Addie is two, as she’ll proudly tell you! (Mama and Daddy are two, too.) She is a talkative, spirited, kindhearted little person who delights us every day. I looked back at our recap from last year and here is the update from year two:

Words

Too many to count! Addie is talking in sentences and picking up new words every day. We love to listen to her chat over the monitor when she wakes up in the morning. She’ll review the events of the day before or even from weeks before (plane rides still come up, even though she last flew in June.) Some of her favorite phrases, and ours, are:

“Cuddle couch two minutes?” (Two is definitely her favorite number these days)
“Mama lay down two minutes?” (negotiations for going to sleep in her new big girl bed)
‘Set timer two minutes Mama’s phone? Pictures?”
Opposites: She labels hot/cold, big/little (Addie too big), clean/dirty, and old/new.
“No, Addie Connor!” (her reaction to questions such as, “Are you funny?” or “Are you a big girl?”)
“Mine” has been making some appearances, too, although in general her temperament has been pretty even this summer. Fewer tantrums that seem to pass quickly.
“Addie too shy.”

Nicknames

Boo or boo boo, Muffin, Nuggie

Favorite Foods

In descending preference order: Kefir, applesauce in a pouch, all berries, popsicles, cheese, tortillas, hummus. She knows she only gets one kefir a day and reminds herself when she sees them in the fridge, but she still will sometimes ask for more: “‘efir, please” with a frantic please sign just in case she can convince me!

Favorite Activities, Games and Toys

Playing with baby dolls. All of her dolls are currently named Baby Ellen (pronounced with a w for the double l). She diapers them, swaddles them, feeds them milk and juice bottles, nurses them, burps them, and has started teaching them to crawl.

Songs and Books

“Lullabye” by Billy Joel (Angel, Daddy!)
“Little Liza Jane” by Elizabeth Mitchell (bedtime music every night)
New baby books, We’re Going on a Bear Hunt, The Little Engine That Could, Pete the Cat

Daily Routine

Up around 7
Plays, has milk or a kefir, goes for a walk in the stroller
Head out for an errand or playdate around 10, after breakfast
Eat lunch at 12 or 12:30, nap at 1-1:30 for about 1.5-2 hours
After nap, play in the playroom or meet up with friends, have a snack and help Mama in the kitchen
Eat dinner around 6
Bath every other night, three books, as many renditions of “Angel” as she can finagle, and lying down with Mama or Daddy (usually Mama) while we listen to Liza Jane. Addie’s usually asleep with her two blankies, a menagerie of stuffed animals,  10-20 books, and assorted pillows and dolls by around 7:30.

Happy birthday, Addie!

Just a few random shots of Addie hanging out around her playroom. She’s a little more aware of the camera these days…

“Casey, are you sad or are you mad?”
“Mad!”

Addie had a busy weekend of playing dress up. She started by dressing herself with her do-rag made by Great Aunt Joje, leggings, and boots a size or two too small. After stumbling around in that ensemble for a while, she decided to play with her dress-up doll from Grandma Connor (too many to keep track of!) Aunt Beth. It’s been continual undress/redress of the doll over the last few days as she experiments with different shirt/skirt/shoe combos. Her narration of the whole proceeding is clearly the best part, so we’ll try to capture some video to do it justice.

Addie had a busy morning around the house. After dancing around her playroom and playing with all of her instruments, she headed to the nearby greenbelt to check out the flowers. When we got home, she helped her mom bake strawberry & goat cheese muffins. She’s tired out and sleeping now, but we’ll see what fun the afternoon brings!

Addie got to hang out with her PA grandparents during their visit to Austin recently. She got enough spoiling for at least this month with multiple trips to the park, multiple servings of ice cream, a new doll, staying up past her bedtime, swinging, dancing, etc. She also had the chance to get her first swim of the season in at the local pool. There was just so much to do with Grandma and Pop in town.

We took a hike through the “interpretive” area of the Wildflower Center last week. Here’s my little hiker buddy taking a quick break from chasing the butterflies.

You can’t tell from the photo, but her pockets are full of rocks she collected along the way. All of that extra weight was slowing her down a bit.

Addie decided to take her bike out for a spin before heading to daycare. She’s been practicing her off-road maneuvers, mainly down the front step, through the flower bed and across the yard that Dad mows only once in a great while. She prefers the sidewalk and sloped driveway, though.