23 months old... : (

Ok, so here's the deal. This is the last "month" birthday that people generally discuss and Reese's happened on Christmas. After this, you just say "my daughter's two" or "she turned two in January". And I think that's a little sad because it means she's growing up so fast. So I didn't do the onsie picture again, partly because I'm sad about her growing out of her month birthdays and partly because of a certain toy kitchen that destroyed too many of my brain cells to remember to take it. So for now, words will have to suffice b/c soon we have a BIG birthday to celebrate (you've got to see this girl dance while chanting "Elmo party! Elmo party!" It's priceless!) and I've got a lot to do to get us ready.

But that doesn't mean that she's not 23 months old now and letting us know it. There are too many things to list that Reese loves and that she's good at, but here's a sample. She can count to 10 (when she wants to), knows many of her shapes and all of her colors, can recognize a few letters like "O", sings TONS of songs and knows the words to many of her books, and can pretend play all sorts of games. Her verbal skills are AMAZING and her physical skills are growing every day. She knows all the names of the characters of her favorite shows, which is amazing b/c although I sit here and watch them with her, I have not retained half of what she has. She knows all her friends' names at school and what they eat for lunch and knows a lot of my friends' kids' names as well. She remembers certain outfits and what she did in them (everytime we take out the little brown velour suit from Grandma G, she asks if it's her "gator shirt" b/c she wore it to see the gators) and she knows what certain buildings are, like the pool and the store near her school. She knows some of the days of the week and what happens on them...pool on Saturday and Grandpa on Monday. She has picked up a few slang sayings from older kids at school and has told us all to "shake our booties" (yes, she knows what this means, too) and the teachers tell us that she's pretty good about telling the kids off who annoy her or steal toys from her. She might be small, but she's fierce! Whenever we move something in the house, she asks "did daddy do that?" or "mommy, did you do that?" and when I answer in the affirmative, she remarks "I love it!" She also "looooves" lots of things that she doesn't even like, such as pizza and mac-n-cheese and Riley at school. And sometime she just "likes" things, such as her black shoes or her "neakers". She likes putting on makeup and wearing her towel after her shower "just like mommy does". When I talk on the phone, she wants to know who I'm talking to, and if it's someone she knows, she grabs her phone and calls them, too...tonight it was Grammy. She's also become very interested in helping in whatever we are doing and will ask over and over "I helping?" It's super cute, even though more often than not she's very little help at all. She also has gained a sense of empathy and when something goes wrong (Dora can't find her way or somebody on tv is upset), she gets a little upset and repeats over and over "Ohhhhh, nooooooo." She likes giving me ouches (shots) from her doctor's kit and then putting bandages on them to make them all better. And when she spills her cheerios, I always hear "Uh oh. Keen up! Keen up! Everybody! Keen up! Keen up! Everybody!" Hilarious!

But there is also the other side of almost turning two. She yells "NO" at us a little more often and she runs all over the house when it's time to put her coat on and then when you catch her, she becomes a limp noodle that flops all over the floor. We've been on the verge of leaving more than one store lately after she layed on the floor and refused to get up or do anything other than scoot across the floor on her back. Most people just shrug and smile at her...that red hair and those big baby blues have gotten us out of more than one dirty look, I'm sure. She's very opinionated and knows what she wants. And when I have to tell her no, she closes her eyes, puts a sneaky smile on her face, and pretends she can't hear me...I'm thinking I should probably get used to that one, though. She dances and sings and INSISTS that we all do it with her and that we follow her lead. She also has gotten into the "look at me" stage and I often hear "Look what Reesey did!" coming from various rooms of the house....which means I need to break out the maggic eraser b/c she undoubtedly drew on something she shouldn't have and then will ask "Who drew this?" and then blame one of her dolls. And although having a toddler this age can be somewhat trying at times, I wouldn't trade it for the world. I am loving this age and having so much fun with our girl. She's an amazing little person!

Oh, and breaking news....tonight, just before I typed this up....she JUMPED and got BOTH feet off the ground! About an inch! It was very exciting and we all had a big round of High Fives for her...she was so proud of herself and insisted on jumping in the living room and then again in the chitchen (kitchen).