As you start your second year of "school" at Mother's Day Out, I can't help but marvel at how much you have grown and changed since this time last year. When you started school last August, at 16 months old, you were still so much a baby. I remember how worried we were about you adjusting to having only one nap every day and wondering how you would ever learn to sit at the table and eat from your lunchbox all by yourself.
Somehow you made it, and you adjusted to MDO and your new schedule quickly. Your first teacher, Mrs. Misty, took very good care of you and Mackenzie and made your first year wonderful. It was so fun to see all the little art projects and activities you brought home...I just couldn't believe that my tiny little baby could do those things all by herself!
Fast forward to August 2011, and the changes in you are just amazing. You are now 28 months old, and many traces of your "baby-ness" are (sadly) fading quickly. You are very much a little girl now, and you are spunky. I can't pinpoint exactly when it happened, but you have really developed a huge personality in this past year. You have become so much more outspoken and domineering than you used to be...and I absolutely love it! We used to worry that Mackenzie was going to run all over you for much of your childhood, but it is now obvious that you can hold your own.
You have boundless energy that makes it hard to capture you in photographs that don't have the blur of a body in motion. Tonight, you ran circles in the driveway at full speed, singing and yelling happily the entire time. Then, after bath, you nuzzled yourself under my arm in your favorite spot on the couch and were perfectly content to sit quietly and read books until bedtime. I love all these things about you.
To try and capture a bit of you at this stage, I thought I would list some of your favorite things....
Favorite songs: Row, Row, Row Your Boat, Jesus Loves Me, Tomorrow (from Annie), and the songs from bible school this summer ("Big Apple Adventure")
Favorite foods: Fruit snacks, goldfish, shredded or parmesan cheese, and hamburgers (You will eat a hamburger anytime, anywhere!)
Favorite books: The Very Hungry Caterpillar, Peek-a-Boo Baby, a pirate alphabet book, and Dora's Bedtime Adventures
Favorite activities: You love to sing and dance, especially to Annie or Yo Gabba Gabba. You are constantly mimicking something one of us has said or something you saw on tv. You LOVE America's Funniest Home Videos, and you like to pretend to fall down to make us laugh (I wonder what kind of lesson this show is teaching you, but you love it so much...). You like to color and play with stickers. I love to watch you write or color...you know how to hold your pencil the correct way, and you are SO intent and focused on your writing. I can almost picture the little schoolgirl you will be in a few years, working hard on school assignments. You like to play in your kitchen at home and take care of your stuffed animals. After your first day of school last week, you told us that you washed clothes in the playhouse in your new classroom.
Dislikes: The vacuum cleaner. I don't know why this fear has developed...the vacuum is definitely not a regular occurrence in our house, but you absolutely hate it. You won't even walk down the hallway if the hand-vac is charging.
Mama's current favorite memory: For whatever reason, you are not pronouncing the letter "f" right now. Anything that starts with "f", you say with a "p" sound. We have noticed it more in the last few weeks, and it never fails to tickle me. You ask for your "poot snacks" (fruit snacks), want your shoes on your "peet" (feet), etc. I laugh every time, especially when whatever you say sounds borderline dirty...Mama is not always so grown-up, you see. : )
You are a funny, sweet, and snuggly girl right now, Addison...and we love every bit of you! You often take longer to go to sleep than your sister, and once she is asleep, you will sometimes call out for me. Occasionally, I come in to get you and let you sit up for a few extra minutes of snuggle time. That happened tonight, in fact, and after about five minutes on the couch with me, you happily went right back to bed...where you demanded, "Cover me up again!" as I tucked you in. I treasure these quiet moments with you, my precious little headstrong girl. I can't wait to see what an amazing lady you will become one day.
I hope you have a wonderful year in the two-year-old class, Addie-bug. I can't even imagine how grown up you will be at this time next year!
Love, Mama
beautiful post, Deanna. She is gorgeous and clever and love the spunk!
ReplyDeleteI can't write these kinds of things
Love it. They are growing up so fast.
ReplyDeleteWhat a sweet picture you've painted of your little sweetheart! Isn't it amazing how much they change in just a year!
ReplyDeleteNone of us are very grown-up.
ReplyDeleteI can't believe she won't even walk down the hall if it's charging! Poor thing!