Adalyn 2 1/2 Year Old Update

-She is fully potty trained!!!! At around two years old, we started working more with Adalyn using the little princess potty we bought. We did not have much success at first but my mother-in-law helped us a bunch and really helped along potty training. Since Adalyn was 2 years and 3 months old, she is fully potty trained, including at night. No pullups or diapers! It is amazing. I am the proudest mom.

-She sleeps in a big girl bed!! Starting the day after Christmas (2 years, 3 months old), we switched Adalyn to a big girl bed- the full-sized bed that I grew up using. It worked really well at night where she would sleep 11-12 hours through but we struggled with naptime a bit and Adalyn staying in her bed. One day when she was refusing to nap (which happened nearly every day for a month and has since stopped), I went in her room and told her that I could see her on the camera video monitor and that she needed to stay in bed. Since that date, she has literally never gotten out of bed and always tells me "Mommy can see me on the camera". Haha- whatever works! Another proud mom moment seeing my little one being such a big girl.

-She no longer uses a high chair- We got the Bumbo Multi Seat for baby #2 and Adalyn wanted to use it right away as a booster. We weren't sure at first but it has gone really well! She uses this for every meal along with a silicone placemat and sits right at the table with us. She also refuses to use a bib so we are now bib free. She barely gets messy anymore compared to how it used to be which is just crazy to me how much better she is with a spoon and fork. Oddly enough, she likes me to feed her at the end of each meal, especially dinner. At this point, I don't really mind it as long as she is eating well.

-She is super tall! Adalyn is quickly growing out of her 2T clothes and is wearing some 3T. She is in the 90th percentile for height and everyone who asks her age is always shocked to find out that she is only 2. Many people think that she is 3 or 4.

-She is extremely social- Adalyn gets this from her Dad for sure! I am more shy. Adalyn loves talking to anyone, is the life of the party, loves to dance and sing and perform, etc. At storytime at our local library, she is always the most outgoing kid there. This is so crazy to me as that is not my personality at all. She will not have any issues when going to school being social! She is also super touchy to other kids and loves putting her arm around them, holding hands, etc. which is not always appreciated by other kids.

-She is speaking in full sentences- Adalyn's speech has increased so much and she can say almost any word and talks to me in full sentences. She learns more and more on a daily basis.

-She loves to sing and knows so many songs. We joke that she is going to be a performer one day. Favorite shows are Sesame Street, Barney and Disney movies. With this cold winter weather, we often watch 1/3 of a movie after dinner and she loves the Disney Princess movies, especially Cinderalla. Her favorite songs are "Elmo's Song", "Dirt of your Shoulder" by Jay-Z where she tells me she brushes her shoulders off with her hand (OMG! so funny), Barney's I Love You Song, "Sunny Days" from Sesame Street, "Witch Doctor" which we dance to crazily together and many more.

-She loves to go on walks and loves walking Jaxen. She knows to tell our dog to stay on the sidewalk, gives him a little tug if he is pulling too hard and tells him what a good job that he is doing walking. She can walk about a mile on our walks by herself which is pretty impressive to me for a 2 year old.

-She still loves to eat so much. Food has never been an issue for us. The only foods that she does not really seem to like much is beets, mushrooms, zucchini and grapefruit. She will try all of these foods but is not the biggest fan. 

Favorite foods include: any kind of fruit, especially oranges and berries, taking her daily vitamins (we alternate between omega-3, probiotics and a multivitamin), cheese, homemade and store-bought bars, green beans, smoothies made with spinach, avocado and guacamole, huge carrots, sausage, eggs, tacos, yogurt, oatmeal with chocolate nut butter, waffles, bagels, tomatoes, etc. etc. etc. She asks for snacks all day long. She is finally drinking milk after not liking it ever. She drinks maybe 1 cup a day or less- whatever we can get her to drink.

-She is extremely loving- Adalyn is super cuddly, constantly tells me how much she loves me, gives kisses, says that she is so happy to see me, tons of hugs and is always happy to spend time together. 

-Bedtime routine is my favorite time- This is the order: bathroom, brush teeth, pajamas, get in bed, and read a book. Then, we cuddle and every night, she asks me "Mommy, sleep with me!". I keep telling her that I can't because I have to go hang out with Daddy (plus it is like 7 PM) and so she learned "Mommy, sleep with me a little bit!". How can I say no to that!! I lay down with her in her big girl bed and we cuddle, she says the sweetest things, gives 10000 kisses and laughs about anything (she constantly tries to call me Mommy Poop despite my dislike for the name and cracks up every single time). 

Then, when I get up, she tells me that she wants her owl light on, music box on, white noise on and the fan on. The kid knows what she wants. She finally goes to sleep without crying!! Thank you god.

-She knows all of her colors, can count to 20 on her own, knows all her letters and can recognize about 10 of them (our current "school" project we are working with her on), knows many shapes and more. Her ability to learn so quickly amazes me on a daily basis. 

-She has such joy and excitement for everything in life. She gets super excited to see things as simple as the moon or a fire truck. She brings such joy to the simple parts of our lives which helps us to enjoy life even more. 

-She loves to play dress-up and wear "beautiful dresses", play doctor with her doctor kit and she says "I'm sick" so Troy will give her a pretend checkup, loves playing with Sesame Street characters and cooks us all kinds of pretend food.

-She loves talking to people on the phone and FaceTime. She always tries to steal Troy and I's phones and loves calling family. She constantly says "Hello___" to whoever she is talking to. She also loves going to YouTube and putting on all different Sesame Street videos- we are not the biggest fans of this. 

-She is very funny and loves to joke around. She loves to hide and scare us. She loves to call us silly names. Anything to make us laugh, she does it! 

-She is super independent and wants to dress herself, hold herself on the potty, put her own shoes on and more. You better not do something for her that she wants to do herself, or else! 

-Adalyn is a VERY strong willed little girl and when she does not get her way, she instantly throws a huge tantrum. She loves throwing herself on the floor saying "I'm sad" or "I'm scared" for horrible things such as us trying to put her coat on for going outside in the dead of winter... We have found that what works really well for us is putting her in a 2-3 minute timeout in her room where she can calm down. Then, I go to her room to talk to her about what she did and sometimes, she tells me what she did wrong. Then she apologizes and we hug, makeup and move on. We were dealing with a bunch of hitting and some biting for a bit but that has gotten mostly better with these mini-timeouts. 

-She is excited to be a big sister and can't wait for her brother to be born.

-She is the best assistant in the world for The Nutritionist Reviews. She can style food, wipe things down, taste test anything, tell me the food tastes so good and is so beautiful, go get things, carry stuff to and from my photo setup and much more. Don't worry though, she is paid very well! 

I'm sure you can tell that I really don't like being a mom....haha. Sorry if this sounds like I am bragging about my kid but I just love her so, so much and am constantly proud of the little girl that she is becoming. Troy and I love spending time with her so much and she is just too much fun!