Hannah: 2.5 Years Old/30 Months

Sweet, Sweet Hannah,

I can't believe it...2.5 years old!  Really?  I know I've said it before, but please slow down!  We have spent the last month adjusting to a new routine...Preschool!  You have far surpassed my expectations with how you have handled the transition.  I was so surprised with how well you handled the separation and am proud to say that you have not cried one time!  Amazing! 

You continue to amaze me with how well you are doing in the toddler bed.  You have continued to stay in your bed until we come to get you up (from naps or in the morning).  Even if you don't sleep, you lay in your bed the whole time.  Such a good girl! :-)  You also love when Mommy lays in your bed with you to read bedtime stories or say bedtime prayers.  It's my favorite part of the day too!  You and Daddy started reading the bible together every night, which is absolutely precious.  You always request the same stories - "Baby in a basket" (the story of Moses) and "The Garden Story" (Adam and Eve).  I wanted to give you a snapshot of our bedtime routine: We start the process at 7:15 or 7:20pm with a new diaper (an overnight diaper), pjs and "naked baby" time (where you run around like a crazy person).  Next we brush your teeth (Mommy or Daddy brush them first and then it's your turn).  Then you drink water from a small paper cup.  We then go back into your room and Daddy reads you one book and several bible stories.  Next we do bedtime prayers.  We ask you what you want to pray about (usually MeMaw and PaPaw, Grandma and Grandpa, your friends, or whoever you say that day).  Then you pray, "Heavenly Father, thank you Jesus for ______.  Amen."  Then one of us prays and you are sure to interject your requests the whole time. :-)  We then sing you two or three songs (always the Barney song "I love you" and our version of "Lullaby and Goodnight" and sometimes "Goodnight Sweetheart").  We tuck you in by 7:45pm, turn on your sound machine, fan, and clock.  We usually have to come back in at least one time to tuck you in again or threaten a spanking before you fall asleep around 8:30pm.  Thankfully this back and forth seemed to subside by the end of the month.  You are sleeping for 11-12 hours each night and 1 hour tops for your nap (every couple days, but for the most part you are just playing in your bed).  But I'll take it!

One thing that you surprisingly haven't ever been interested in is choosing your outfit each day.  I have talked to several friends and am always surprised with how opinionated their children are and what a struggle it is to get them dressed every day.  Thankfully we have never had any issues with dressing you!  So this month, I decided it was time to start giving you some options with your clothes.  I let you pick between two choices for either the top or bottom half of your outfit and then I pick the rest.  That way you are gaining some independence, but still matching! :-)  The only thing you are slightly opinionated about is that you LOVE to wear pink!

Your favorite toys are your new wooden blocks (love making "castles"), playdough, babies, little people, little animals, "teeny tiny baby" (a little plastic baby from the King Cake that Grandpa gave you), and reading.  Your favorite foods are beans, pita chips, cheese, raspberries, dried fruit, Annie's organic snack crackers ("bunnies"), cottage cheese, broccoli, carrots, frozen peas, ice cream, cake, cauliflower, bread, and pizza.  You continue to love water only to drink!  Your favorite TV shows are Super Why, Barney, Curious George, and Clifford.

Favorite sayings this month:

- "I have milk in my boops (boobs) now" - as you nurse your baby dolls

- "I'm so sared (scared)" - while you run away from Bubbles

- "Oakie milk" - for oatmeal

- "Mommy said ____" - you always remember everything I tell you!  Always keeping me in check!

- "Having a little sister is the best!" or "I love having a baby.  It's the best!"

- "It's a little bit spicy" - different foods you try, like Daddy's special chicken

- "Whatever" - thank you daddy

Speaking of sayings, you are so funny when it comes to following the rules.  Whenever anyone says "What the heck", you immediately snap your head around to look at me and say, "We don't say heck!"  I told you once that you shouldn't say that because it's not a nice word and you have never forgotten that "rule".  The same goes for "poopy" and "pee pee" because one day you were saying those words over and over, being silly and I told you that it wasn't nice to say that.  Now you have taken it to an extreme and anytime I say "Emma has a poopy" or "Let's change your pee pee diaper" you are sure to let me know that "We don't say that".  HAHA

Mommy is a little embarrassed about this, but we made your first blanket tent this month.  Yes, I know, I should have done this a long time ago, but it's one of those things I kept forgetting to do.  You loved it!  You brought all your babies into the tent and hung out in there for quite some time.  We made several tents this month.  And just to clarify, while this may have been your first blanket tent, it wasn't your first tent experience!  You have had your own pink tent for nearly a year now!  So you haven't been completely deprived! ;-)

Sharing has been a big struggle lately...go figure, a two year old that doesn't share well. :-)  While I'm not concerned, it is a bit embarrassing to have the child that cries every time someone takes something you want to play with (which always is whatever they have!) or that will have a meltdown every time your friends come over to play because you just don't want to share anything.  I know this is a phase though and am hopeful that preschool will be beneficial in this arena.

One thing that I have started to be concerned about is your love of walking on your tip toes.  You have been doing this for as long as I can remember (probably since you started walking, but I'm not 100% sure).  I made the mistake of googling tip toe walking and have now been working with you everyday to teach you to walk correctly ("heel/toe").  You can do it, but it is definitely not your natural inclination.  You always walk on your tip toes unless I constantly remind you to walk correctly, which drives us both crazy.  I am pleased to see that you can walk on your feet flat, but I don't like that it is so uncomfortable looking when you do it.  I need to call the pediatrician to see what she thinks, but I am hoping that this is just a little quirk that will fade in time.

A major point of contention this month was potty training (AGAIN!).  I was determined to get you trained (since you are definitely ready physically and you actually asked to wear panties!), so I started on August 17 with nothing but panties.  You were excited as well!  On the first day you had no accidents (YEAH!) but also no successes.  You literally held it all day, from wake time until nap and then from nap until bedtime.  You soaked your nap time and bedtime diaper!  I knew that couldn't be good, but I continued on in hopes that it would click.  On day two you had two pee accidents (one at our friend's house!) and 1 poop accident (also at our friend's house!).  Another day of no successful potty trips.  Frustrating!  On day 3 you had two successful trips to the potty!  You peed twice in the potty, but did have two poop accidents.  I was very excited for progress!  Day 4 was another bust.  Once again you held your pee all morning, until nap time (5.5 hours!) and then after nap time you peed all over the kitchen floor while running around saying, "I don't want to pee on the potty!".  UGH!  This fear of peeing on the potty is very frustrating!  I gave up on Day 5, seeing that you really weren't making any progress and were seriously afraid of going on the potty.  I decided to take a new approach and let you decide if you wanted to wear panties or diapers.  You went back and forth all day and even peed in the potty once!  But you were VERY scared.  You also peed on the couch once.  Oops.  I decided that a good compromise would be to use cloth diapers in hopes of you not liking how they feel and wanting to wear panties. Unfortunately it didn't work and the laundry required was just too much.  I tried for two more days (on and off) and you simply aren't ready.  It has been a VERY frustrating thing for Mommy, but I know that you will get it one day.  I just hope it's sooner rather than later!

On August 19, we asked you what you want to be when you grow up.  The first thing you said was, "A Mushroom".  Silly girl!  Then we asked you if you wanted to be a doctor, to which you replied "No".  We then asked if you wanted to be a Mommy, to which you replied "No".  What about a nurse at the hospital?  "YES! And I'll help the newborn babies and take them to my house and give them all a big, big hug."  HAHA  You are so silly and so precious!  I hope you chase your dreams sweet girl, whatever they may be!

Other 2.5 Year/30 Month Stats:

- You wear size 3T or 4T clothes (majority 4T)
- You wear a size 8.5 shoes now
- You wear size 6 diapers, day and night

2.5 is a very fun age!  We love you so much Hannie!  It is such a blessing to be able to watch you grow everyday!