Two years old

Two years ago, when the doctor placed Leah in my arms I had no idea the wonderful things that were in store for me. She brightens my days, warms my heart and teaches me new ways to see things every day.

It is amazing to see how far she has come in just one year. This time last year Leah had just a few words and had just taken her first steps. Now, she can tell you exactly what she wants or what she did yesterday and loves for you to chase her around the house. It is exciting to think about what the years to come hold for her!

We have been so busy I forgot to mention that we are done with the pacifier! This is such a milestone for us. She only had it at bedtime since she was 18 months old. There are a lot of ways parents go about getting rid of the paci, we went with the cut away approach. It took about a month & a half because I didn't want to mess with Leah's comfort while she was adjusting to the new daycare. Every week or so we would cut a sliver of the paci away, Leah told us her paci was broken. Then, she stopped looking for it in her crib when she went to bed. So that was that.

Joe and I have been very impressed with our gardening skills. Most of our vegetables have survived. The past few weeks we noticed something was eating our tomato plants. Saturday we found the culprit. It is HUGE! The picture doesn't do him justice.

Last weekend we went up to Chicago to see Crissie & her family. The girls had a lot of fun together. They are so funny when they get together - so talkative!

I made a cake this weekend & had left over batter, so I made some cupcakes.

A few funnies

Joe has been teaching Leah that she is our daughter. The other night she pointed to herself & said daughter, pointed to me & said mommy. When I asked her who Joe was she said, "That's my honey." Does she have him wrapped around her finger or what?

On our way back from Chicago last weekend she kept asking where Crissie, Steve & the girls were. Finally, she said "I want to go to Chicago, too!"

Again, on the way back from Chicago we put some crackers & M&Ms in her snack trap. We don't give Leah much candy so she was really excited. "A green one! A yellow one!" With a mouth full of crackers & chocolate, she insistently asked, "What are these?!?" until we told her what they were called.

How do you follow the perfect weekend? With a perfect week, of course! Crissie came down Tuesday night with the girls and Pete & his family were in town, so Wednesday we went to the City Museum. Everyone had a great time. If you haven't been there in a while, the roof is open now. Leah actually sat in the driver's seat of the bus that hangs off the side of the building! She had no idea what she was doing, but I have a picture on my cell phone.

Crissie spent the rest of the week with the girls and Pete and his crew. They went to the zoo and had a water day on Friday. At the end of the week I was able to meet up with Pete, Emma, and Crissie to have dinner & catch up. It was nice to be able to sit down & talk without distractions. Then, we followed up such a busy week with a lazy weekend.

Perfect Weekend

I'm not sure if weekends get much better than this. The weather was amazing so we decided to head to Laumeier Sculpture Park for the day. Leah enjoyed running and playing and all the new sites. She had the most interest in the fish (tadpoles) in the pond.

Friday we went to the park and Leah just ran & ran. She loves the slides and is getting so good at climbing up things by herself. And of course, she would be content spending the entire evening in the swing.

It seems like she has grown so much in the last month. She plays independently now. She tells you things like "I'm hungry" and "I'm tired" instead of crying. She can sing her ABC's and count to 9, sometimes 10. 9 is usually followed by 13, we're still working on that. And Leah's sentences & conversations continue to expand.

Motherly Worries

It is funny the things you worry about as a parent. A month after we started giving Leah table food I started to worry that she wasn't going to know the names of the foods we were giving her. I wasn't telling her what was on her plate. Last night all that was put to rest. I set Leah's plate on the table & she yelled, "Corn!"

4th of July

We had a great weekend. Joe's brother and his wife came to visit. Thursday night the adults went to a Cardinals game & my sister Jenni watched Leah. It was probably the best game I've ever been to. The weather was perfect, the game was interesting and not too long. It was great.

Friday we spend time with Joe's side at his aunt's and caught up with the extended family. Suzy is always a great host. We made it to the local fair where Leah rode some of the rides. She was really happy about that. Joe won her a small penguin and we had some treats from the food stands. We discovered Leah does NOT like fireworks, not at all. But in the end that worked out for the best because it was such a rainy weekend.

Day care is going ok. I am withholding judgement at this point, or at least trying to. I know I have to give Leah time to adjust so I try not to be too critical.

I hope everyone has a great week!