My Baby Isn't a Baby Anymore

I guess I can no longer call Elsie "the baby". By the time Mary Grace was the age Elsie is now, Elsie had been around for about a month and I was certainly not babying her anymore! Over Christmas, we watched some video of Mary Grace's 2nd birthday. It's amazing how alike they are and hard to believe that that was just two years ago. So, here's some evidence that my baby isn't a baby anymore:

1. I gave her crayons and paper today to color while I changed clothes after work (Mary Grace was at ballet). I sat down in front of her and she drew a perfect circle on the paper with a purple crayon, pointed to it, and said, "Circle. Purple."

2. On the way home from dropping Mary Grace off at ballet, she held up her hand and said, "Boo boo." I asked her what happened. She said, "AJ push me." (AJ is a friend at Ms. Julie's)

3. I told her no about something tonight, I can't even remember what now, but it really made her mad! She pushed over a big wooden kitchen chair and ran over to me and swiped her little hand at me! Terrible Twos anyone?

4. She can tell you that her best friend is Maddie and that Maddie's sister is Lainee.

5. She can dress herself, socks and velcro shoes included. She's been able to do this for awhile.

6. She likes to sing, especially Happy Birthday. It's ususally Happy Birthday Maddie. Mary Grace sat down last night and tried to teach her Jesus Loves Me.

7. When she wants milk, she opens the refridgerator, takes the carton out (we keep it on the low door shelf), unscrews the top, and hands the carton to me and says, "Milk, Mommy."

8. Ms. Brittney (one of her caretakers at Ms. Julie's and our occassional babysitter) doesn't let her have her paci while she's at Ms. Julies and puts it away in a drawer. If you ask her what Ms. Brittney says about her "pappy", she says, "No! Drawer!" If you ask her why, she'll say "Cutz" ("Cause").

9. She insists on getting herself out of her carseat now and walking up to the front door. She also has to be the one to open the front door after I unlock it.

10. Like her big sister, she likes to sit and "read" her own books. She can remember many of the words and does a pretty good job of telling you what's on the page.

11. She can tell us what she wants now and we can ususally understand what she's asking for.

12. She can tell you who gave her what doll for Christmas. She says, for example, "Nana gave it me." She also knows that Nana gave us our new placemats that we use all the time now. "Nana gave it me," she told me tonight.

But she's still my baby and she's still sleeping in her crib. Although, her little friend Maddie broke her leg trying to jump out of her crib over Christmas. Maddie is a month younger than Elsie but a little bigger so I'm still not too worried about Elsie trying the same trick. I think she loves her bed too much!

It's hard to believe that she'll be two in less than two weeks!