All by herself

This is the latest addition to "Dillon do it." It now has to be "all by herself." Often that's OK-- sometimes it's not, like when it involves carrying breakable items from point A to point B. Or finding animals on the computer. But socks and shoes she does pretty well with. Pants go well sometimes. This morning she put her shirt on by herself and just needed help with the sleeve. To her credit, she came to me and asked for help with the sleeve rather than just sitting there screaming as she used to do. She's also gotten into picking out her own clothes, which makes for some pretty interesting outfits. She often picks dresses, which is funny because I never wear them. I think this is one of those things that goes beyond imitation and is wholly her choosing.

Bless her heart, she's a bit of a dishelved mess right now. She has a cold and is getting 3 teeth- a molar and 2 eye teeth- all at the same time. On top of all of that, her hair's just long enough to be wild looking , but not long enough to actually style in some way. So, there's this constant stream of watery eyes, snot and drool with this wild hair. But, despite a few tearful moments when not feeling well just gets the better of her, she's really pretty pleasant and happy. She was even able to smile at people in the grocery store yesterday.

The new job is going well. Dillon is enjoying playing with Rowyn, my boss' little girl. There was a little nervousness in starting the second day, because historically for Dillon, the second day was harder than the first, but it went beautifully. It's really cause for a huge sigh of relief from both me and Rowyn's parents. They really like having Dillon there because it's a social opportunity for Rowyn. I like having Dillon close so I can see her during the day. I think the being able to see her during the day has really helped with the transition. Plus there are all the toys that she doesn't have at home and 2 big dogs and some cats to play with and chase around. Does sound kind of heavenly for a 2 year old, huh?

Happy 2nd Birthday, Dillon! 

Sorry for the delay in updating! Life has gotten a good bit busier with the start of the new web design job. I'm really enjoying it though! It also means a lot more time at the computer, so sometimes it's a little tough to motivate myself to sit down at it again to do some updating. But, here it is, at last.

2 years old! The picture was taken the evening before her birthday as we were getting ready for her very small birthday party. It was Dave & I, Nana and Courtney. Dillon had fallen asleep early in the evening. Courtney arrived while she was asleep, so when she woke up, she was completely confused as to why Courtney was eating dinner at her house. And what are all the new things you are giving me and wanting me to play with? And why are you all of the sudden encouraging me to eat chocolate cake? Bless her heart, she never could quite get it all sorted out in her mind as to what was going on. On her actual birthday we went to our local science museum where she had a great time, then after naptime we went up to the hospital to see Dave who was on call in the ICU. I think she loved running around the hospital as much as she did the museum. Nana bought her a helium balloon that came untied and went floating way, way, way up high. The gift shop was kind enough to replace it, but, of course, she wanted the one that got away. The replacement has not been nearly as loved as that first one was.

So, I thought I'd make a little rundown of her likes and dislikes at 2 years old.
Likes: Running, playing with the digital camera, playing with the metal bowls, babies (the stuffed variety more so than the live variety), nursing, climbing all over Daddy, Satchmo, working puzzles, reading books, going to "see kids" (any activity in which there will be other children present), looking at herself in the mirror, cheese, spinning in the desk chair, those purple snow boots

Dislikes: falling down in the snow, staying in the nursery at church, having her hair brushed, having her teeth brushed, being in the car seat for more than about 1/2 an hour, more than 3 bites of food at a time, Satchmo stealing her food

Could take it or leave it: bathtime, playing with play-doh, painting, coloring with crayons

She continues to amaze us at her verbal abilities. Her sentences have gotten more and more complex. Dave pointed out the other day that she will also try to rephrase things if you tell her you don't understand what she is saying. Sometimes it's sucessful, sometimes not, but it's pretty amazing that she tries. She's learning some of the individual letters from the puzzle from Mimi & Addy. She has left and right down more often than not.

Really, she is just a happy kid. She such a joy to be with-- an exhausting one, but a joy nonetheless. Sometimes I wish she'd let me one mess under control before she creates a new one! But it is just so amazing to watch her learning. It's a joy to watch she & Dave together. I really miss her the days that I'm away from her, but the time is coming soon when that will be less. The days will be warmer and we'll be able to be outside more. Dave will have finished 2 of his 6 years of residency training. Good as it is now, life will be even better.

Indignancies

Just over the last week or so, Dillon has learned the art of giving a dirty look. Several times now I've seen her give a dirty look to another child that is trying to take another toy from her or knocks her over. She's also learned the art of being indignant. She and I were sitting on the floor eating tortilla chips and dip the other night. She took a bite of one then put it back in the bowl. Thinking that she didn't want it, I ate it. A minute or so later, she went to get it and realized it was gone. Very indignantly (and very clearly)she asked "Did YOU eat Dillon's?" "Ummmmm...yes" I replied rather sheepishly, "I'm sorry." Then came the dirty look. She was very clearly upset with me for having eaten her chip. She did forgive me, though, thank goodness!

I start this week at my new web design job. Dillon & I went to see the office and the house where she'll be staying while I'm working. We also got to meet Jeanne's (my new boss)little girl, Rowyn who is 18 months. We were practicing Rowyn's name on the way there since it's a little tough to pronounce when you're just learning to talk. It still frequently came out "Go see Robe." Dillon had a good time there and was even fine when I left for about 45 minutes to go see the new office building. I'll actually be about 3 miles away from where she'll be, but will be able to see her for lunch (and hopefully get her down for a nap). She'll stay at the house with Courtney tomorrow and then will go with me on Thursday.

She's getting into counting recently. "12345" happens a lot. She's also added "678910" to it. You can ask her how many feet she has and she'll tell you 2. Mostly she's just reciting numbers, but I've heard her actually count things out to 4. She's also starting to recognize specific letters, especially if you ask her to point to a particular letter on a page. For some letters she can just tell you what they are, but she definitely recognizes more than she can put a label on. I kind of think of it as the difference in difficulty between a multiple choice question and a fill in the blank question. The fill in the blank is more difficult even if it is the exact same question as the multiple choice.

One week from today she'll be 2 years old. I still can't believe it. We have a couple of friends with brand new babies. It's so amazing to look at those babies and remember her being that size. I can't honestly say which age is my favorite because they've all been so fun- although there's something to be said for the stage where they stay where you put them! Now we're more at the "Will I ever get to go pee all by myself again?!" stage! I still love it, I have to say.

Why 2 year old's shouldn't shave!

This was something that she and Courtney did one day. Courtney said she loved it! She certainly fakes it well if she didn't love it. You gotta love that smile. Actually, she's turning into quite a ham for the camera. She'll sit for just a few seconds to have her pictures made if you ask her to. But a few seconds is all you get so you better be ready.

Our big news over the last week is the job offer I received to work with my instructor from the web design class I took this past fall. I will be working 1-2 days per week at the hospital then 2 days per week at Locust Creek (the web design company). Once I'm through training at Locust Creek, then I will be able to do some of the work from home. The other great thing about this is that I will be able to bring Dillon with me when I am working in the office. For the time being, Courtney is still going to be coming 2 days a week. One of the days I'll be working at the hospital, then one of the days at Locust Creek. The other day at Locust Creek, Dillon will be with me. I'm really excited about this and think that it could work into a really good situation for us, even long-term.

I hosted a home party thing on Sunday with all kinds of child-related products. There were some really cute barrettes that I wanted to try in Dillon's hair since it is finally getting long enough to be in her eyes. As I came toward her with the barrette, she told me loudly "Don't like it! Don't like it!" So, no cute barrettes in Dillon's hair, I suppose. I trimmed her bangs just a little this morning. She was starting to look like such a little ragamuffin, that I had to trim them a bit. She did great with it and her hair looks so much better already.

We got about a foot of snow Saturday night with about another 3 inches falling today. She's fascinated with the snow plows-- only when she says snow plow, it comes out sounding much more like snow gow. The are lots of "Snow gow doin'?" and "Snow gow go?" going on around here. Fortunately she didn't tack the "stupid" to the front of snow plow when hearing us label it as such Saturday night after finding that the stupid snow plow knocked the door off of our mailbox and scattered the mail on the road. The city is going to replace it, but since it is still standing and it was just the door that was knocked off, then we'll be put on a list for replacement. I got the distinct feeling that this was not a new occurence for them.

Naptime is over today, and there is playing and dancing and chasing around to be done. We'd go play outside if it weren't 15 degrees outside!

23 months

How did she get to be 23 months old?! I find myself more often lately describing her as being almost 2. Wait! How can she be almost 2? Can it really be 2 years ago that I was 8 months pregnant and ready to pop?

To watch her now is amazing as it has always been. I've been working on framing some pictures of her from the first year of her life. She's changed so much! I suppose it's cliche to comment on how they are little sponges at this age and just soak up everything. She really does, though. She spouts off random numbers and letters and sometimes even gets them right. She knows right foot and left foot. She has her own set of "rules" (babies must not wear clothes being one). She has her own opinions. She has favorites. She is becoming more and more of her own person.

Wow.

I suppose I should warn that there's the possiblilty of nostalgia overkill over the next month as her birthday looms closer. The plans are for a small celebration because it feels like the right thing to do rather than a larger party. We've talked about getting her a good-quality toy xylophone or maybe some wooden food to "cook" with on the cardboard stove that I made for her months ago and she STILL plays with. Maybe a couple of books. Definitely some chocolate cake as it is something she has developed an affinity for since her last birthday. She'll now zero in on chocolate and tell you "Want choc-ate!"

Still don't know if it's a good idea to have real candles on the cake, though. A 2 year old and fire just doesn't seem like a good idea!

Dillon do it

She has learned what has to be the second most popular phrase of toddlerhood-- "Dillon do it." I would think that it could only be beaten by "No" in the frequency of use in the typical toddler vocabulary. I think for Dillon, it is actually for popular than "no." Her favorite activity to do on her own is putting on her pants. In fact, I noticed that she was quiet the other morning, checked on her to find her happily going through a basket of clean laundry, trying to put on every pair of her pants she could find. So, all told, when I found her doing this, the she had on the pants I dressed her in, a second pair of pants, a pair of tights and a pair of socks. A fashion statement all it's own! It was absolutely hysterically funny!

I have learned to use this need to dress herself to my advantage. If I need for her to be busy for a few minutes, I just give her a pair of pants and let her go to work :-)

We went, very briefly, to a birthday party today for one of the little boys in our playgroup. Her turned one yesterday. He is Indian and it must be a part of their culture to celebrate birthdays in a big way. There must have been seating and food for 50-75 people. We went early and left after about 1/2 hour because the party started at just about her naptime. Between a huge group of people, loud music, a bunch of ballons that kept getting popped and the proximty to naptime, it was pretty easy to bow out of the party early. I'm glad we made an appearance, but it was really just WAY too much for my personal taste. As fun as all the stuff was to her, she definitely had a look of just being overwhelmed by it all.

We also had the issue of the snow to deal with. We got probably on the order of 6 inches of snow today. It is gorgeous! I'm not sure how much she'll like walking in it since it's so deep. We'll see tomorrow as there will be a request to "Walk in snow!" followed by a request of "Dillon do it!" when it comes time to zip up her coat.

So when will there be a request to do all the snow shoveling?

Tower building

She loves crawling up on ths table! She also loves to jump off of it onto a pillow. Thus far she has waited until someone is sitting on the floor by the table to catch her. Hopefully she won't get a lot braver for a little while- at least until she can land a little more steadily on her feet.

She surprised us the other day by rattling off about 70% of the alphabet. It wasn't all in order, but it was definitely the alphabet. Up until then, all she'd really said was ABC and EFR. She's also learning the motions to that little song "Head and Shoulder (Knees and Toes..)" Dave got her one of the Baby Einstein videos that has several kids singing this song in it. She just grins from ear to ear, touches her head then bends down and touches her toes.

She's really enjoying all of her Christmas presents. I really need to go through and put away some of the older toys that she is no longer interested in. The tough part, of course, is that she suddenly becomes interested as soon as I try to put them up. Or she spots them wherever I have them put up and insists on seeing them. Yeah, that's why they never get put up....