My girl

A Ryleigh update, complete with pictures, is probably long overdue.


My little girl is almost two, and wow, does this girl have a personality! She goes and goes and goes....ALL. DAY. LONG. She loves to be "a-side" (aka: outside), and if you want to be her best friend, all you need to do is take her to the park. She can swing and slide for hours!

Lately her vocabulary and overall understanding of the world has exploded. I know every parent probably thinks their kid is a genius, but seriously, she blows me away. Things she says and concepts she understands, things I have never consciously taught her, are beyond my wildest imagination. Kids really are more intelligent than we give them credit for.

Just a few examples of her extreme intelligence:

• So, earlier this week, the car was covered in pollen (yes, the yellow rain has come) so after I filled up with gas, I decided to go through the car wash. Very unlike me. I was curious how Ryleigh would react. At first, she was slightly nervous, but then started laughing and saying "silly bubbles!" It was a fun experience that she talked about for the rest of the night. Well, two days later, I had to go to the grocery store, and passed the car wash. She pointed out the window and said, "silly bubbles!!" as she knew the exact location! How does she know that??
  
• One of our neighbors always hangs outside in front of their house with their son (Jake). If we are running an errand, and drive by, Ryleigh always says, "bye bye, Jake," without prompting from me. And even if they are not outside, she will point to his house and ask about Jake.


• There is a common road between my parents house and Jesse's parents house. As long as we are on the common portion, she remains quiet in the background. But as soon as you either turn, or stay straight past the turn, she immediately begins saying either "Gaga's house?" or "RaRa's house?"


• She can count (on her own) to ten. No joke. And she counts along with me all the way to 20.


• She knows all her colors, most animals and animal noises.


• Ryleigh is the most polite little one ever (disclaimer: most of the time she is polite...)! She knows how to ask nicely "peeasse?" and if you get her what she wants, she will say, "tank you, Mommy!" Yesterday, while a nice older gentleman was bagging our groceries and loading them into the basket, Ryleigh leaned down to catch his eye and enthusiastically said, "tank you!" He said it made his day. :)
  

Now, all you moms out there know that this age is NOT all fun and games. Ryleigh is gaining independence and confidence...and her natural instinct is to deliberately disobey everything we say, and see just how far she can push before she gets in trouble. Jesse and I have had quite a difficult time learning how to discipline her. Half the time, one (or both) of us is laughing at what she just tried to do, though trying to keep a straight face to show it is not okay. And talk about having to learn to be consistent...toddlers do not learn the first time. Or the second. Or third...you get my point. Actually, at this point, I'm still wondering when they do learn. And how to help them learn. Originally, we said we would try the spanking thing, if the disobedience could result in physical harm to her or someone else, ie, running in the street, biting Daddy, etc. While our "spanks" were no more than a swat on the (diaper-padded) behind, we quickly learned that might not work for Ryleigh. When she started getting frustrated with us, she would swat our behinds!! No joke. Talk about trying not to laugh!! She got the concept from OUR side (when I'm not happy with what you have done, I spank), but not the fact that she was getting spanked as a result of what she had done--and thus changing her behavior! Sooooo, we moved on to Plan B. Time out. She has a small wooden chair in her room where she must sit for time out. She sits, and Mommy counts out loud (from the other room) for 30 seconds. If the temper-tantrum continues, we count again. After she is calm, normally after the first 30 seconds, I tell her she can get up, and I meet her at the doorway. She has to apologize for what she did, say "saw-wy" and give Mommy (or Daddy) a hug. So far, it seems to be working okay. The best thing for Ryleigh is to completely remove her from the situation all together and re-direct her attention to something more suitable for her. Doesn't always work, but hey, this is a learning process! For us as much as her! Some days, even more so for us than her...

Well, I'm sure you have read more than you cared to know, so I'll move onto a few pictures from last month.

While working one day, Ryleigh refused to nap. She laid down in her bed for all of 20 minutes. So after listening to her cry for another 30 minutes, I finally got her up. She played and played, insisting she was NOT "sweepy." I had to get some work done, so I stayed in my office while she played in the living room. A little while later, I noticed it had gotten really quiet...I went to check on her and she was not in the living room. She had gone into my room, climbed in our bed, and fallen asleep. I knew she was tired!

No matter what anyone else says, she is a Mommy's girl for sure. :) I love it!

Aunt Sarah came to town over Valentine's Day and Ryleigh wanted to help make dinner for the boys. Aunt Sarah let her help smash the crouton crumbles with the miniature rolling pin.

Ryleigh's Mother's Day Out teacher made them cupcakes for Valentine's Day, and of course, it was all I could do to make her wait until we got home before she devoured it. Couldn't help but snap a few pictures of her pink lips.

I cannot believe my baby is going to be 2 in a matter of months. Time has seriously flown by. She never ceases to amaze me, and I'm so blessed by her presence in my life. As difficult as this age can be, it is also an exciting time of learning and exploring, and her own excitement at life has rubbed off on Jesse and I. Never again will a "weaf" (aka:leaf) be just a leaf. Creation is even more beautiful when seen through the eyes of a child. Especially, my girl.