She's Two

Helen turned two on Friday! 

Here are a few facts about Helen at two years of age:

Favorite Foods: Bacon (additive free), blueberries and cream, olives, most fruits, peas, cod liver oil (yes, she actually likes it!), yogurt, butter, just about any meat, dried figs...and more! She loves food.
Favorite Books: The Knight and the Dragon, her Brambley Hedge books, I Am A Bunny, and anything to do with animals.
Favorite Television Shows: Peppa Pig and Winnie the Pooh are her all-time favorites. She also likes any YouTube videos about babies or monkeys, or (better yet) baby monkeys. Or babies swimming.
Favorite Toys: She LOVES teddy bears. If she finds one in someone else's house, she wants it. I bought a little plastic tea set for her recently, and she has gotten a lot of use out of it. She also likes her wooden blocks (for building towers to knock over) and her duplos. We bought her a baby doll with a little stroller for her birthday and she adores it.
Chores: She's pretty good about picking up her toys when I ask her. She likes to unload the plastic dishes from the dishwasher. I also have her help me put the clean clothes in the dryer and push the button (her favorite part).
Learning: She can sing most of her ABCs and counts to 11. She's pretty good at picking up the words to songs. She's starting to try to sing on tune. For some reason, she can't get her colors. I guess I just need to work with her more. She has started to get into imaginary play, which is really fun.
Social: If Helen is eating and another kid is around, she wants them to share her food. But when it comes to toys, it's a different story. She is very territorial. We need to work on that. If another little kid is (in her estimation) getting too much attention, she'll make random loud noised to divert the attention to herself. She also does this if Reuben and I hug too long.
Potty Training: I'm pretty sure Helen is capable of being potty trained, it's just a matter of buckling down and doing it. We tried it for half a day and she did very well.
Sleep: Helen still takes one nap in the middle of the day. I have her take a nap 4 hours after she wakes in the morning, and she goes to bed 5 hours after her nap. Her nap is usually 1.5 - 2 hours long, and she usually sleeps about 12 hours at night.
Nursing: Helen is all done nursing now! It was a very gradual process without drama. I might have to do a separate post about it.

[Dress and Cardigan: Carter's]

Funny/Cute Moments:

• My pet name for Helen is Helen-Bear. When I ask her what her name is she says, "Helen-Bear Adelaide."
• One morning I had my hair in a very ugly ponytail that I had slept on. Helen ran her fingers through the ends of it and said, "Pretty hair, Mommy!" Melted my heart.
• After I finished frosting Helen's birthday cake she said, "Where'd the cake go?!"
• When I asked her what her (homemade) birthday ice cream tasted like she replied, "Birthday Party."
• The other day she was talking about Reuben's beard. Then she said, "Mommy's beard!" Reuben asked, "Does Mommy have a beard?" Helen replied, "Mommy has chin!"

It's been grand watching this little stinker growing up. I can't wait to see what new thing she learns and what funny thing she says next.


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