And a few months after that:
And a few months ago:
And now!
What in the world? We have a two year old! It is Hallie's birthday today and in one sense I can't believe she is two, but in the other sense, holy cow- what did we do before we had her?
Some things to know about Hallie at age 2:
*She is miss independent. She loves to put her own clothes on, comb her own hair, brush her own teeth, etc. She often says "I do it!"
*She is a big helper. She helps unload and load the dishwasher, washes down the table, throws trash away, and puts clothes in the dirty clothes. So far, she likes to clean. Let's see how she feels in a few years.
*She loves puzzles and books and can spend hours doing the same puzzle over and over. We need to get her some more challenging puzzles as she is a pro at the ones she has.
*She can count to 10 (though she often skips 9)
*She knows a lot of songs. She sings often and surprises me sometimes with the songs she sings. For example, she started singing "I love to see the Temple" the other day and I have no idea where she learned it (nursery I am guessing since it wasn't here!). I was really impressed as we could tell the tune and the words.
*She is still tall and big for her age... at her 2 year appointment, she was about 30 pounds and 36 inches tall.
*Hallie has done amazingly well transitioning to a big girl bed. I have no idea why I was dreading it so much. She goes right down for bed and naps and has only recently figured out that she can get out on her own. She is still really good about staying in there, overall. She gets herself out in the morning and that is about it.
*Potty training is also going much better than I expected. Maybe I should count my blessings that she is an easy child and worry about the future for the others? She is mostly potty trained when at home. She hasn't had an accident for over a week and has never had a #2 accident (I know lucky us). She wears underwear all the time when at home except for nap time and bed time. I am going to take it slow doing away with diapers at those times. We also put her in a diaper when we go out. I will take that slow as well. I just want her to be mostly trained by the time the baby comes and so far it is looking promising. The biggest thing is that I just have to watch her and notice the signs for when she needs to go. She will usually tell me too, but I like to anticipate it before hand just to make sure we have time. I can't believe she is such a big girl!
And some recent Hallie-isms:
*She goes to a babysitter for 4 hours on Wednesdays. This has all been great, except for the fact that they give her bottles when she is there. They have a 3 year old who still drinks from a bottle, so of course Hallie has to have one too while she is there. I tell myself it is only once per week and it can't kill her....but she has been off bottles completely since she turned 1, so its kinda weird. Anyway, when we were leaving one day, she turned around and waved and said "thank you for the bottles!" She was genuinly thrilled. I know she looks forward to Wednesdays for that reason...
*Recently it snowed here. The weather has been crazy, I tell you. I went in to get Hallie in the morning and she was perched on her bed peeking through the blinds shouting "Mom!! It's messy outside! Mom! It's messy outside!" She clearly doesn't remember snow from last year.
*Whenever Hallie has time-out, she cries in her chair for a few seconds, then stops and announces "I done crying!" as if that will get her out sooner. She also does this when we put her to bed or for naps. She may cry for a minute or two and then yell that she is done, probably hoping that we will get her out. Yeah, right.
Her newest phrase that is heard night and day is "It goes here, right?" she may be talking about puzzle pieces, her socks, dishes, or anything really. She just likes to verify where things go, I guess. I find this particularly funny with the puzzle pieces because she has her puzzles so memorized that she could probably do them with her eyes closed, yet she will still ask me "It goes here, right?" when she knows very well that it does.
*Hallie has an active imagination and likes to role-play things with her dolls and animals. In the potty training process, this has been great because if her animals and dolls all go potty, she definitely wants to go too. She also takes her blankie potty often. I find this just a tad bit extreme. :)
*When I asked Hallie what she wanted for her birthday breakfast, she said "donuts and juice!" This answer was repeated each time I asked. Never has she had donuts and juice for breakfast, so I thought that was kind of funny. I don't know that she has ever even had donuts and juice, but needless to say, we had donuts and juice this morning for her birthday breakfast.
We sure love our Hallie girl. What a special girl she is. She is hilarious and brings so much happiness to our lives. Happy 2nd birthday, Hals!
On a seperate note, Hallie's birthday will take on a different meaning each year from here on out as my Grandpa "Uncle Ed" Strobel passed away today. He was going down hill the past few months and we were able to go see him a few weeks ago when we were home for Lara's showers, so that is good. We know that he has happily been reunited with his parents, three sons, grandson, and other family members on the other side who anticipated his arrival. His funeral will be Monday, so we will head straight there as soon as we fly in from Oakland on Sunday (my brother gets married this weekend! Crazy, crazy!) More on Uncle Ed later. He is truly a one-of-a kind person and I am sure I can come up with some great stories to tell about him. We will miss him and are sad for the loss, but happy at the same time that he has moved on to bigger and better things.
And a few months ago:
And now! What in the world? We have a two year old! It is Hallie's birthday today and in one sense I can't believe she is two, but in the other sense, holy cow- what did we do before we had her?Some things to know about Hallie at age 2:
*She is miss independent. She loves to put her own clothes on, comb her own hair, brush her own teeth, etc. She often says "I do it!"
*She is a big helper. She helps unload and load the dishwasher, washes down the table, throws trash away, and puts clothes in the dirty clothes. So far, she likes to clean. Let's see how she feels in a few years.
*She loves puzzles and books and can spend hours doing the same puzzle over and over. We need to get her some more challenging puzzles as she is a pro at the ones she has.
*She can count to 10 (though she often skips 9)
*She knows a lot of songs. She sings often and surprises me sometimes with the songs she sings. For example, she started singing "I love to see the Temple" the other day and I have no idea where she learned it (nursery I am guessing since it wasn't here!). I was really impressed as we could tell the tune and the words.
*She is still tall and big for her age... at her 2 year appointment, she was about 30 pounds and 36 inches tall.
*Hallie has done amazingly well transitioning to a big girl bed. I have no idea why I was dreading it so much. She goes right down for bed and naps and has only recently figured out that she can get out on her own. She is still really good about staying in there, overall. She gets herself out in the morning and that is about it.
*Potty training is also going much better than I expected. Maybe I should count my blessings that she is an easy child and worry about the future for the others? She is mostly potty trained when at home. She hasn't had an accident for over a week and has never had a #2 accident (I know lucky us). She wears underwear all the time when at home except for nap time and bed time. I am going to take it slow doing away with diapers at those times. We also put her in a diaper when we go out. I will take that slow as well. I just want her to be mostly trained by the time the baby comes and so far it is looking promising. The biggest thing is that I just have to watch her and notice the signs for when she needs to go. She will usually tell me too, but I like to anticipate it before hand just to make sure we have time. I can't believe she is such a big girl!
And some recent Hallie-isms:
*She goes to a babysitter for 4 hours on Wednesdays. This has all been great, except for the fact that they give her bottles when she is there. They have a 3 year old who still drinks from a bottle, so of course Hallie has to have one too while she is there. I tell myself it is only once per week and it can't kill her....but she has been off bottles completely since she turned 1, so its kinda weird. Anyway, when we were leaving one day, she turned around and waved and said "thank you for the bottles!" She was genuinly thrilled. I know she looks forward to Wednesdays for that reason...
*Recently it snowed here. The weather has been crazy, I tell you. I went in to get Hallie in the morning and she was perched on her bed peeking through the blinds shouting "Mom!! It's messy outside! Mom! It's messy outside!" She clearly doesn't remember snow from last year.
*Whenever Hallie has time-out, she cries in her chair for a few seconds, then stops and announces "I done crying!" as if that will get her out sooner. She also does this when we put her to bed or for naps. She may cry for a minute or two and then yell that she is done, probably hoping that we will get her out. Yeah, right.
Her newest phrase that is heard night and day is "It goes here, right?" she may be talking about puzzle pieces, her socks, dishes, or anything really. She just likes to verify where things go, I guess. I find this particularly funny with the puzzle pieces because she has her puzzles so memorized that she could probably do them with her eyes closed, yet she will still ask me "It goes here, right?" when she knows very well that it does.
*Hallie has an active imagination and likes to role-play things with her dolls and animals. In the potty training process, this has been great because if her animals and dolls all go potty, she definitely wants to go too. She also takes her blankie potty often. I find this just a tad bit extreme. :)
*When I asked Hallie what she wanted for her birthday breakfast, she said "donuts and juice!" This answer was repeated each time I asked. Never has she had donuts and juice for breakfast, so I thought that was kind of funny. I don't know that she has ever even had donuts and juice, but needless to say, we had donuts and juice this morning for her birthday breakfast.
We sure love our Hallie girl. What a special girl she is. She is hilarious and brings so much happiness to our lives. Happy 2nd birthday, Hals!
On a seperate note, Hallie's birthday will take on a different meaning each year from here on out as my Grandpa "Uncle Ed" Strobel passed away today. He was going down hill the past few months and we were able to go see him a few weeks ago when we were home for Lara's showers, so that is good. We know that he has happily been reunited with his parents, three sons, grandson, and other family members on the other side who anticipated his arrival. His funeral will be Monday, so we will head straight there as soon as we fly in from Oakland on Sunday (my brother gets married this weekend! Crazy, crazy!) More on Uncle Ed later. He is truly a one-of-a kind person and I am sure I can come up with some great stories to tell about him. We will miss him and are sad for the loss, but happy at the same time that he has moved on to bigger and better things.
6 comments:
Happy 2nd Birthday Hallie!!! I can't believe you have a 2 year old either Kim!!! She is quite the little lady! I love the Hallie-isms so funny!!! And good job with the potty training! I am definitely NOT looking forward to that part!
And I'm so sorry to hear about the passing of your Grandpa! It is a bittersweet day. Thank goodness we know he is in a better place and is having a wonderful reunion with loved ones!
Congrats to your brother getting married! That's exciting! And the Oakland temple is BEAUTIFUL!!!
I am sorry about your grandpa Kim! WOW Hals is 2!! i cant believe it! time flies! she is so stinkin' cute and smart! i love her
I love this post!! It's always so fun to read about Hallie and see all of the new things she is learning. I can't believe how big her cheeks were when she was born! I feel like that was just last week.... so sad. I sure love that little girl and hope you guys had a great day!
Love Hals!! She is the greatest child, you are so lucky! I'm sad to hear about Unlce Ed, though he hated my name, he always had fun stores to tell! Give your family and Grandma my best wishes! love you
Oh my goodness, I love it when you talk about your daughter! I am purely entertained by your stories of her! Happy Birthday Hallie!
I am sorry about your Grandpa. I appreciate your take on his passing.
Happy Birthday to Hallie! Two years flies by way too fast. Jaiden has decided she wants to go in the potty so we are in the same boat. Looks like Devin is getting use out of the guitar! Love it! Just curious, does playing the guitar help with the potty training?
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