Dear Sirena… (2.5 year old update!)

Dear Sirena,

It’s been 6 months that you’ve been a full-fledged 2 year old and it has gotten so so so much more fun with each passing day. Here are some snippets about life with you in this moment:

• The Peacekeeper: At our Parent/Teacher conference at preschool we were told by your teacher that you like to help keep the peace at school. When kids try to take a toy from you or from another kid, you tell them no, that they need to wait until you’re done. This is exactly what I’ve tried to teach you by example! When other kids try to take a toy from you I’ll model that exact same thing saying, “No, so-and-so, Sirena is playing with that. 5 more minutes and she can share with you if she wants to,” and I am so beyond proud that you are standing up for yourself (and others!), sticking to your guns, and doing the right thing.
• The Negotiator: I am big on giving you countdowns to use the potty, to finish playing, for dinner time, etc. so that you are aware of my expectations and there are (hopefully) no tantrums (or minor ones if so!)  I usually start with 5 or 10 minutes and try my best to keep tabs on the time that passes to give you incremental warnings until it’s time to do XYZ (although I’ve been told that sometimes my 10 minutes in reality are 15+ minutes. What can I say, I get distracted too sometimes, haha!) You’ve begun giving me your own countdowns for different activities, telling me, “2 more minutes, ok Mommy?” sometimes without me even prompting you!
• The Big Girl: It’s been 3 weeks now that you are officially diaper-free during the day and I could not be more proud. Like I mentioned in one of the pregnancy posts it was a random day that I came in after nap time and you were stark naked and hadn’t peed in bed. I asked if you needed to go potty, you said yes, and the rest is history! Of course we’ve had our share of accidents but you are getting better and better about telling us when you gotta go. Many times at home we’ll hear you getting the potty ready yourself and you’ll be sitting on it doing your thing by the time we get to you! You like your privacy (who doesn’t when it comes to potty time?) and occasionally you’ll tell us, “Leave me. I go ‘self” (translation: Leave me alone, I go by myself).
• The Clown: Your sense of humor is becoming more and more distinct and you are quite the character. You like to make us laugh and you love it when we make you laugh too. You find it hilarious to say, “Hi Lola” to me or Daddy or Auntie Jessie. You seem to be taking after Mama in the potty-humor department which we find hilarious at home and, ahem, blush-inducing out in public. We’re working on when it’s an appropriate time to talk about poop, pee, farts, etc. 😉
• The Parrot: Like all kids your age, you soak new vocabulary up like a sponge and repeat things that me and your Daddy say…sometimes regretfully! It’s fun to hear you say things like, “Wow” or “Aw man!” or “Are you okay?” or “You’re welcome” or any number of small phrases that you pick up.  And I guess I say, “Oh Jesus” a lot because I was having trouble with our gate and you immediately said, “Jesus,” lol! Better watch what I say more…
• The Performer: You love to show us your new tricks and talents, calling out, “Look a’me!” (translation: Look at me!) A few weeks ago your Auntie Jessie, Uncle Derdo, Auntie Laura, Daddy, and Mommy were all hanging out in the living room and you hammed it up all night! It was the first time I really saw you putting on a show for a group and it was such a delight. You’d come out, stand in front of the fireplace, and sing (at the top of your lungs) as many songs as you could think of. Here are my favorite renditions of yours:
  • Itsy Bitsy Spider: “Itsy bitsy ‘pider, come out in the waaater…”
  • ABC’s: “A, B, C, D, H, I, J, K, LMNOP, Q, R, Esss, TUandV, W, X, Y, and Z. Now I know my ABC’s, next time won’t you sing wid me?” You know the whole alphabet but recently you’ve been skipping right past “E, F, G.”
  • Twinkle, Twinkle: “Twinkle little star, how I wonder what you are. Up, up, up, up, up, up high, like a diamond in the sky. Twinkle little star, how I wonder what you are.”
  • Row, Row, Row your Boat: “Row, row, row your boat, gently in the boat. Mini, mini, mini, mini. Gently in the boat.”
  • Holiday favorites:
  • Jingle Bells: “Jingle bells, jingle bells, jingle all the way. What fun it is ride in horse sleigh. HEY!”
  • Trick or Treat, Smell my Feet: “Trick or treat, ‘pell my feet. Ginnee someping good to eat. [Inaudible…don’t…inaudible…care]. I’ll pull down your u-n-d-e-r-w-e-a-r [super exaggerated].”
• The Mama-in-Training: You still love all things baby doll. Honey and Nine are your babies of choice and you take such good care of them (never mind the way you grab them by the throat or head sometimes, haha!) You’ve moved from only changing your baby’s diapers on a daily basis to now putting them to bed. You’ll lay a blankie out flat on the floor (justright), put down a little pillow, lay the baby down, and cover the baby from head to toe (we’ll need to talk about how that can’t happen with your baby sister!) You then go around your room getting things ready, turning the starry night light on, turning the nursery rhyme music on, turning your Ok-to-Wake alarm clock on, turning out the overhead light, closing your bedroom door, and then going around the house and closing every other door for some reason, haha.
• The Big Sister: It’s becoming more and more real to you that Mama’s growing a little baby in her belly (you like to tell me, “Baby get bigger!” when you see my belly some days) and you are just the sweetest future big sister. You love to say hi to the baby, kiss my belly, and talk to her. Warms my heart to no end.

Here are some photos I was able to snap of you in some of your day-to-day activities recently:

My little mermaid, you make me so proud to call you my daughter. I love all of your talents, your charm, your cuddly nature, your pure sweetness, and your good heart.

Love,

Mama