On Thursday, we took Laurel to our new pediatrician for her two year well-check. The Lord provided such a great pediatrician for us and he's also fellow believer and a member of our church and small group! So neat how the Lord works!
Her 2-year stats:
Weight: 28 lbs (between 50th and 75th percentiles)
Height: 34 and 1/4 inches (between 50th and 75th percentiles)
We are so thankful to the Lord for our healthy, growing girl!
Warning: This post will get long! I'm trying to document all that Laurel is doing at this stage!
Here are some things Laurel is up to and that we want to remember about this sweet age:
TALKING! In the past month, we've really seen a big jump in Laurel's communication. She talks all the time and she knows what she's saying, but we have no clue a lot of the time. We love it, though! It also seems like she's picking up new words every day, repeating us a lot more than she used to, and we can even get her to say more things on command! Last month, she started to say "please" and that has made things soooo much easier for both her and us! We're enjoying the fact that she is so eager to say it! It only gets a little frustrating when she says "please" over and over again, but we can't figure out what it is that she wants. She's saying a couple phrases such as "What's this?" and "Where is it/he/she?" but she's been saying those for a while. We think we hear her say "I did it" sometimes too. We're loving that we're starting to not be able to keep track of all of the words she's saying. The cutest words she says are "Grover," "Big Bird," "buffalo," "please," "ta-da," "uh-oh," and "napkin." I'll have to get a video of her saying some words! We love hearing that sweet little voice of hers! A favorite "game" of hers is the "What's this?" game. She asks "What's this?" about EVERYTHING, but she always seems to do the things we know she knows over and over again as well. Right now, we can count on Laurel asking "What's this?" about the vacuum cleaner and dishwasher every day. It's also her favorite game to play with the boys and they're very accommodating to the very repetitive game. We're also always amazed at what she "gets" and understands of what we say.
SO ACTIVE! We are always getting comments about how busy Laurel is! She is constantly going from one thing to the next! She has started to settle down A LITTLE bit because she's been very interested in books recently and really starting to get interested in puzzles. Laurel LOVES to be outside running around. She loves any sort of playground and loves going down the different slides. Laurel is really enjoying being in the pool too! With having a pool here, we're able to get there most days and it's been so neat to see the progression that she's made so far! She's getting a lot more comfortable in the water and having a blast! She also likes to climb, walk backwards,can and twirl in circles.
Eating: Mealtimes are always interesting (well, a nightmare) with Laurel. Ever since she was a baby, she has not been known for being very patient! If she's in her seat, she expects to have her food, RIGHT THEN. Laurel always wants what's on our plate, and if it's exact same thing, we're trying to convince her that it's the same! She's generally a pretty good eater, but she does have her moments where she'll eat something one day, but the next day she won't. She is the most picky about meat. Sometimes she'll eat chicken or hamburger, but she's not too big of a fan of meat right now. Her favorite foods are black-eyed peas, mandarin oranges, bananas, raisins, pancakes, applesauce, and goldfish. She loves milk and would drink it all day if we would let her.
Personality: It's so neat to see Laurel's little personality unfold. She usually needs a couple minutes to warm up to new people or a new situation. She'll observe, be very quiet, and not run around. Once she warms up, she is good-to-go! She'll grab a new person's hand and take them around to show them things or bring her toys and books to them. Even as active and adventurous as she is, she can be very cautious about certain situations. Our neighbors have a little kids' tent with tunnels and Laurel has yet to go in it. She'll point at it and play around it, but won't go in! When we're out, she waves and smiles at everyone. She doesn't seem to know a stranger when we're out! Laurel LOVES when the boys are here. She just thinks that they are here for her and to be her entertainment. The boys are really good with her and will read books to her, play with her, and chase her around. She loves it! Laurel LOVES babies. I think Laurel can spot a baby within a mile of her and then she is just drawn to that baby. :) She's so interested in what they are doing and will bring them toys, their pacifiers, their bottles, etc. She likes to play with kids older than she is and she just thinks that she is one of them!
Terrible-twos? Laurel's sinful nature is clear. :) The past month or two, tantrums have started. When she doesn't get her way, she'll flail her arms and legs, get on the floor, whine, hit etc. Discipline and training her to obey is our big focus. "You need to obey" is one of our most commonly used phrases these days. "No" has also entered into Laurel's vocabulary and she's having to learn real quick that saying "no" to mommy and daddy is not making it go well with her. :) We are praying for the grace we need as we are parenting this precious little toddler.
Fun things:
-Laurel LOVES Grover! Elmo has taken a back seat to Grover. She loves pointing out Grover in her books and now that she has a Grover doll, she is loving life. :) Grover goes with her around the house a lot and she wants Grover in her crib for her nap and for bedtime. We've caught her trying to feed Grover her milk and she's wanted to take it to the bathroom when we're brushing her teeth. We have a Grover DVD and I'll sometimes put on Sesame Street so she can see Grover, but that doesn't hold her attention for very long.
-Laurel's gotten into puzzles within the past couple of weeks and she's really good at them! She gets frustrated easily when she can't fit the piece in right on the first or second try, but we're trying to encourage her to try again. As busy as she is, I love that she'll sit and play with puzzles for a little while.
-She has really gotten into reading books. She loves to take her time to flip through them, but she still doesn't let you get through very many pages before she takes it away and gives you a new one! She asks, "What's this?" about different pictures. She loves books with animals in them and her Sesame Street books. She will look plop in your lap and look at books for awhile. I LOVE that time with her.
-She is still scared of the vacuum cleaner. She will point to it all day and talk about it, but as soon as it comes on, she's scared and will cling to you.
-We're seeing signs of potty-training readiness, but we're not there yet and we're not in a hurry! She will point to her diaper and say "pee-pee" and will say "poop" when we ask her if she has. About a month ago, she was coming up to me and saying "poop" she she needed her diaper changed or getting out her changing pad, diaper, and wipes, when her diaper was dirty,but she hasn't done that recently. She is all about talking about the potty, but she is scared to sit on it.
-She doesn't like food on her hands
-She is so sweet and loves to give hugs and kisses!
-This age is so fun with seeing how she wants to do what we do, especially what mommy does. If we're vacuuming, she gets out her vacuum. If we're wiping up a spill or wiping the table, she wipes the table with us. She follows me when I'm doing laundry and takes things out of the dryer or puts things in. (I do have to be careful because she'll put wet things in the basket and dirty things in the dryer sometimes if I'm not looking!)
-She loves the "Wheels on the Bus." "Itsy-Bitsy Spider" and "Ho-Ho-Ho Hosanna"
-TV or DVD doesn't really hold her attention, but when it does, she likes to watch her Miss Patty Cake or Hide Em In Your Heart DVDs
-We love how Laurel will laugh when Peter and I are laughing like she knows what we're laughing at
-She likes to stall drinking her milk at night. She can make it last 20 or 30 minutes by looking at books while she's drinking it and just being cute!
I've smiled as I've typed this because it's so neat to see how Laurel is developing and all of the new things that she is learning! Even though we're already seeing how the "2s" can be a trying time, we've also seeing the precious age that it is. Laurel is always keeping us laughing with the cute things she is saying, the fun things she is doing, and ending the day with the sweetest hugs and kisses!
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