Marlee June is Two and a Half

Our baby girl is 30 months old today...only six months from her third birthday. How can that be? Two-year-olds are toddlers, but three-year-olds are KIDS. I can't believe how fast she's growing up.

I suppose the looming third birthday shouldn't be such a surprise. After all, Marlee is quite the independent little one. Now that she's potty trained, she really does do most things for herself. Sniff.

What can I say about my little MJ? She's smart. She's sweet. She's funny. She's such a joy to have in our lives. Things are just so much more fun with Marlee June.

She loves to play pretend. In fact, that's just about all she plays...constantly cooking and baking in her play kitchen, dressing up, or throwing parties.

She also loves nature. Recently, she spotted a ladybug, and immediately declared that she needed to make him a habitat. She found a jar, and tried to coax him in, but she wasn't having much luck. She said, "Howard, you are not being a very good listener. Now get in your habitat!"

Snip

I cut off a bit more than I intended. I was being conservative, then she wiggled, and I took out a chunk. Of course, then I had to even the rest of it up. Oh well, it will grow back.

5 Months Old!

Our little Eloise is five months old! There is no word that describes her better than SWEET. She's just so full of snuggles and smiles. She's quite the sitter as you can see. Other new talents include carpet-swimming, a form of pre-crawling that involves wiggling about until you get somewhere. We love you, Weezy!

Pop!

Marlee June is a big fan of current pop music. She knows most of the words to Miley Cyrus's "Party in the USA" and the words and moves for Beyonce's "All the Single Ladies." I'm impressed that she can identify who is singing. An older Beyonce song came on the radio, and Marlee asked when she was going to do "Single Ladies." Last night, "Bad Romance" was on, and she said, "It's Lady Gaga!" LG is her current favorite, I think. Hilarious to hear a two year old sing "Poker Face!"

Cute Overload...PIGTAILS!

Peas!

Eloise is definitely curious about food. I'm not quite ready to take her down that path, but I did let her explore the curiosity with some peas in a mesh feeder tonight. She was a big fan!



((sorry for the terrible pictures...low light with the iphone :())

Growing Up

Tonight at bedtime, Marlee said

Mommy? I'm not all tired. Can I read some books?

It's not a completely unusual request. She does it about once a week or so, but tonight was different. Usually, she'll finish reading and call me to sing her a couple of songs. Tonight, I watched silently from the hall as she yawned, put her book beside her bed, crawled under her covers, and shut off the flashlight we use for reading. Something about it just struck me. It seems like such a mature thing to do...what happened to my baby?