Rachel turned two earlier this month and her friends joined us for some tail-waggin' fun. In case you didn't guess she had a puppy party. Rachel's little guests enjoyed running around the yard, sliding down the bus slide, splashing in the water table, throwing a ball, hiding in the puppy house (pattern from nothingbutcountry.com), and snacking on fruit, veggies, and cupcakes. Rachel had a blast at her party after she warmed up to all the people invading her house. We still need to work on her hostess skills because when she got tired of her guests she headed in the house and told me, "I go inside." I guess she is not as much as an extrovert as she led us to believe. She did however do a nice job of thanking her guests for coming by letting them take home some scooby snacks and a balloon animal dog.
So here is what Rachel has been up to as a new 2 year old. She still wears some 18 months outfits, but mostly 24 months. We have started potty training because she really enjoys using the potty, but does not quite get the feeling of when she needs to go and relies on me to remind her. She uses 2-4 word sentences to communicate and narrates pretty much everything she or we do. I have heard her count up to 6, but usually she just counts to 2 or 3. She recognizes the letters "r, a, c, h, and e" and will label them if she is in the mood. Don't count on her showing you that skill any time soon since she likes to answer "no" to just about everything we ask her. After all, she is a big independent 2 year old. She loves to dance, paint, read, and play outside. She is starting to tell simple stories during pretend play and "read" by describing pictures in books. She continues to show us new aspects of her personality. She is typically pretty easy going until she is not and then she can be determined and dramatic. She likes to test the limits and sometimes lets defiance take over. After those moments with a little prompting she will sweetly come over with a hug and say "sorry for ___." She is still very active and often times too busy to slow down and look where she is going which results in some pretty good bumps and bruises. Rachel has gotten more cuddly lately. I cherish those brief times when she slows down long enough to sit in my lap for some love. It is such a joy to get to know more about Rachel every day and to help mold her. Thank you God for trusting us with your precious child, Rachel.
