Been a while since I posted and update on Savannah’s life and our life, so here goes.
She is officially 2 ½ now and, in our completely unbiased opinion, the smartest little girl in the whole world (all you other parents are welcome to think the same thing about your kid). She is very much a sponge right now, absorbing everything we say and do, so much so that sometimes we just look at each other and laugh when she says, “Just a minute.” or knows that the iPhone that a friend is holding actually belongs to me, “Hey, isn’t that your iPhone, Mommy?” And the fact that she can distinguish an iPhone from a regular cell phone is humorous in itself.
She has definitely lost most of the baby sound when she talks - speaking in full sentences, talking back to us (which we should probably reprimand her for but we find it too hilarious, we are really setting ourselves up for disaster) and adding inflection to her questions or statements. Recently she was watching a movie on the couch and when she noticed that I was going to sit with her she said, “I cleared a spot for you, Mommy” and another time when I asked her if she needed more milk she responded with, “No, I have plenty.” Now these statements may be normal, but never being the mom of a toddler before, I’m just blown away.
Just the other night she was taking care of her babies (which are currently named Baby Kitty Cat 1 and Baby Kitty Cat 2 – she may not be creative but she’s consistent) and asked where her baby’s bottle was. I told her that it was probably at ZZ’s house and she said, with a certain tone that you would expect to hear from a teenager, “It.Is.NOT.At. ZZ’s!!!” James and I lost it.
In our very slow potty training process we’ve been trying to convince her that she is a big girl and that big girls don’t wear diapers, well I guess she wants us to know that she is still our baby so lately when she says, “Mommy?” and I answer with, “Yes, Savannah?” or “Yes, sweetheart?” she says, “No, I’m your baby. Right Mommy?” Yes, sweetheart you are still my baby and even if we have 18 other children (which will never happen) you will always be my baby. And I totally just made myself cry.
Let’s see, what else? Her #1 love is the playground, if we lived at the playground it wouldn’t be enough for her. She doesn’t even have to swing, slide or climb – she just likes to be there. So, at least one trip to the playground is always on the weekend agenda, thankfully we have a great one just across the street from our neighborhood. She’s also a big fan of hide & seek, we are guaranteed at least a few minutes of hiding and seeking every day. She is actually a very good hider; she’ll sit there very quietly until you find her. She is also very into movies, constantly wanting to watch something. Thankfully she also loves to play outside so can usually distract her with bubbles, playing in the yard or bouncing on her little trampoline. I’m not under the impression that she is rotting her brain in front of the TV and I’m sure both James and I watched a lot of TV growing up and we turned out just fine, I just don’t want her to be dependent on it for entertainment when there are other fun things we can do.
Eating is a constant challenge; sometimes she’ll eat 3 hot dogs for lunch and then won’t eat more than a couple bites of anything for a week. I know she isn’t going to let herself starve but it’s very frustrating for us sometimes. Lately we’ve been acting we’re going to finish off her dinner and that usually works to get at least few more bites down.
James and I, well we’re pretty boring compared to Savannah. After being in pain for 2-3 years, James had wrist surgery on December 12 for DeQuervain’s tendonitis (he had the same surgery on his other wrist in high school) and seems to be doing well. And, contrary to what you might be thinking, golf did not cause or aggravate the pain – he actually had no pain while golfing and managed to make it back out on the course last weekend. I think his next big thing is to start doing some more updating to the house; he collected quite a few Home Depot gift cards for Christmas so he’s looking forward to trying his hand at bathroom renovations.
As for me, I’m the most boring person in the family. I had considered joining a competitive adult cheerleading squad (go ahead and laugh) but ultimately decided not to follow through. I attended quite a few practices and did prove to myself that you don’t have to be 18 to stunt, tumble and jump. I was very proud of myself that at almost 32 years old and after having a baby that I was in better shape and had more skills than some of the 18 year olds, although I’m sure that my recovery time was much, much slower than theirs. I ultimately decided not to follow through for 2 reasons, the first being the cost associated with it. I wasn’t willing to pay $150 for a uniform that I was going to wear 4 times (for a combined total of not even 10 minutes of performance), competition registration fees and monthly gym fees. And secondly, I wanted to devote my time to something that would help others rather than just proving something to myself, so I’m very excited that I’m going to be a coach for
Girls on The Run this season! I have volunteered with the organization before as a running buddy and I’m so excited to be there for the whole season and get to know all the girls instead of just one.
Ok, that’s my long winded update for now.
We’ll be resuming our letter crafts this weekend so you can look forward to much shorter posts soon.
