still messy her hand eye coordination is developing/getting better everyday.
I suppose I could share the paci story since I am writing a book already...
I have a friend who took her two year old to the dentist and the dentist said get rid of the bottle (which we did with Riley at 13 months) and get rid of the pacifier. So my friend cut the tips off of her sons pacifiers. So yesterday I thought I would give it a try. Riley came into our room when she woke up just before 8 am. When we headed to the kitchen for breakfast she left her paci in our room along with her blanket. She didn't ask for paci or blankie all day and around two in the afternoon I went in and she was laying on her bed. I took blankie to her and left. A few minutes later she came out asking for "paci". I did some quick thinking, grabbed a pair of scissors, ran into the bedroom, and cut off the top of her paci (I didn't let her see me do this). Then I came out of our room with the "broken" paci. I told her to look, paci was broken. She just kept calling it "broken" and kept it with her, unable to really suck on it. She whined a little...but there was no crying. I explained to her that she was a big girl and that she didn't need it anyway. She tried to stick it in my mouth and I said, "no, mommy doesn't need a paci, I'm a big girl and so are you." In less than an hour she was asleep, paci laying on the floor. She did ask for it a few more times yesterday but I just kept reminding her it was broken and showing it to her. At bedtime she was a little more upset-she cried a little while. She fell asleep (in our bed--we moved her later) holding broken paci after fighting sleep for a small amount of time. She asked for it again today, but again...all she needed was the reminder that it is broken...and she gives up the idea. We will see how tonight goes. I think it will take a few days at least...maybe a week but so far, so good. I thought it would be a nightmare like when we tried to do without it in early May. We didn't last hours that day. Our little girl is getting so big!!! It's kind of sad. I think we let her use paci for so long to keep her our baby. They really don't stay small long enough.
Even Isabelle is getting so big. On Monday night I felt inside her mouth and found that an entire bottom tooth had broken through...and I had no idea it was coming in. We thought we had seen/felt one a couple months ago but it turned out to be nothing. Now she has an entire jagged top of a tooth through! And she is starting to pull herself up. In fact...she pulled herself to standing all by herself today, not holding on to anything, really. She is totally unstable of course, and has lots of bumps because of it but she is getting there. We think at this rate she will be walking before Riley did. Which was 11 months...and Izzy is only 8 and a half months.
So that's what's been going on around here...two precious girls keeping me so busy I can barely keep up. Izzy is in to everything and I have to follow her around to prevent every little spec of anything from going in her mouth.
Anyway...back to my original plan for the post: Our first daughter, Riley Paige Anderson at 6 pounds 9 ounces, 18 inches long
Before her first bath
After her first bath-- about two hours old
and her first night home from the hospital. So sweet!And now...25+ pounds, 34 inches of terrible (and wonderful) 2 year old
This was on the morning of her birthday. We let her open one present early in the day and she got this stuffed Nemo...or "Meemo" as it often comes out of her mouth that way.
Riley showing me how old she is on her birthday. More pics to come of the birthday very soon. I will blog about the whole occasion. But this post is long enough for one day.
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