Birthday countdown!

Reese will be 2 years old on the 21st of this month! She is growing up and doing so much now! Sometimes I think she has actually grown a little during her nap. She'll wake up and look different. Every time Mom sees her (at least once a week) she is certain Reese has grown and is doing more.

Here are some things Reese has been doing:

- Saying please and thank you when she wants and receives something
- Says agua pronounced awah for water. I think she has been saying this for a while and I thought she was saying wawa. She learned this Spanish word at school as some of her friends are bi-lingual
- When prompted says, I'm mart (smart), I'm pretty, I rock, I'm big. This all started when Grandma Ruth taught her to say I'm cute. She also says I'm two. When she likes something she says cute cute which she learned from me telling her she or something was cute cute
- Has told Mommy and Gigi to "go away" when we try to do something she does not like
- Follows instructions and remembers where things are located like getting her step stool out of the cabinet and getting her Vaseline off the night stand and putting it on her lips
- Putting multiple words together to make sentences
- Repeating almost every word we say to her
- Counting to 3 in English and Spanish, with assistance
- Identifying the color "white"
- Paying more attention to shows/movies on T.V.
- Using the sign for eat
- Helping Mommy put things away when asked
- Climbing onto the chair at the kitchen table by herself
- Walking places instead of having Mommy carry her. I really had to make myself do this one as I was spoiling her and carrying her out of school each day. Now she walks to the car all by herself. She has been doing this for Daddy for months
- Says, "No coat Mommy" when I try to put her coat on. Luckily when I say, "We are not leaving the house until you put it on," she will
- Has much more confidence and is comfortable with us leaving her at Gigi's. She gives kisses and waves Goodbye
- Blows kisses to say "I love you"
- Wipes her hands and washes her face after eating
- Asks for a tissue and wipes her nose when its runny and says, "Thank you" when I had her the tissue. She can't blow her nose, but will place the tissue on her nose and blow from her mouth
- Loves for me to blow dry her hair. And asks for more! Maybe that will make her first hair cut easier!
- At school, they sing a chant and prayer before snack and lunch. Reese does the hand gestures for "roll them and roll them and give them a clap; roll them and roll them and place them in your lap" and says "Amen" at the end of the prayer
- She can repeat all of the names of the kids in her class and say her teachers names
- Will name all of us when we sit at the table, Mommy, Daddy, Gigi, MaMoo (she used to call Grandma MawMaw; now it's MaMoo) and finally Reese. I thought she would never say her own name, but she does now!
- Calls Grandpa Joe, Papa. Now we need a name for Grandma Pat
- Sees a picture of Matt, Scott and Chris and calls them all Daddy. Then we tell her Scott and Chris are Uncle and she says Uncle
- Likes to pretend to go night night or to put her baby down for night night. In the morning when we are laying in bed, she will place her baby down, cover her up and say night night.
- She loves to be tucked in at night; this makes the bed time routine more fun for us all! Matt started it by having her hold her baby, wrapping a blanket around her and then placing another blanket on top and tucking it around her. She give us the biggest smile
- For the most part, she sleeps in her bed, but usually ends up in ours around 5:30 a.m.

It is so much easier to communicate with Reese now. We understand what she needs and she understands what we say. This has taught me that I must also follow through and instill discipline. For example, when she spreads toys all over the floor, I ask her to pick them up before moving on to something else. It takes some reinforcement, but she does it.