30

Remember when I used to do monthly updates on what Adeline was doing? Sometimes I regret that after she turned two I stopped doing that, but as she is officially two and a half as of today, I thought a long post all about who Adeline is and what she can do right now was in order.

But first... Two and a half? That is SO BIG. Adeline is well on her way to THREE and all that brings and halfway to FIVE. Time is flying. FLYING.

AND - this is my 500th post! Wowza!

Adeline talks and talks and talks. Long sentences. Paragraphs. Monologues. She talks to us, she talks to anyone who phones and she talks to herself and her toys.  There's a million questions that she already knows the answer to everyday and she's often just talking for the sake of talking. Adeline talks from the minute she wakes up until she falls asleep and sometimes for a little while aftewards, I think. No wonder she's so good at it! We can actually have some pretty good conversations now, which is something amazing.

Adeline loves to go to the playground and will climb and slide all day, but she doesn't like the swings AT ALL.

Adeline has memorized many of her books and can "read" them. Her favourite books these days are "Stop that Pickle!", "Cowboy Bunnies" and  "Madeline in London". It's fun to hear her recite them as she does it with exactly the same emphasis, inflection and tone that I read them with.

Adeline is OBSESSED with playing Pengoloo. Many many many times a day she asks if we can have a game of Pengoloo. The answer is usually yes, because we're suckers good parents! "Can we play a little bit of Pengoloo?" is very often the last thing she mutters as she's drifting off to sleep. She just got the "Sneaky Snacky Squirrel" Game and although I don't think it can unseat Pengoloo, she also loves to play it. Adeline doesn't really have a concept of "winning" and "losing" yet and we're trying to keep it that way as long as possible, so we play board games cooperatively when we can or we just help the other person finish if someone is done sooner.

Adeline has been happily sleeping in her big girl bed since January 1st and she falls asleep great and has great naps in it, but unfortunately she's still not sleeping through the night. Once or occasionally twice each night she wakes and needs someone's help. David and I are pretty tired... Adeline loves to cuddle and read books in her big bed and it's super fun for playing in with a friend.

Speaking of friends... Adeline LOVES to play with other children and she has some pretty good play skills and is moving beyond parallel play to really engage others, either children she knows or ones she just meets at the playground. Of course her favourite games to play with other children are toddler classics like "let's all pretend to fall down and then laugh" or "let's hold hands and run up and down the hill".

Let's just not talk about toilet training.

Adeline can get dressed all by herself, including socks and shoes, but she'd rather stay in her pajamas all day long. She loves to be fancy though and when she wears a dress you can tell she feels really special. She's also started playing dress up and has a lot of fun with our box of scarves, hats, glasses, fairy wings and tutus. The other day she told me she wanted a moustache like her Uncle and Santa, so I'm going to have to make her one for the dress up box as I don't think she'll be very successful in growing one!

Adeline's dramatic play has really expanded beyond just cooking or taking care of her babies. Often she is pretending to be the vet these days. Although she still makes a great sandwich and lemonade for her Mama just about every day...

Adeline looooooooves a bubble bath and stays in there at least an hour, although two isn't unheard of.

Adeline is going to music class now and she's SO into it. She tries all the actions, loves the instruments and any song with jumping in it, she sings a lot of the songs and she's the first to volunteer to go in the middle of the circle for any activity. I always feel really proud of her at music class!

Adeline's favourite songs to sing are "Baby Beluga" and "Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer".

Adeline is taking swimming lessons. She goes with David and he reports that she's brave, happy and willing to try anything the teacher suggests.

Adeline's hair is reallllllllllly long and pretty scraggly. This was never my intention, but our stylist is fighting cancer and I just don't trust anyone else, so both of us are going without haircuts for now. My intention was for Adeline to have a sweet little bob and not hair half way to her waist, but now I just don't know what to do. I still cut her bangs and every single time I say to myself "This is the LAST time - I'm growing those bangs out!". But we can see how that's gone...

We finally found a food that Adeline doesn't like - mango. She still eats it, but the whole time she says "I don't like this" and occasionally she spits it out. I think it's the texture she doesn't like, as she really likes mango juice. Other than that Adeline will eat ANYTHING. Her favourite foods are chicken, any kind of melon, pears, soup with barley, rice noodles, fried rice, red peppers and tofu. For an occasional treat Adeline loves chocolate of any kind and cheezies.

Adeline has started having some fears for the first time. Mostly I think she's just trying out "being scared" and isn't really fearful, but sometimes I can tell she is. The only thing she is consistently scared of and has been for as long as I can remember is butterflies. Yes, my mostly brave and fearless girl is afraid of BUTTERFLIES.

Adeline has started really fake smiling sometimes when the camera is out. I HATE it. I would rather have a good scowl or even a blank look. I hate the "say cheese" face. This is a fake smile, but not the worst of them...

Adeline can say her numbers to 20 and sometimes beyond, but she really can't actually count much beyond 2. She can say the alphabet and she does recognize all the upper case letters and knows for a few of them whose name they are in or what sounds they make. I didn't set out to teach her this, but I guess it's come up when we're reading enough. I think Adeline has a wicked sharp memory, especially visually, so I think things like learning her letters will come easily to her.

Adeline was a practiced television watcher when she was still a tiny baby in Vietnam and ever since she came home any screen will mesmerize her, no matter what is on. She is allowed a little television most days and her favourite shows are Curious George, Yo Gabba Gabba and Peep and the Big Wide World. She watches them all off the PVR so that we can choose exactly what and how much she watches, she's not exposed to commercials and scary stuff and there is less of the "just one more" begging since one show doesn't run into the next one. The most important thing about television at our house...NO DORA.

Adeline is 34 inches tall and she weighs 26 pounds. That's the same weight she's been for a long time, but she has grown over 2 inches. That puts her around the 10th to 15th percentile and she's still mostly wearing 18 month sizes. She's a little bit of a thing when you see her out on the playground, but she's very healthy and she definitely holds her own in every situation!

Adeline loves to dance! Everywhere we go, if Adeline hears any kind of music she needs to stop for a "dance break".

Adeline is just waiting for one last molar to come in and we are DONE with teething! The two year molars kind of snuck in and I just noticed them when I was brushing her teeth and she opened her mouth just right. Those must have been those miserable weeks days when Adeline was just absolutely full of NO and when Mama couldn't do anything right and EVERYTHING made her melt down.

Adeline MUST do everything all by herself. This is frustrating for all of us, sometimes. I'm glad she's so independent, but it takes forever to get a lot of things done and there are just some things she can't do and it makes her so mad sometimes when she has to give up and accept help.

Adeline tries to be bossy.

Adeline has started to draw representationally and she especially likes drawing her family. I've never shown her a model of "this is how you draw a person", so her interpretation is very creative. For some reason she always wants to draw her Daddy crying... David is NOT a weepy guy, so I find this pretty interesting.

At two and a half Adeline LOVES...painting, reading books, dancing, climbing, jumping, listening to music, playing instruments and singing, chocolate, bouncing, hanging out, nice dragons, asking questions, her menagerie of stuffies (but especially Elephant and Kitty), sunshine and snow, jumping in puddles, her cat Zephyr, her big girl bed, puppies, meeting new little friends, Pengoloo, helping with everything, cuddling or playing cave in the big bed, playdough, running and chasing and re-enacting scenes from "Stop That Pickle!", parties, learning new big words, opera, taking photographs with the remote, wearing dresses, shared bubble baths, cooking and most of all her family!

Two and a half is FUN and sometimes frustrating and always interesting.

 

 

Comments

[Elizabeth]

She sure does continue to get more and more beautiful! What a darling little girl. She seems so happy and full of joy, from the pictures you have posted.

[mimi lam]

Three is just around the corner, the next project will be toilet trainning. Adeline looks more like a little girl than todler, a lovely, smart little lady she is.

[Bev]

I loved reading your post... what a wonderful summary of Adeline at 2 1/2! Happy 30 months, Miss Adeline!!