Kateri Amelia at two (and a half, almost)

Kate, and I'm sure all toddlers everywhere, is quite a mess of emotions at two years old. You know the saying, "Life is like a box of chocolates"? Well, I've decided that life with toddlers is like a box of chocolates mixed in with a bunch of hidden grenades. You literally never know which one you are going to get. And unlike the original saying - the grenades are a lot worse than those terrible cherry-filled chocolates - it's not just disappointment waiting for you, it's an explosion.

Don't get me wrong. Most of the time, Kate is a true sweetheart. She is super affectionate, very giggly at the most random things, a great helper, very responsible and mostly clean (well, as clean as a 2 year old can be) and I love her to bits. But heaven forbid I don't let her eat the apple I was just going to put in my mouth! Or shame on me if I happen to go into the bathroom to clean up a little bit when she wanted me to go somewhere else! M-e-l-t-d-o-w-n C-i-t-y, population Kate.

Luckily most of the time, even in her worst tantrums, she's not majorly destructive. It's lots of tears, lots of "mama hold you!!", lots of rolling around on the ground screaming and interrupting her screams to say, "Mama, I scweamimg! Mama, I scweamimg!" and then resuming screaming. (She does that with crying too - as if I can't already tell she's crying, she feels the need to remind me while she's doing it that she is...yeah.) If she gets any sort of destructive, it's mostly directed at throwing toys at Murphy, the poor thing who puts up with a lot of other behavior from her - pulling ears, trying to ride her like a horse, chasing her around with a stroller, etc. etc.

She also has very definitive opinions these days. She asks to "dance!" all the time, but if I play a song she doesn't care for? "No, I can't wike dat song." (It took me a few minutes the first time she said it to understand that she didn't like the one I was playing and wanted another.) She loves Anna & Elsa, Dory & Nemo - two of the 4 movies she's seen in her entire life. Every time we go to Target she can pick out at least one of them and shouts their name until I say I saw them too.

Colors and numbers are still somewhat of a struggle. If we aren't paying attention, she can count to 5 correctly, but lots of times if we ask it goes: "1, 2, 4, 5, 3, 6, 8, 7..." and then she giggles because she knows she did it wrong on purpose. (Hilarious joke, kiddo.) Colors are pretty much beyond reach unless she happens to be in a mood to actually try - but if I try to point to something and say what color it is, she'll usually reply with "No, it's greem!!! No, mama, it's greem!!!" over and over again.

Food is hit or miss these days. Some days she'll eat like a horse, or be willing to try a whole mess of foods she's never had. Other days I have to convince her to finish her chicken nuggets (her favorite food) and only bribing with a cookie works. She consistently asks for "regular crackers" (aka club crackers) for lunch, with nothing else in addition. She's a big fan of "wawamewo" (watermelon) and pretty much most fruits. Cheese, one of her favorites a few months ago, is now a no-go except in cheese stick form, as is lunchmeat. She loves frozen waffles for breakfast and then subsequently whatever I'm eating.

She has also started doing this thing where if we say her name is Kitty, she says "No, I Kate" in response. But then sometimes she'll reverse it...so I'm not sure which one she actually prefers, or if she even understands that they're two nicknames for her same full name.

Potty training hasn't been attempted again since our last fail. She definitely has an interest in the potty, and we are trying to find a weekend to attempt the 3 day method again. She's definitely more aware now of when her diaper is dirty so that's a step in the right direction.

She's a spitball of energy, loves her puppy like crazy, and every night going to bed repeats "I wuv you, Mama, I wuv you, Dada" until we each respond at least twice. It's easy to love a sweet girl like her.
HG