Calista the 2 Year Old

I still can't believe my baby girl is 2! It boggles the mind. While some days she is growing way too fast, other days she is driving me up the wall and I wish she were 18 and out of the house. ;-)

But, seriously, she is really growing so fast! And her language skills are really growing quickly too. It amazes me the things she picks up on.

Here are some cute examples:

-She definitely has her favorite tv shows. Ok, well one that I know of. "Elmo"....thats right, Sesame Street. She will pick up the giant remote we have like a big girl and try really hard to turn the tv on with it. Of course, Mommy has to take over. Sometimes when I go to turn the tv on she asks "Elmo?" I have to explain, no, Elmo is only on in the mornings. She also happens to know the theme song to "Two and a Half Men". That is the lineup of shows I watch, on the WB. From 7 to 8 is Two and A Half Men, and she knows when the credits roll at the end, that it is time for bed. She usually sings along "Whoo hoo hoo hooo" (you know what I am talking about if you have seen the show), and then says "Bed Time!". Thats new, Len discovered this recently. And she really does enjoy watching tv and movies, especially if Mommy and Daddy are watching as well. She snuggles up on the futon, arranges the pillows and the blanket over top of her, and smiles at me and says "Nigh Night" :-) And procedes to suck the binky if she has it, and twirl her hair with her eyes fixed on the screen.

-I am impressed that she knows the difference between night time and nap time, and will tell me as such. It used to be it was always "nigh night" but now she says "nap time" and "bed time".

-In Nursery at Church she is really picking up well on the prayer thing. I have to admit we are not always the best at home with this, and are trying harder to do this as a "family". It is very cute, she says "Arm!" and folds her arms when we say "Prayer time, fold your arms!" And she often does it randomly as well, at home. We will practice prayers together, though she doesn't stay that way for long, at least she is learning it. For those not LDS, generally we teach children that you are reverent when saying prayers, and the easiest way to show this is by folding your arms. I think it also keeps kids from playing with things, or doing anything else with their hands at that time. Today at my Weight Watchers meeting, she saw another kid getting a snack, and said "Arm!" as she folded her arms. It's really cute to see her pick up on that.

-Calista is EXTREMELY social. At the Weight Watchers meeting today, someone else pointed out, as I was chasing her around the room, that she is the welcoming commitee for the meeting. She worked her way around the room, stopping in front of people and exclaiming with pride "Hi!" while waving and giving them a huge grin. We will be walking down the street, or walking somewhere, and she will do that to people. Actually, she has always done this. She is so full of Hi's. Even at home she is cute like that. Chatty and just social. She eyes my phone a lot too, and when i am on the phone she will say Hi! very loudly. However, if I hold the phone to her ear, she suddenly pushes it away and gets bashful. Ahh, I know this will change someday. :-) If she is anything like her mother, she will never stay quiet! lol. The one place she is NOT social is when I take her to my work. I am not sure why, at first I thought somebody there seemed scary to her, but even those most "kid friendly" at work got a terrified reaction out of her. Last time I took her in, a couple weeks ago, she was climing with fright up and over my shoulders. She kept saying very tearfully "Bye bye!" in a shaky voice. Poor thing. I dont really think it is the people, I think I took her there enough when she was little that something now bothers her, but for the life of me I cannot figure it out.

-The tantrums definitely come more frequently, especially when she is frustrated or bored. Or if something isn't going her way...which is often. For instance, when I get ready for the day, which usually is late morning by the time I get my bum moving, she takes this to mean we will be going somewhere. So, being as helpful as she can be, she grabs her shoes, grabs my shoes (or daddy's), and says "coat" while trying to located her coat. Often, once she has what she "needs", she will grab a to go item, often a sippy cup, a snack, and often a stuffed animal of some sort or other toy. Eventually I get tired of saying "no, we are not going outside" and I sit down, and she throws all sorts of fits over this. She is a get up and go girl. Loves to get out and do something, and I can't really blame her. We have quite a small and packed apartment for her to play in. I suppose we all grow up and move on to "bigger and better" things. She also has a hard time sitting through Sacrament meeting at church. Now that she is nursery, we only have to entertain her the 1st hour, and this is such a chore! Often she gets bored quickly, and being since she still has a hard time communicating what she wants, she goes through the diaper bag and simply does not find what she is looking for. And throws books, food, whatever she can take that aggression out on. Oy. She also gets quite embarassed after the fits. She sometimes comes over and expects to be snuggled, crying into my shoulder. Its a "Oh mom, can't you fix it?" Or perhaps more of a "I'm sorry, I over reacted" Just not sure really, but it is nice to know she feels some comfort from one of us after a fit. She also gets a lot of time outs after these, especially if she hits one of us, or throws something and screams inappropriately. Anymore we measure our success by: "Is she crying?" If she has crocadile tears, you know she picked up on the message somehow, and if she is laughing in our face, yeah not so much.

-She really gets into reading, especially "big people" reading, such as a magazine from mom and dad, or at Granny's house, a pile of old work papers that she has first sorted and organized, and then sat down to read each one page at a time. It's even cuter when pictures are involved and she is pointing things out to us, and trying to learn what she is looking at. I am so glad she is a reader, nothing like a good book to relax you!


I wanted to snap a picture of the Arms! thing, I may try to get a picture of that tommorow to post.

Well, I have gone on long enough. Just wanted to share some things I find quite cute about Calista lately. There are plenty more, but it is late and I am tired.