2 Years Old

Just a quick 2 Year Old post for Millie to jot down a few of her favorite things at the moment.  I'm a couple of weeks behind, but that's okay since I now get to include her stats from her 2 year pediatrician appt yesterday.

Stats: weight 29lbs (75th %), length 36.25 inches (95th %), head 19 inches (Dr forgot to give % but she always has a pretty average head size).  I've said this before, but I'm not a fan of how they measure the length...by laying down on the exam table and marking by her head and feet with a pen, then measuring that distance.  It sounds like it would work, but it is always off.  So her real length is right around 34.75 inches.  I realize that is only 1.5 inches off, but that makes a big difference on those percentage charts.

Anyhoo, I asked the doctor about Millie's weight because she usually has a below average % on the weight; at her 18 month checkup, her weight was in the 30th percentile and before that at her 1 year checkup, her weight was in the 25th percentile.  Dr. Averitt wasn't concerned, and when plotting her BMI, she's still way below average.  Guess it's all those corn dogs I've been feeding her. ;)

Millie's current favorite things:
Swinging on the bars or rings at the gym...or in her closet...or on the treadmill...pretty much wherever she sees a swingable bar, she takes advantage; snacks and/or treats: fruit snacks, chocolate covered sunflower seeds, popcorn, yogurt raisins, goldfish crackers, juice boxes; jumping...she jumps everywhere, all the time; playing outside in the pool or water hose; playing with her baby dolls...putting them in Syd's swing or infant chair, pretending to feed them or change their diaper; walks (in the stroller) to the park; holding Sydney; cucumbers, broccoli, green beans, whole wheat pasta, Kashi crackers, cheese sticks, yogurt; Curious George TV show; reading books, current favs: How Do Dinosaurs Say Goodnight, The Nose Book, Ten in the Bed, Eric Carle's From Head to Toe; playing chase; feeding the ducks in our pond; pretending to drive daddy's car in the driveway; singing, current favs: ABC song, Baby Beluga, Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, Ring Around the Rosie.

Her speech and vocabulary has developed very quickly and seems to multiply exponentially each week!  It's so easy to understand why parents think they have little geniuses when they surprise you with what they know on a daily basis. ;)  Millie is now talking in phrases and 3-word sentences, and she uses pronouns and adjectives.  Most of the time, whatever she says is in question form.  For example:

• Where Daddy/Mommy go?
• Go park? Go outside?
• I need juice. I need snack.
• Daddy go work?
• Why Syd cry?
• Syd sad?
• Is baby hungry?
• Where Millie go? (peekaboo game)

She knows most of her colors and shapes, and she also counts to 6 and will surprise you with how much of the alphabet she knows.  These last two skills are just memorization; I know she doesn't know what more than 2 objects means and she only knows the alphabet song, not the individual letters...but it is still cute as hell to hear her sing that song.  And watching her pretend to do things has really been cracking us up...like playing with her kitchen set or with her baby dolls.  When she gets in her pink car, she always says she's going to the store, usually for bananas. ;)

feeding her baby the way mommy feeds Syd...I did not teach her this :)

She's pretty much right on track where a 2 year old should be...even with the temper tantrums.  I've started implementing the 1-2-3 Magic principles, and the counting and subsequent timeouts have been working so far.  She can go from such a challenge to the sweetest little girl in the world and back again within a minute.  She's the silliest kid I know, and I love her quirkiness.  And even on our hardest days, she just has to say "Thank you, Mah-ee" and my heart melts.  I love her little voice and her little face so much it hurts...in a good way.  Love you, Millie Bear...we're still so so glad you're ours!