Reese 2.5

Eight days later...Reese is two and a half. September is and forever will be a BIG month in our house. Graham's Birthday, Reese's Birthday, Wes' Birthday. Football season. School getting under way. Busy, but I look forward to September so much already. There is so much to celebrate.

Reese's personality and little character has developed so much in the last six months. She has gone from speaking in 2-3 word phrases to carrying on full conversations. We can reason with her very well, and she's proven to be obedient and compassionate. Reese is quite the ham, and she's also content to observe. As I type, she's watching Veggie Tales next to me on the couch with her proper posture, ankles crossed, and totally engaged.

When Reese wakes up in the mornings, she starts singing. And talking. and pretending. Her first song she began to sing on her own was Wheels on the Bus last summer, but she quickly acquired new favorites including Jesus Loves Me, the ABC's, Trust and Obey, God is so Good, Away in a Manger, Itsy Bitsy Spider, and the list literally goes on and on and on. While shopping in the bread aisle at the grocery store last week, Reese was singing Old MacDonald and Farmer in the Dell when several other shoppers began to laugh and encourage her to keep going. I quickly responded with "She'll be singing 'til she goes to sleep tonight."

Not only does she sing, but she talks and talks and talks. Although her main pronouns are still mostly mixed up, that doesn't slow her down one bit. She makes herself clear by mentioning the person's name after the pronoun in case I didn't catch what she was trying to communicate. She also has associations really well. Mention an event, a person, etc. and she will tell you whatever is associated with that. Oh, and one of my favorite quirky communication traits of Reese's is the way she says what she expects someone else to say to her. "Hey, Reese." "You have such a pretty dress." "Thank you, Reese." These are just a FEW examples of this, and I love it. I started to correct a few words months ago only to witness them correcting themselves before I knew it. Therefore, I make sure to communicate correctly to her, but I'm not going to correct her. It's going to happen, and then I'll miss how she says words. "nilk" just turned to "milk" and my heart sunk a bit.

The fabulous world of pretend has entered our home. I find Reese carrying on conversations with her baby dolls, stuffed animals, and herself. They aren't too elaborate, but pretend is beginning, and it's awesome.

The saying "Obey all the way, right away, and with a happy heart" is one I like to follow. Reese does really well with obeying, but we struggle with the happy heart part. Some days it's wonderful and self control makes an appearance, but most days her heart is on her sleeve. She's a dramatic toddler, and her fair share of tears have been shed.

Reese loves hard and laughs loud. She gives the best hugs, snuggles a lot, and she sympathizes with anyone who appears to be in pain or sad. Especially people in books or shows. "Oh, I'm sorry, George." She likes to hold Graham's hand, and she's grabbing mine right now. LOVE her.

Reese can make Graham laugh out loud, and she does the same to most people around her. This girl is funny. She loves making funny faces, silly sounds, and picking out my shoes. She loves to dance, walk with her eyes closed (yikes!), and carry her "guys" around the house with her. These guys are her lovie, blanket, kitty cat, kangaroo, and baby doll.

She's extremely persistent (you must acknowledge what she is saying), she loves help, she loves her friends, and she asks for hair bows on a daily basis. She loves stickers, iPad games, princesses, legos, matching games, and puzzles. She asks for honey bear sandwiches (PB, Honey, and Jelly), yogurt, smoothies, cereal, cheddar bunnies, and chocolate milk.

It's been such a blessing to watch this little girl grow. I love her with all of my heart, and I find myself just staring at her in amazement. She's got a head full of curls and a heart full of love and kindness. She still adores books and learning, and I so look forward to the second half of her third year.

Halloween 2012. 

Mothers Day Out. October 2012.

Halloween 2012.

November 2012. Crystal Bridges trails.

December 2012. Christmas card pics. And an odd warm day.

 Oh. October again.

Ham. December 2012.

December 26, 2012. Conway. 

December 2012.

Throwback to 1987. Two and a half year old momma and Moppy. See any resemblances?

We said good-bye to the pacifiers at the very beginning of 2013. Here she is drawing a picture for the Paci Fairy.

Laughing with daddy February 2013.

Like mother, like daughter and son.

Debuting her new red shoes. February 2013.

Funny Faces. February 2013.

Crystal Bridges. February 2013.

Spring is coming. And friends are plentiful. Bentonville Square, March 2013.