One Two

Okay - so I'll just publish this one, which I started at the END OF MARCH, and start writing a new post.

This is a little late, but our baby big girl Phoebe turned two on March 15.

I just don't even know how to explain this crazy girl.

She is loving, adorable, hilarious, infuriating, and crazy all at once. She's also growing up much faster than we would like.

1. Early potty training. Phoebe is obsessed with the potty. She's only gone once for real, but she's at the point where she'll drop what she's doing and start pulling down her pants. She also demands that I put her on the potty every time I change her diaper. Mostly, she just sits there, pulls off the toilet paper, and says "All Done!" She does this at daycare too, but luckily Susan is game to indulge her. I have a feeling she'll really potty train soon once she can figure out the mechanics.

2. Big girl bed. Still an insane climber, but a timid jumper. If she sees big kids attempting things at the playground, she'll try it too. She has no problems with ladders, including the straight-up ladder in our backyard. On the other hand, she is so cautious when it comes to jumping down from things. We're trying to encourage her to jump, but instead she'll just get down on her hands and knees and ease her way down. This has proven useful in her escalating crib escapades. I know I mentioned this, but she can easily climb in and out of her crib. We've been containing her in the crib by keeping her in her strait jacket sleep sack put on backwards because she can unzip it if it's in the front. Well, Saturday morning, Charlotte was quietly playing on the ground in our room with her dolls, while Chris and I were trying to wake up. Suddenly, we heard a door open and shut. Both of us looked at each other, jumped up, and ran down to her room. Her door opened and out popped Phoebe, shouting "hi" and waving a book at us. She had climbed out of her crib while still wearing her sleep sack. That girl must have some mad core strength to pull herself up and then be able to swing her legs over.

Unfortunately, for us, this means that she needs to graduate to a big girl bed sooner than we would like. Clearly, she will not be like Charlotte who did not know she could leave the bed for almost six months. I foresee many times that we will need to shuttle Phoebe back into her bed. She's too young to do what our friends do with their son, which is to hand him a "hall pass" which he can use once to get a drink/go to the bathroom/get extra hugs. However, once we can actually reason with her, I have no doubt we will use that. Charlotte and I went to the mall on Saturday while Phoebe was napping (she only got out of the crib once before falling asleep) and picked out a quilt and sheets from the place that has the potential to suck dry all my money. All that's left is going to a mattress store and buying Chris and me a new mattress - we're moving the full bed in the guest bedroom to Phoebe's room and our mattress to the guest bedroom.

3. Fierce independence and extreme clinginess. Yesterday, we took advantage of the break in the rain and went on a walk to the duck pond and then the park. Charlotte rode her bike, and Phoebe "rode" her tricycle (her feet don't quite reach the pedals). Phoebe quickly tired of the tricycle and insisted on walking. This involved stopping to try and pet every dog we passed on the bike trail, yelling at the ducks, picking up countless sticks, picking wild flowers, and stomping in mud puddles (the last one is my favorite /sarcasm). Any time I attempted to pick her up, so the mile walk would take less than an hour, she would go limp to make it just about impossible. Still, it's fun to experience walks through the eyes of a two year old. The things they notice are things we simply don't have time for. On the other hand, she is still extremely clingy around me. If I even so much as leave the room, she freaks out. We took advantage of KinderCare's Parents' Night Out on Saturday Night and there was just no way to avoid the screaming as we left, although we were told it quickly subsided. She also did not go to sleep until 10:45. Oh Phoebe.

4. Language spurt. Chris and I both have noticed an explosion in Phoebe's language skills. She is now speaking in six or seven word sentences. Most of her talking has to do with demands or wants. "I will get my jacket. I don't want the purple one! I want the penguin one!" In fact, Chris had to point out to me that I no longer need to say two word sentences like "No touch!"