What 2 Looks Like...

My sweet, spunky, energetic, dynamic, loving, caring girl, you are 2 years old!

Actually, you have been 2 for a couple of months, but I am just now getting around to writing this post.

The birthday girl at her party!

I must start by saying that every age is more fun than the next. It's fun to think of starting all of the developmental stages over again with your brother, but I LOVE what 2 is bringing for us with you.

Weight: 26 pounds (at your 2 year check up on April 12, you were up to 26.6). (This is approximately 50th percentile)

Height: 31.1 inches (Still down at about the 5th percentile)

Sizes: You've been wearing size 5 diapers for awhile now, and I think you'll probably stay in them until you potty train (sometime....someday....). You wear mostly size 24 month clothes, but some 2T things fit you and some of your older 18 month clothes (especially the pants) fit you.

What you're up to:

- You have a growing and ever-astonishing vocabulary. At your second birthday, you were speaking in clear phrases of 2-3 words, but since that time your language has really taken off. You use complete sentences most of the time (even if we have to fill in a word or two). Some of your favorite things to say are "I sorry" (you say this even if you have done nothing wrong), "Momma (or Daddy) hold you", "Marmee's (or ReeRee's or Daddy's) comin?", "No jumpin'" (to the dogs), "Ooooh, sweet baby (or sweet Remus or sweet Darsee), and "I'm cookin!"

- You know all of your ABCs. We practiced and practiced before Christmas and when you got your alphabet puzzle from Santa, that helped a lot. It won't be long until you can spell your name. (We're working on that).

- You can count up to about 15. Then you usually repeat "sixteen" about 4 times and say "twenty". We went to the park with the Scisms last week and you had a better time counting the links on the bridge at the playground than you did actually playing on the bridge.

- You love to play with your babies. Marmee and Dah got you a Cabbage Patch named Shelley Elle for your birthday and you love her. You call her "Shawey". Aunt Ashley got you a Merida doll from the movie "Brave" and you love her too (even though she spends most of her time being dragged around by her hair.

- You love to pretend that you are "cookin'" in your Sesame Street kitchen. You especially love to make us "coffee" for some reason.

You love to paint!

- Your favorite place to be is outside. Now that the weather is getting nice, you want to go out as soon as we get home from Amanda's every day. And most days, we stay out there with the dogs until Daddy gets home from work. You play in your house (which we finally moved outside) and play in the boat and collect rocks and chase the dogs....you are a never-ending bundle of energy outside. For Easter, Marmee got you some sidewalk chalk, so now we play with that every time we're outside. You ask me to draw pictures of everyone in our family and every animal and object you can think of. (My artistic skills are sooooo not prepared for this).

Playing in your house outside.

- We are working VERY hard on manners and on obedience. I know this will be something we reinforce until you are an adult, but it's certainly interesting to start the instruction. I want you to always be the little girl who says "Thank you" and "Excuse me". We are working on "Yes, ma'am" and "No, ma'am", but those are coming a little slower. Right now, we don't do a lot of spanking, your main consequence for bad behavior is sitting in the corner or having things taken away. Sometimes, it's hard on me to remember that you know enough to be held accountable for your actions. But on the whole, you are very obedient and very sweet to share and give to others around you. I'm proud of you.

At the Tyler zoo over spring break 2013

- Your favorite thing on earth is being around people. You love to FaceTime with Marmee and Dah or Dan and Janna or Allison and JB. We usually try to make the "rounds" on FaceTime at least once a week. You are ecstatic when ReeRee and Papa visit or when Sarah and Charlie come to spend some time. You look forward to church every week (especially seeing Mr. Ron), and Bible School with Amanda and Violet.
When we go to the store or to a restaurant, you look around at people and say "HI!" or "Hewwo!" in your happiest voice. It always brings a smile to my face and to the people's faces around you. This is one reason that you ask to go to the store every time we drive by Wal-Mart or the grocery. You just love the people and the adventure.

- You are usually a pretty good eater for us. Your current favorite foods are chicken (almost any kind - though Chick-fil-A nuggets are a favorite - you are my child), fruit of any kind (especially bananas, peaches, grapes, apples, oranges), green peas, beans, rolls (you say "wolls"), rice, yogurt, Goldfish ("yish") and, of course, candy of any kind. You would drink juice (especially apple) all the time if we let you, but we try to stick to water and milk with a little juice on the side. :)

Your "'Punzel" party

Eating ice cream

- You still love to dance and sing. You know all of the songs on "Tangled" and you sing along to them. You've recently started to enjoy "Cinderella" and "The Little Mermaid" too. I can't tell you how glad I am that these are starting to take the place of Elmo. You also have become obsessed with Dora the Explorer, so we watch that on occasion. And you still love your "Fraggle Rock" which makes me smile.

- You are 100% a Daddy's girl. In the middle of my 2nd trimester, right about when my lap started shrinking, you decided that you wanted Daddy to rock you at night, and that Daddy would be your favorite. I expected that this would happen, so it didn't hurt my feelings too much. It has been so sweet seeing you bond and connect with your Daddy.

- Just recently, you've started to "dress up" a lot. You put on Mommy's shoes (or Daddy's) and walk around with your necklaces on. You say "Ooooh, pwettty" or "Oooh, is cuuuute" - this cracks me up.

- Hearing you say the things we say is a funny and terrifying thing. I try to make sure that my words are always things I would want to hear you say (with the exception of when you're in trouble). But we still get the occasional "Do you hear me?" or "You in trouble". I even heard you say "Oh my gosh" once....I put a stop to that one very quickly - and now I try not to say it - even on the phone. You are definitely at the age that acts like a mirror - you reflect both my good behaviors and my bad ones. And the bad ones stick out like a sort thumb. Having children is certainly a humbling experience. Ha!

Playing Daniel Tiger on the iPad

You are still my baby girl, but I know you will seem so big when your brother arrives. You already are so independent and you play very well by yourself. I am truly thankful for your little imagination.

You bring light to my life. I look forward to seeing you every morning and every afternoon when I pick you up from Amanda's. I look forward to kissing you before bed every night and snuggling with you on the couch every morning when we get up. I am overjoyed when I get to show you new things and let you experience them for the first time. You just make my life so much fun.

You've also been teaching me so much about myself and my own strengths and weaknesses. I've learned that I can be good at teaching you things and helping you follow rules, but I've also learned that I have to have much more patience than I knew I possessed. Teaching you teaches me a lot about God and His heart for His children. I am amazed at my own need for grace as I work and play with you each day.

Thank you, sweet girl, for being one of my life's greatest blessings. I can't wait to see you as big sister.

At the Dallas Arboretum - Spring break 2013

Christmas 2013

 (Yes, this post is late too - but better late than never!) Christmas this year was pretty crazy, but so much fun. Elysen is at an age where she knows and understands that the family is together and that she gets presents - 2 very exciting things in the life of a 22-month old.

Picking out a Christmas tree with Marmee and Da

We worked hard to read books about the Christmas story all season long, and soon, she knew all of the characters in the pictures. She knew about baby Jesus, and Mary, and Joseph. (And yes, she also knew who Santa was from pictures in the book.) The Christmas story is an important part in her development of knowing Christ as her Savior, so we tried to keep the focus where it truly belongs.

Reading The Night Before Christmas

We also did have lots of fun celebrating the silly things of the season. We watched a Christmas Elmo dvd over and over and OVER. She loved all of the songs and dances. She also fell in love with Disney's "Santa Paws" movie. (If I never see that one again, it will be too soon. Ha!) Elysen wore her reindeer Christmas pjs and "helped" me wrap (and unwrap) presents.

Tree shopping with Daddy's family

I was still very worn out and somewhat sick with this pregnancy, so my usual decorating and festivity was somewhat dimmed. But our baby girl certainly added new life to the season. One morning, I was laying on the couch resting while Elysen watched "Sesame Street". I suddenly heard the "crackle crackle" of wrapping paper being torn open. I looked down and one of Uncle Charlie's gifts was sitting under the tree completely unwrapped....but the paper was no where to be found. I checked the trash can in the kitchen and there it was, sitting on top. She hadn't tried to open the gift or play with it, she just knew that the paper was meant to be taken off. And she knew that when we take off paper, we throw it away. I laughed so hard and immediately called David to tell him what she had done. (Then I spent a minute asking her not to open any more presents...).

Elysen's gift from Santa was a Sesame Street kitchen and she LOVES it. She has so much fun "cookin" for us all. She also got an Abby Cadabby tea set that has been very popular. Santa also brought her an alphabet puzzle so she can work on recognizing her letters.

We spent Christmas morning at our house. Dan and Janna were staying with us, but Elysen woke up early, so it was just our little family of 3 celebrating Santa and opening presents to each other. Then the rest of the Savage clan came over for presents and brunch. We wanted to hurry and head to Tyler because a big storm was supposed to be headed our way.

We had no idea what a big deal that storm would end up being. We left the house around 1 p.m. By the time we got to Ft. Smith, it was snowing and sleeting a little. We decided not to go up the mountain and into Oklahoma (where the storm was supposedly worse), but instead to continue headed south through Arkansas. Well, 5 hours later, we pulled into Mena driving a painfully slow 20 miles an hour and looking for any hotel with a room. David was scared to death driving his toddler and his pregnant wife through all that snow and ice - and I don't blame him. We trudged through the snow to our room and spent Christmas night in Mena, Arkansas eating gas station burritos and the sausage balls I'd made for our time in Tyler....ahh, memories.

SO MUCH SNOW! (Probably over 10 inches!)

Thank goodness for the Sun Country Inn

Playing with her new toys in the hotel room

The next day, we were able to make it out of Mena and though it was slow going, we finally made it to Tyler. The bad roads didn't go away until we were well across the TX state line. Clearly, the storm was much worse than anyone anticipated.

Once we were in Tyler, we had so much fun opening gifts and seeing family. We got to see Brittany and Aunt Beji, and we went to Mt. Pleasant to see all of the Burkharts. Elysen had a blast seeing everyone and playing with her new toys.

It was quite the Christmas to remember, but I wouldn't have traded one second of it. We have some amazing (and funny) memories from our holiday season. Next year will be so different with Judah, so we wanted to take advantage of our last Christmas as a family of 3. We are so blessed, and so thankful for the safety and the fun that God provided for us this Christmas.