The Lovely Years: Jillian: {2.5 Years}

Jillian –

You are 2.5 years old today! It's so hard to believe you're such a big girl! You are going to the doctor in 5 days, so I will update later with your official stats. According to our at home measurements, you are 24lbs, 10 oz and 35 inches long.

You wear 18 Month, and a few 24 Month/2T clothes. You wear size 2T-3T Target brand Pull Ups. You currently wear size 5 shoes.

Eating is pretty easy for you. You would rather snack throughout the day then eat a big meal. Even then you might not eat very much. However, you do like several healthy options, so we can't complain :) I have learned some of your specific eating preferences, and enjoy learning more as your tastes change. For the most part, I can count on my hands the number of foods you will not eat under any circumstances. You also don't like for food to be too hot, (temperature wise or spice wise), and you don't do black pepper at all. You also don't seem to like any sort of dips. Ketchup, ranch, and even jelly is something you avoid at all costs.

You still have 16 teeth! All we’re missing are those two-year molars. We will most likely be scheduling your first dentist appointment for the end of the year. Hopefully it won't be too rough for you.

Sleep is great! Even if you don't fall asleep right away when we put you to bed at night, you'll hang out in your bed quietly and fall asleep within an hour or so. You will have quiet time in your bed for about 2-1/2 hours every day. You sleep most of the time, but every so often you just stay quiet in bed. You are sharing your bedroom with your brother now. The transition was easy, and you both seem to do well with the arrangement. You also took it upon yourself to start sleeping in your big girl bed a little earlier than we were planning. However, you asked to sleep in it in January, and you never looked back! Sleep when traveling is rough, but you do have a blow up bed that works 85% of the time. Otherwise, you'll share a bed with mama.

Reading is still a favorite pastime of yours. However, you are in a phase of memorizing everything you can. You are currently working on memorizing "Goodnight Moon." We had VBS at church last week, and you LOVED singing and dancing with the kids in the sanctuary. In fact, because mama was in charge of the music, we have been listening to the CD in the car constantly! You know most of the words, and you can still do some of the motions to the songs as well. It's amazing what your little mind can absorb!

The Listening for Littles class you started in the fall was so much fun for you! You are doing much better with the routine of the day. We are going to do it again next year, but we've also signed you up for a two-day preschool through our church. I'm not sure I'm ready for you to be in preschool yet! I know you'll just love it though :)

Your girlie-girl side is starting to come out. You like to paint your nails, wear dresses on Sunday, watch Snow White or The Princess and the Frog, wear my big sunglasses, and play with your Disney princess toys. You also like dinosaurs, bugs, Spiderman, playing with dirt, and finding rocks. I just love watching you discover things and having interest in all sorts of things!

Run run run. You love to just run! You climb, hop, jump, spin... it's really hard to keep up with you! You love to run outside, swing on the swing set, kick balls in the yard, bounce on the bed, and just be as active as possible. We're not 100% sure it was the cat, but ever since we gave the cat to a better home, your allergies have been SO much better! You might get a runny nose, but you do not cough at all at night. In fact, I don't believe you've had an allergy medicine since February. I love that we can go outside and play, draw with chalk, etc. This is going to be a great summer :)

We are working on potty training. Overall you're doing well. You tell us if you need to pee in the potty every so often, but not too consistently yet. However, you do pretty well with using the big potty as opposed to a small potty we started with. We are taking a rather lax approach to it, but I'm sure you'll be mostly potty trained by your birthday.

You recently started using the word "no." First of all, thank you for waiting this long to start. Secondly, let's get through this phase quickly. Ok? Please and thank you!

You are a wonderful big sister! You don't always show attention to David, and you have even gotten a little jealous when it comes to your daddy. However, you give hugs and kisses, and you get very concerned if he is crying. I just love it when the two of you giggle back and forth. It's so fun to watch your relationship grow and change!

A few of your favorite things are:
Fresh fruits, peas, milk, balls, swinging, being outside, dancing and singing, reading, Elmo, Youtube videos (that mama approves first), talking, watching Blues Clues/Rugrats/Yo Gabba Gabba/Daniel Tiger/Winnie the Pooh/My Neighbor Totoro/Snow White/The Princess and the Frog, Spiderman, dirt, bugs, rocks, anything that sparkles, Hello Kitty, and being silly.

Things you could live without:
Being scared, apples, pears, getting wet if you're not in the mood, loud sounds, being cold, getting in trouble, being told no, and having any food on your hands.

Jillian, you are our favorite girl in the whole world! You are a delight, and watching you grow is such a pleasure. What an honor it is to be your family. We love you baby girl! :)

Now for some outtakes: