Two.Four Years

 2.4 Years

• Post Christmas is usually quieter. I have been trying harder to have meaningful activities for you. Some of your activities are play dough, tea parties, and barbies. I did this forced perspective photo of you and Millie using legos. It looked like you were sitting in the lego castle. When I showed you the photo, you were cracking up. When Millie is at preschool, I try to bring up one of the bins of toys for you to do up here. You play a lot better when there isn't a lot of options and you can see me the whole time. I also will start the play and then after ten minutes, I can leave you to continue while I work on my list. 
• The big kids and I have been getting into puzzles lately. You have wanted to join, but just can't do the big puzzles yet. Even though the wooden puzzles have always been in the closet, it is like you have discovered for the first time as actual puzzles and not just a mess maker. I love seeing you bend over them, concentrating so hard. 
• You can getting very opinionated. Before, you would rate your food and say "I like it" even when you didn't really like it. Now, you have learned to say, "No, I don't like it". You will say anything that you don't like is spicy. We gave you a lime with your dinner the other night. It was so funny watching you pucker your face and say it's spicy. But since everyone laughed at you, you would do it again and again. So in addition of being opinionated, you also love to get people to laugh. 
• Funny comment: Sam was having a hard time in the van ride home from church, so he had to walk part of the way home. For the next few days after the, you would say, "Sam walk home". 
• You are finally starting to sit still for books. You love Pinkalicious books, Five Little Monkeys, and I Ain't Gonna Paint No More. There will be still times when you ask to cuddle and read books, but once we get settled, you grab the book from me and say that you are going to read the book. I am then stuck there watching you look at pictures. 
• Dress up is THE thing right now. I can't keep your clothes on you. Every time I do get you dress, you just turn around and take it off to get dress in some fancy dress. For a while, you kept raiding Millie's closet. I have now directed you towards the dress up bin. Your favorites are Elsa, Cinderella, and ballerina outfits with toes. 

Two.Three Years

 2.3 Years

• Christmas came! Dad was on call, so we had to work around his schedule. For Christmas Eve, I let you kids pick out the dinner. We had a shrimp platter, homemade ciabatta bread, cheese plate, and artichokes. It was awesome. We acted out the Nativity (silly style) and found new slippers under the star for We Three Kings, though you got new plaid PJs because you out grew yours and I wanted you to keep matching us. Dad went back to work while we watched a movie. We set up ground rules so no one was going to wake up at 5am. I blocked the stairs and had you call me at 7am at the earliest. Joke on us because Dad couldn't get back from work until 9:00am. I snuck downstairs and played games, read books, watched some shows. I brought a box of cereal down to keep our tummies at bay (which lead to lots of cereal all over the floor). We finally got to go up. Santa brought you a mini crib with baby, playdough,  and funny trinkets in your stocking. Dad and I got you your very own doll, two dresses (one matches Millie's), and an Eric Carle book where you can push all the buttons to make the animal sounds. All three kids pooled their money together and got you this giant fish stuffed animal. You were so excited to open all the gifts and gave such good reactions. You kept saying that Santa brought me this and Santa brought me that. The candy was a big hit and I had to stash not only your candy away, but everyone else had to put their stocking stuff up high right away because you were eating any chocolate that you could get your hands on. 
• After the break, you have been not taking naps and just playing in your crib. Not cool. Finally, I tried setting the pack-n-play up in the storage room since it is super dark down there and would make it so you couldn't see to sleep. It works about 90% of the time so I am excited about that. 
• The big kids have been trying to get you to use the potty. They brought out the old froggy potty and were bribing you with jelly beans. What you got out of it was that if you sat on the potty, you got a jelly bean. So you were pretty disappointed when that didn't happen. 
• You are talking so much more. When I read you a book, you and Millie like to point to the different characters in the picture and pick that one to be you. Well you like to say, "they all my girls" and not let Millie pick any of them. Your favorite color is still very much pink and insist on always having the pink cup and plate. You are trying to figure out the colors and love to ask me which color is this. You are pretty good with pink, purple, blue, and yellow. 
• Since getting those dresses for you for Christmas, that is all you wasn't to wear. And the funny part is that when you do wear a dress, you are very stubborned about wearing a skirt underneath it. Your favorite pjs are your "ballerini" pjs and will often dig them out of the dirty basket to wear them again. It is so funny watching you be very strong in opinion on what you wear.

Two.Two years

 2.2 Years

We went to Oregon for 8 days over Thanksgiving. We were suppose to stay with Grandma for the first half, but they ended up with COVID, so we stayed with Aunt Janecce and Uncle Dusty for the whole time. You loved the idea of Jessie and would get so excited to talk about her, but you two are still young to play with each other. We got there Saturday night, just in time for dinner and the BYU game. Sunday, we went to church with them and watch the kids in their primary program. We went to Champoeg State park for a nice nature walk that ended up being five miles. Annie and Joe's family came over for a birthday celebration that night. On Monday, I took you with the older girls to paint ceramics and eat sushi. You liked the rice part. We took you to Annie's that night with you got to play video games (well you watched) and watch a movie while we went out to eat as adults. Tuesday, Hailey came over to Janecce's and babysat you while Dad and I went to the temple and Janecce had her workout session. Tuesday night, Josh's family joined the group and the party began. Wednesday, we went to the high school and played dodgeball and soccer. I just wanted to be the center of attention and would run for person to person asking them to hold you. Josh was a favorite for the day. You cousins had a movie night. Thursday, we went to the park and played while the boys played football. We went to the movies that afternoon and saw Encanto (which you liked!). We pushed Thanksgiving dinner back to Friday so Grandma and Papa could join us (just finished their 10 days). Beforehand, we went to the church and played floor hockey and chair soccer. You and the little girls tried playing at the beginning, but ended up playing family in the nursery room. Dinner was great and it was so good to have everyone. Saturday, we met Grandma, Papa, Josh's, and Annie's family to go to a Christmas tree farm and get a tree. It was fun to have Papa's old truck for you all to ride in the back of. Uncle Joe brought donuts and we were finished before the rain started. We did get to spend that night at Grandma's, which was good because you girls got to do crafts and help decorate her tree. We left the next morning. It was a great vacation.

• We have had a lot of fun with all the different Christmas tradition. Dad and Sam came home from the store with a gingerbread house kit. We each got to decorate one of the walls. We have four different advent day calendars going, so we have you all rotate which ones you pick. We have a Harry Potter Lego one, the tree with a piece of chocolate in each slot, the hanging of the nativity piece and then the activity board. Some of the activities that we have done are write a letter to Ben on his mission, have a Christmas dance party, open a present with a new Christmas book, and of course leave your shoes out for the elves. Connor, our elf that comes each year, even left a letter for you all. For red ribbon dinner, instead of individually gifts, we opened just one for the whole family. It was exploding kittens, a game that the big kids all feel in loved with over Thanksgiving at Dusty and Janecce's. 
• We went to Utah before Christmas this year. We made it just in time to watch the Nut Cracker ballet with the girl cousins. Saturday, you spent the day at Grandma's being watched while the older girls went off to watch The Nutcracker and the boys went off to watch BYU basketball. You love all her toys and Grandpa's jellybeans. On Sunday, we got to meet up with all the family for the big party. This year, you had Calvin for the gift exchange. I helped you pick out little bath toys for him. Bonnie had you and gave you a stuff doggy. Grandma and Papa of course gave you a baby pack-n-play. It was a great trip overall.
• Funny comments: When we sit down for dinner, you have started giving it the thumb rating system and saying, "I like it!" Your thumb is never up all the way, but you tend to wiggle side to side in the middle.
• You are starting to warm up to the idea of Santa. We saw "Santa" at Millie's dance concert and you gave him the stink eye. But when we read a book or see his picture, then you like him. But you definitely remember presents from your birthday, so you are excited about that. So much that we are having to keep all the presents in our room because you will ripe them open if I am not looking.