Happy Birthday my sweet Lexi!!! It is hard to believe you are already two, and at the same time that you are only two. You feel like you have been a part of our family forever and it feels like you are a lot older than two. I remember being in labor, the excitement, anticipation and series of events like it was yesterday.
You bring your Daddy and I so much happiness everyday. Daddy is constantly saying ‘I love the bunks.’ or ‘Lexi is the best/sweetest.’ or ‘I know it’s good for her to sleep, but I can’t wait until she wakes up.’ I couldn’t agree more. I always feel like I am racing to get home from work to see you and can’t get here fast enough. When I am home, I want to be with you whether it is putting you down for bed or being there when you wake up or even having you run errands with me. You have an infectious smile and giggle and the expressions you make and the way you talk with your eyes makes my heart dance with delight. You are a true sparkle of happiness in our lives and your grandparents and aunts and uncles. They love you and can’t get enough time to spend with you.
Your personality starts to come through more and more everyday. You look identical to me when I was your age (when you see pictures of me, you say ‘That’s Lexi’) but I think you have more of your Dad’s personality. You’re pretty shy with new people and new places but eventually warm up (and love to talk!). You’re are just happy and content with your simple little life. You definitely have a little bit of mine and daddy’s stubbornness in you and don’t seem to be a fan of change. You don’t like to change your clothes (and prefer to keep your jammies on all day) and don’t like getting ready to leave the house.
You are quite the chatter box. You talk in full sentences and it is a rare occurrence for us not be able to understand what you are saying. You love to chat to yourself, talk to your pals, announce what you see whether we are driving or what you see on TV or in books. You also are pretty good at picking up on phrases Mommy and Daddy commonly say such as: ‘how about’ ‘hey’ ‘be careful’ ‘get down from there’ ‘i love you’ ‘sweet dreams’ ‘see you later’ and ‘sure’ ‘don’t touch, only look’, ‘no jumping, only sit on couch’–you’ve even nailed the inflection. Some of my favorite things are when you say large words like ‘dangerous. quesadilla and patient.’
- Favorite Books: Curious George, books where you need to find things and little princess books
- Favorite Shows: Thomas, Frozen, Despicable Me, The Little Mermaid and Dinosaur Train
- Favorite Foods: Anything sweet, Chocolate Milk, Juice, Mac’N Cheese, Raspberries, Blueberries, Yogurt, Popcorn, Ice Cream and Fruit Snacks
- Favorite Songs: Let it Go, Thrift Shop, Shut up and Dance, Scalliwag, Everything is Awesome
- Favorite Activities: Dancing, Running Fast, Playing with Pals, Bulldozer and Diggers, Reading books, Talking, Playing with Papa and Grandma, Taking Baths and Singing songs
You’ve been pooping on the potty for months now, but in the last week you’ve been wearing underwear every day and been doing a great job ‘tinkling’ on the potty. You’re even waking up dry from naps and bedtime. Keep it up big girl!
You can repeat the numbers correctly from 1-15, but I wouldn’t say you really grasp the idea of counting. When we ask you to count, you just repeat the numbers, but don’t necessarily look at the grouping of items and put a number with each object. We’re working on you ABC’s but about 8 letters in you forget the order.
You continue to be a rockstar sleeper. You go down for bed between 9 and 10 and wake up between 8 and 9. You also will take a nap from 2-5 everyday. Daddy and I love to watch you on the monitor when you’re waking up or as you’re falling asleep as you chat, sing songs, move about your crib and just generally be happy for 20-30 minutes before we get you in the morning or before you fall asleep at night.
You know about half of your colors. You’re very good at identifying pink and blue and get green about 80% of the time and red about 50%. You haven’t figured out purple, orange, yellow, black, brown and white yet.
We’re beginning to see what the ‘terrible twos’ are all about. You usually have some kind of tantrum every day. Some days there are many and they are dramatic, other days they are in-frequent and minimal. All of the time, they are about really trivial things like putting your boots on or not allowing you to play with chapstick. You definitely throw more of a stink for me than anyone else. Going to the bathroom and leaving the house are the most common reasons for you to have a tantrum and it usually consists of having your body become limp like a spaghetti noodle, kicking screaming and throwing your body in all directions to make it very difficult for me to get you to do anything. Sometimes, I just walk away and let you have your moment and within about a minute or so, you come find me for some comfort. It is amazing that I can make you that angry, but you almost instantly forgive me and want some love from to console you.
Lexi, Daddy and I love you so much and feel so blessed to have you in our lives. We can’t wait to see what this next year brings you and how you are going to react to being a big sister.
Love,
Mama
Peanut Smiles 