Almost Two!!

Ryleigh turns two next month. W-O-W.

Some days I'm blown away by how smart she is and how much older than her age she seems, and then other days, I look at her, and still see my baby. But, she's not a baby. She's a toddler. A full-blown toddler who walks, talks (all the time), dresses up, sings, dances, pitches fits, cuddles whole-heartedly, and "tests" us at every turn.

Did you know that Ryleigh loves the Wiggles? Yes, the silly guys from Australia who dress up and sing silly songs. Ryleigh is their number 1 fan. And I am grateful, because without them, I would never get any work done during the day!! There is a Wiggles center in Dallas, and my family who lives up there took a trip over there. Ryleigh was sent a Wiggles t-shirt and "Henry" doll from Aunt Kathy and received this "Dorothy" tutu from Michelle and Savannah. Now she twirls along with Dorothy while singing and dancing to the Wiggles.
Honestly, I am amazed I was even able to get this picture of her with the tutu on. I fear that I might have a nudist on my hands. Seriously, the girl will NOT stay in her clothes. I thought at first that perhaps she just liked the freedom to take her clothes off and put them on herself. But now, she will not wear them! We have to force her to wear clothes in order to take her in public! And then I watch her like a hawk the whole time we are out, because inevitably, she starts pulling her arms out of her shirt or kicking off her shorts. The other day, I was working in my office and she was playing with her blocks in the living room. Or so I thought. The next thing I know, she is standing next to me, wearing nothing but my leopard print lingerie cami (which, for those of you are thinking "TMI!" I have not worn in YEARS. It has had more use from Ryleigh in the past week than it has from me in all the years I have owned it.) So yeah, my little nudist is on the loose! I'm kind of hoping she has just been bothered by her eczema lately and that is why she does not like clothing on her skin. I guess time will tell.

Luckily, when she strips down, she does not care to remove her diaper. I have heard of toddlers doing this, and so far, thank you Lord, she is not doing this. I'm hoping the diaper situation will soon go away, as I intend to try and potty train her this summer. She already tells me as she is pooping, and wants to change her diaper right away when she does. So she knows that feeling. Now the pee-pee part, not so much, so we'll have to work on it. But hopefully the diapers will be gone soon!

We are also talking about moving Ryleigh out of her crib and into a "big girl" twin bed. This makes me more sad than any of the other changes she is experiencing. I think it makes her seem that much older. Right now, we put her to bed and we go in and get her out of bed in the morning. She crawls right out of her crib and into my snuggles. Once she is in a big girl bed, she can just jump down and get on with her day. It was always inevitable, and I definitely want to do it fairly soon so that she stops associating herself with the crib before the baby gets here, but its still hard. I'm sure we'll begin that transition within the next month or so. Pray for patience!

I could go on and on and tell you how incredibly smart this girl is, or how much she amazes me daily. My words do little justice. I'm telling you, this is one smart girl. She throws out new words daily and increases her sentences just as often. We are really, finally, able to communicate with her, without much (if any) confusion. She knows what she wants and eagerly lets us know. Granted, with this new found communication understanding has come a whole new world of learning as parents. When she wants something we do not want her to have, she does not simply nod and smile and say, "okay- you know best!" She's angry! And defiant! And she will try every single trick in the book to get it. I wish I could say that her whines are nothing compared to my stamina, but that's not always true. I'm not a patient person, and right now, her perseverance often beats mine. I'm working on this. We're also working on new methods of discipline when she does not obey and blatantly defies us. This is tough. I never knew I could love someone so much...or be so completely angry and frustrated with someone so much. She can make my blood boil like no one else. And she has already learned exactly which buttons to push to make that happen! Sneaky little thing! :)

In all honesty, this is a tough age. Ryleigh is learning and exploring and trying her wings, and often I have to remind her that though her wings might work, there is a big cliff ahead. It's all about setting boundaries and being consistent- two areas I struggle with daily. No matter how long or frustrating the day, I always get big smiles, hugs, and kisses in the evening, and it washes away the pains of the day. I know many-a-moms who have struggled with strong-willed, independent kids and still lived to tell about it, so I know we will get through it. I'm just learning the hard way, I afraid.

My baby is going to be two, and life is going to be an adjustment. We are learning together and I'm sure there will come a time when I look back at this phase and think what a breeze it was compared to our next big hurdle. I'm just trying to enjoy every positive thing I can right now and soak up all the sweetness that is my precious toddler.