Lena Joyce: Two and a Half!

On an early morning walk at Crystal Cove Beach

This month Lena Joyce turned two and a half!  She is growing into quite a lively and lovely little lady.  She reached several milestones in the last six months: she participated in her first soccer class, she moved into her new big girl bedroom and now sleeps in a queen sized bed, she played her first board games (Candyland and Hungry Hippos), she is learning to use the potty, and learning to ride a bike.  Her biggest change has been in her interest in the alphabet and counting.  She LOVES anything that has to do with the alphabet.  She knows all the letters in and out of order and both upper and lower case.  She loves calling out letters as she sees them on signs everywhere we go.  

Taking her balance bike out for a spin in the park.

Lena continues to be very social.  She enjoys spending time with her cousins and playing with strangers and friends alike.  She asks to go to "church" because she loves her Sunday school class so much where her teachers comment that she never cries and loves to color.  We tried two community classes for tots this Spring: dance and soccer.  She loved them mostly but we will probably wait until she is three years old to do that again.  She gets so into playing with other kids that she doesn't follow directions so well.  In fact she even got "kicked out" of dance class a few weeks ago for not listening.  

Getting ready for her first soccer class.

I would say the "terrible twos" arrived right around 20 months old for Lena.  We are having to begin to deal with various discipline issues as all parents do at this stage: crying when she doesn't get what she wants, getting mad when Dan and I are deep in conversation and she isn't part of it, purposefully doing the opposite of what she has been told to do.  The word "no" is heard a lot in our household.  The redundancy of parenting a two year old can make a body wearisome and there have been times in the past few months where for the first time I have begun to question my capability as a parent but never have I wished for life to be other than what it is right now.  Some of the BEST parenting advice anyone ever game me was to "appreciate the good things about your child at every age".  It makes me crazy when people say, "enjoy them now because when they get to be "such and such age" then life will be "awful".  The terrible twos are terrible for LOTS of reasons (and I heard the threes aren't much easier) but there are so many awesome things about living life with a two year old.  I love getting hugs and snuggles from my girl.  I laugh a loud multiple times a day at the funny things she says.  I enjoy watching her knowledge of the world grow as she learns to sing, read letters, draw, dance, and do numerous other activities for the first time.  I love her enthusiasm for the little things like eating popsicles on the porch, getting cake pops from Starbucks, making it on her bike all the way around the park, seeing her cousins or grandparents, seeing a snail, watching an airplane fly overhead, riding the train, showing off her most recent art creation....I could go on and on.  These moments...these little things...they are the reason I wanted to be a parent.  When I get a little perturbed when Lena yells "Mom!!! Mom!!!" a thousand times in a row, I just quickly remind myself of how desperate I was just a few short years ago for someone to call me "Mom".  Perspective is a wonderful gift.  I will never take for granted how special and miraculous it is that Lena is our daughter.  

Riding the train at the Santa Ana Zoo

Lena likes to pretend to cook.

 So Lena came up to me with great enthusiasm and vigorously stirring this pot. She declared,"I'm making eggs!!!! Mom! I'm making eggs!!!" How cute I thought, since I know she likes to help me make her scrambled eggs in the morning. Then she forcefully replied after I commented, "No Mom!!! Look look! I'm making 'eggs'!!!!" I looked in her pot and found that she wasn't making "eggs" but making "X". She had combined two of her favorites: cooking and the alphabet! Pretty funny!

Here she is "making X"!

Two and Half Year Stats:

Size 2T-3T clothing

Size 7/8 Shoes

29 pounds

Still not an adventurous eater

Hanging with Grandpa in the backyard

Lena loves spending play time with her fellow toddler cousins.

Her daily dose of fresh fruit in veggies in the form of juice.

Riding the escalator (over and over) after dinner at our favorite sushi restaurant.

Lena's idea of relaxing

Lena has become quite a big fan of hats.

Visiting the pigs at Amy's Farm near our house.

Helping Mom make cookies for Easter.

First night in her big girl bed! 

Playing Hungry Hungry Hippos