Mila Update - 28 months

Oh what a fun age our little Mila is at!  She is such a little doll with a big personality.  She is talking so much and numerous people have commented on how much she speaks and how clearly it is for everyone to understand.  She's started slightly repeating what we're saying, but nothing horrible yet (the worst so far is, "What the heck?!").  It's so funny to listen to her tell a story and watch her try and then of the word that she wants to use.  She has great manners, saying "bless you" after someone sneezes, "please," "thank you," "sorry" and covering her mouth when she coughs.  We had a couple weeks where she would say "Mine!" in an aggressive voice but that has since subsided.  Her newest thing lately is to tell everyone to be careful ("be careful with the door, Mama;" "careful in the kitchen, daddy").  Sometimes when I give her something she will clutch it to her chest, sway side to side and say "I luuuuuuub it!"

She started preschool in January and just loves it.  When it's time to go to preschool all she can talk about is her friends and when I get there to pick her up the first thing she asks for is her snack.  She has a little pink backpack that she insists on wearing to and from school, even though there's nothing in it but a clean change of clothes. She is currently going to school three mornings and will increase to four in March and then change to four full days in April when I head back to work full time.

Every week she is sent home with all kinds of art projects that we hang up on her art board and she is so proud of them.  When she walks by them most of the time she will stop, point at them and say "taaa-daaa!"

She loves being outside and going to the park, something we (unfortunately) don't have a ton of time for lately, but I am glad that she gets that at preschool.  We're still making time for her to see Kira, who she still LOVES, but it's definitely not as much as it used to be.  Mila is a PRO with the iPad and iPhone, something I'm not sure I am happy or sad about.  She knows how to swipe into the iPad, navigate the apps, even clear them to save the battery: and we didn't teach her any of that!  She loves watching Veggie Tales (which teaches bible stories), Dora, Caillou and Spanish kids programs on the Amazon Prime video app (which I initially hid in a folder and then she found!) and Mickey Mouse Club (although Doc McStuffins is becoming a close second) on TV.

The iPad is such a great learning tool, assuming that you have the right apps on it.  There's a couple puzzle apps that I am amazed that she can do and do them so fast.  There are others with numbers and letters and also flash cards that she loves as well.  We have been practicing counting her numbers 1-12 and spelling her name and she will often ask to do this if we are waiting in the car or a store somewhere.

waiting patiently for daddy to get home from work

We went to Palm Springs in January and enjoyed some fun in the sun.  Mila was a little fish and didn't want to get out of the pool.  She crawled around the baby pool and saddled up to all of the bigger kids that came into the pool and just stared at them in awe.  She even asked to go in the big pool with daddy a couple times (to get closer to the big kids, of course!).  Guess it's time to re-start those swimming lessons!

She is the perfect mesh of a girly girl and not caring anything about girly things.  She loves her purse and glass slippers, and more recently her baby doll and diaper bag but doesn't really care what she wears in the morning, which saves a battle before walking out the door!

Her pretend play has really increased as well.  It started with her "feeding" me french fries and ketchup from her hand while we were in the car and has now crossed over to all of her bath time toys (My Little Ponies and Minnie Mouse being her favorite).

She loves her baby doll and carries it around the house with her, perhaps because I am always carrying Nellie around?  She likes to feed her breakfast and has even breastfed her which I was oddly emotional (in a happy way!) about.

She is still pretty easy to put to bed, although she has been delaying more than usual lately.  She kisses and hugs everyone goodnight and then says "Hug! I got! (forgot)" and has to go around and do it again.  She wants songs at bedtime, to be covered up and then wants to start the whole process over.  But she is still sleeping 12 hours a night and taking a 2-2.5 hour nap every day so that's great.  She is still in her crib and what's amazing to me is that not only does she never try to get out of it, she also never calls for us when she wakes up!  She just sits in there patiently, waiting for us to come get her.  Sometimes I think she would wait for hours!

Auntie Whit came to visit!

We started potty training her with Pull-Ups around the middle of January and it was going great...until the novelty wore off and then she was over it.  She would still go on the potty when we asked her but never would tell us and frequently would go in the Pull-Ups.

This week we really hunkered down I decided I'm not leaving the house until she's potty trained! After many suggestions from other moms, we implemented Toilet Training in Less Than a Day and so far it's going good.  Yesterday I spent THE WHOLE DAY asking her every five minutes if her panties were dry and nine times out of 10 they were.  She didn't tell me much on her own that she had to go so that's what we're going to work on the rest of the week.  She has been wearing real panties now, which I think is helping, because she can feel the accident and I am having her go through all the motions herself (pulling down her own pants, cleaning up the mess, etc.)

Pony ride!

Mila LOVES being a big sister. Loves loves loves.  She is so much more gentle with Nellie than I thought she would be and is obsessed with giving her kisses.  Sometimes she presses on her a little to hard or leans on her but that's to be expected. She always wants to know where the baby is and loves to tell us when she is crying.  "Hiiiii Siiister" is one of her favorite things to say and she helps out immensely with tummy time by keeping Nellie entertained. She wants to be involved with everything from diaper changing to bath time to swinging and sleeping.

I can't wait to see what the next couple of months bring and can't believe we are almost on the down slope of having a 3 year old on our hands!  I can't imagine things getting any better but I know that's exactly what is going to happy!

For more pictures click here and here.