Hannah at 2.5 years...

My sweet baby girl has become my sweet big girl. When did it happen??? Time is flying by so fast these days, so I'll try to document where we are at the moment. Can you believe it's been a year since I did a Hannah update? Wow.

What is she eating these days? For so long she would eat almost anything, but those days are gone... for the moment, anyway. We're in the that's a weird texture & I'm not touching it phase. But that's okay, she'll get over it eventually. And even though the variety of things she eats has drastically diminished, she still eats a good quantity. The girl can eat. Here are her current favorites. (Oh, she still has the milk allergy, although it seems to be getting better.)

juice (specifically apple)

waffles with peanut butter and syrup (she calls it su-up waffle)

soy yogurt - loves this!

natural applesauce

breads

dry cereals, especially Life cereal

graham crackers

other crackers, especially with peanut butter

chips

couscous

rice

spaghetti with meat sauce

veggie-beef-bean soup (if I mash up the chunks of vegetables)

hamburgers with ketchup and pickles

turkey

still likes Indian food with rice

green beans cut up and mixed into an entree'

some potatoes

BBQ sauce

ketchup

chicken nuggets (she says chickin nussets)

chicken

scrambled eggs

popsicles

and favorite treats at the moment are chocolate chips or a slushy drink

Language

Her language development has been explosive since her second birthday. So much that I can't really keep up with it anymore. I had been keeping a journal for her for when she's older documenting different things she would do and say each month progressively, but I've mostly given up trying to write down all the new words and phrases she uses. She speaks very well and understands so much more. Here are a few phrases I've been hearing lately.

I no sghetti. (I do not want spaghetti)

I don't want to.

I don't yike it. (yike = like)

I do it by myself.

I do it for you, Mama.

I come with you.

I go too.

Yook, a spy-da! (It's summer - we have spiders!)

Yook, a ugga spy-da, Mama! (ugga = other)

My baby ky-in (crying)

My baby go to seep (sleep)

I yuv you (yuv = love)

I think so.

Dat make me weewy happy (weewy = really)

The other day I asked her if she had taken a nap or just played in her room. She said. No, I ky (cry) and pay (play). Still honest - gotta love that. :)

Play

What is she playing these days? She loves to play with her F*sher Pr*ce little people. In fact, our living room is currently the booming capitol of the little people empire I think. She has lots of fun pretending to feed the animals and babies, wash the horses, go shopping, etc. She knows all of them by name, and you must call them by their correct names. She sleeps with various little people, animals and accessories every night. I have to admit, they really are cute. One of them, Sara Lynn, has a cute little dog named "Lucky". But Hannah doesn't say the "L" and calls him "Yucky". I never get tired of asking her what Sara Lynn's dog's name is... Yucky. So cute!

Hannah also likes to play with her babies. She is a very good mother, and almost never drops them or carries them by an appendage. She is very good at bouncing her babies when they cry like I do with Graham. In fact she will often go get her baby and bounce her when I bounce Graham and say, "we bouncy". When her babies "ky" she either feeds them, changes their diapers, puts them to bed or bounces them. I heard her tell one of them recently that "you a good baby", and then rubbed the baby's cheek!

Hannah also loves to cook! I hope she will feel the same way in about 10 years. Wouldn't that be great? She's all about the play food right now. She loves to cook things for us, then warn us that they may be hot & to be careful not to burn our tongues.

She also loves to sing. She walks around the house making up little songs about whatever she's doing. I often hear her doing her own dramatic interpretation of "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star" which is really cute.

We love to read books. Some of her current favorites are Oh, The Places You'll Go, Clifford The Big Red Dog, and Rabbits and Raindrops. She's heard them so often, she can quote various pages word for word.

What else? She loves to play in the sandbox, swing at the park, play outside, play with the sprinkler, play with her cousins, pretend she is someone else (usually me), color, paint, or any kind of art project. And she love, love, loves to go anywhere with her Daddy. I could go on and on, but I think I'll end for now! Hope you enjoyed the "Hannah update". She sure is a sweet little girl.