Isla is officially 2 1/2!! We celebrated her 1/2 birthday along with my brother's birthday by going bowling. It was her first time and she did great (and I did really well too after she left because I got to use her bumpers!)
She is totally obsessed with the "Where's Spot?" books right now. Every time we go to the library, we check out 3 of them and they are pretty much all she chooses to read until we go to the library again and swap them out. So it seemed fitting to make Where's Spot cupcakes for her half birthday dessert. Maybe I should be proud that she doesn't have more of a sweet tooth but I must admit I was a little disappointed when she took a couple bites and then asked to be excused. But that was only after asking Grandma and Grandpa W to sing her Happy Half Birthday again with candles re-lit and everything.
We got her an adorable "pack pack" (backpack) as she calls it and she has been wearing it proudly ever since. It was a win-win gift really as the diaper bag has been overflowing with both of the girls' stuff.
As for other highlights about Isla this month, she is a total morning person! Even when we have to get her out of bed just before 6 AM to leave for work, she jumps up and excitedly tells us "Good morning!!!" She has a superb memory too. If we tell her what we are doing the next day as we are we are putting her to bed, it is the first thing she talks about in the morning.
Isla's mothering instincts are in full force. She loves to read to Emma and "help" her roll over. I love how at the beginning of this video how she tells Emma "Jesus asks that we obey!" as she reads her a Bible story.
Unfortunately, Isla picked up the phrase "I don't like it" somewhere along the line. She doesn't use it very often but pulls it out every once in a while at the dinner table. We've hit a few food jags (her never-ending desire for bread and pasta!) but all in all I'd say she's a pretty good eater. And her fiber intake is as high as any adult I know with the amount of raisin bran she puts away! She has also gotten really into pb & js this month. It used to be that she wouldn’t touch anything with peanut butter and I was beginning to question how she could possibly be my offspring! I think she thinks peanut butter and jelly are an all-inclusive sort of thing though as she doesn’t want one without the other. She loves dipping things and can often be caught licking lettuce leaves to get the dressing or the other day I spotted her dipping her pears in ketchup...
We have entered the phase of pretend play and imagination! Isla now spends a good portion of the day "playing house" with her tent, going shopping with her shopping cart, putting her babies (and water bottle!)down for naps, pouring coffee or making soup for Graham and I etc etc. It's really quite fun to watch. She is also really enjoying having us tell her stories. This is exciting for Graham and totally petrifying for me. It has illuminated the fact that I tell unbelievably boring stories and that I led a relatively risk-free/unadventurous childhood. I remember my Dad telling us stories about the time he crashed his sled into the blackberry bushes or the time he got a splinter in his bottom...man, I guess I haven't lived! I will work on that so I can share more thrilling stories.
Isla loves going shopping or running errands with me. I, of course, love going alone if ever the opportunity arises but this causes great disappointment for Isla. Her very favorite continues to be Trader Joe's (where she gets to push her own mini cart) and Fred Meyer/Safeway (where she gets to ride in the car cart).
Speaking of running errands, having a 2 year old is a good reminder just how odd figures of speech can be. The other day I asked Isla if she wanted to run errands with me and she said "YES!!!" Then the whole time we were out and about, she kept asking when I was going to actually RUN. I had a hard time explaining that one to her. Then a couple days ago, we were driving home from somewhere and I got really tired. I said "Wow Isla. I've really hit a wall!" I realized right away that I need to figure out another way to express my weariness! She must think I'm nuts.
Isla somehow has figured out technology without us even having to teach her. A couple weeks ago, Graham was using his ipod Touch. Out of nowhere, Isla walked up, grabbed it from him and said "Daddy, I show you!" and proceeded to scroll through and show him the various app options. Uhhhhhhh, thanks Isla? Apparently it's time to talk about screen time (i.e. take that thing away from her!)
She continues to be quite independent, and, shall I say, type A? She likes to hold her books all by herself, even if it means we can’t see the words to read it to her. Graham also noticed the other day that she’d laid one toy or doll on each step, in a nice straight line on the right side of our staircase. I PROMISE I didn’t teach her to do that!
Other tidbits I don’t want to forget:
-She always wants to be included when Graham and I are hugging so family hugs in the kitchen are rapidly becoming a commonplace.
-She (finally!) started saying “I love you” back when I say it to her!! Apparently all it took was my telling her “You can say that back to me when I say it to you, you know.” Now she says it at random and I just can’t get enough of it! The other day she even said “Thank you for loving me, Mommy!”
-Her latest coin phrase is “Yes I did!” and she uses it very emphatically throughout the day in response to almost anything. I need to record it on video because she has such a great tone of voice when she says it.
-She finally (and unfortunately!) figured out how to open our doors. Major bummer for me but she’s pretty thrilled about it! She loves “checking” on Emma when she’s napping…
-She fell into a fabulous nap rhythm over the past month where her nap length extended to about 2 hours minimum. She used to nap for only an hour or hour and a half but this two hour plus thing is awesome! And she sleeps from ~7:30 PM-7:30 AM at night.
-She loves going to the park and will spend the entire time on the swing if allowed.
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