Growing Up Fast

Mikayla is now a big 2 and 1/2 years old....although sometimes she will tell you "I'm 3!"  She is super cute, super smart, and super stubborn. She loves to sing songs, can count 1-10, and can name several colors and shapes, and has learned to ride her pink bike using the pedals.

She tries to keep up with her big brother and will get excited about the same things he does (such as tanks and mario) just so she can fit into his world better. The other day I came home and Kayla was even wearing one of Austin's Mario shirts. Aside from that, on most days you will find her cooking in her kitchen, doing puzzles, playing with her care bears and her Strawberry Shortcake dolls (she can tell you the names of all of them). She likes to play with blankets and will cover up her care bears, or mommy and daddy.

She has started going to Mother's Day Out with Austin. She is always hesitant when I take her and sometimes puts on a pouty face when I leave but I'm told she does really well and is always super happy and excited when I pick her up.

She likes to believe that she is the BOSS of herself and is always trying to prove her independence to us. Sometimes this is challenging and takes a lot of patience. She likes to have things HER way and likes to do things BY HERSELF!!

She likes to be a helper.....always wants to help carry things, help me with the dishwasher, and the laundry.....but for some reason when it comes to cleaning up the toys she is suddenly too busy to help.

This girl is in LOVE with her cereal and her pop tarts. She will ask for cereal at least once a day and for pop tarts at least 3 times a day. Good thing they are relatively cheap.

I did attempt at potty-training about a month ago. She was super excited about the underwear, the stickers, and the candy. She was also very interested while we potty-trained her care bear but unfortunately she wasn't much interested in doing it herself. I've learned that this girl is too stubborn to be pushed into doing something. She usually will do the opposite just to prove her own independence. So it was a good first attempt and will try again at a later date.

She is now sleeping in her bed WITHOUT any safety rail.....we took them off and she hasn't fallen out of bed once. Her bedtime is still unpredicable though because  sometimes it will take her a while to go to sleep and I never know where I am going to find her.  

I love to listen to her sweet girly voice talk and here are a couple things she said that make me smile:

• When I took her clothes shopping for an Easter dress she would point at a dress or shirt and say "oh my goodness look at this!!"
• "That's delicious!!" while eating Arby's french fries
• After getting dressed in her clothes or pajamas she raises her arms up in the air and shouts "Ta-da"!!

• Getting her to play by herself is sometimes a challenge. Most of the time if I only take a step or two away from her she will ask "Where you go'in mom?" However, on occasion she will tell me to "GO AWAY" to which I don't protest.(
• And one of my favorites---When my dad opened up his birthday gift (which was a shiny metal tool) she exclaimed "How beautiful!!"