Lizzie Turns 2

Favorites:
Thing:  presents
Color:  white
Treat:  pink (?)
Food:  "hamburburgers" (hamburgers)
Drink:  water
Present:  daddy
Book:  "strawberry"  (The Little Mouse, the Red Ripe Strawberry and the Big Hungry Bear book, which she can recite verbatim)
Show:  Thomas
Baby?:  "Sisser.  I like sissers."

• This girl is really something else.  She would like to be a mini-Winston; she copies everything he does and says.  Everything (much to my chagrin)!  
• She love baby dolls, but loves any toy Winston is currently interested in even more.  
• She loves cooking in her kitchen.  She'll pretend to fill up a cup or bowl and bring it to me to try.  I'll slurp the "delicious" drink and she will laugh and giggle, then do it all over again.  We could do this all day.  
• She loves to read books.  She tends to toss a book on my lap, climb on me and demand, "Read!"  
• She loves to hop and skip.  She skips everywhere she goes, and every night when Dave gets home she tugs on his pants and says, "Wook!"  Then she proceeds to jump and hop in place a few times.  
• Lizzie is very attached to her "bank" (blanket) and "pass" or "pass-ee-fire" (pacifier).  She scratched at the silk around the edges of her blanket.  Poor blanket is running ragged, and this is the second blanket.  
• Her excitement bubbles over with loud noises, like lawnmowers, airplanes, dog barking, etc.  Her face fills with shock and awe and she points her little finger up right next to face and says, "Was dat?!"
• She has the world's worst going-to-bed routine.  Since she will no longer sleep in her crib, we removed the rail from  her crib, then put her crib mattress on the floor, then took the crib out altogether.  She used to go in and out of her room for hours -- hours! -- on end, which led us to locking her door once she's tucked in and bedtime routine complete (songs, books, back tickling, music, no music, night light, no light night; it's like a song and dance).  She then proceeds to act out the circus for the following hour or two, then finally falls asleep around 10:00.  Great parenting, right?  
• Lizzie talks.  Oh, how she talks.  Anytime I am on the phone, she demands, "I talk to her!"  Then she proceeds to cry, hang, scream until I hand the phone over for her to talk to whoever it is for a minute.  
• Her little smoker voice gets cuter and cuter.
• She wants NOTHING to do with potty training.  She is fully capable.  Understands how it works.  Will even do it on a whim.  But she digs her heels in the second we try for consistency.  This could be interesting.
• Lizzie's independence is really shining through (and testing my patience).  Getting in the car is always a five minute order.  Shoes go on "myself!" She must climb in "myself" and buckle "myself!"  There's plenty of screaming and back arching that go along with this.  I've lost count at how many times I have taken a deep breath, clenched my jaw, and quasi-patiently said, "OK Lizzie, buckle up all by yourself please."
• Lizzie love going to nursery.  She takes off like there's a fire out of sacrament meeting and heads right for the nursery door.  I'm pretty sure she runs the place; she likes to be in charge.  
• Lizzie really likes friends.  Emmie Lake (from church) and Helene Eisenbath (W's friend Owen's little sister) are her "best fwends."  She's always asking to go to Emmie's or "Huween's" house to play.  
• She still refers to Winston as "bwudder."  I hope that never stops.  Unless she's really mad, and then she yells, "Win-ston!" just like I do.  (oh the shame)
• Anything tech-related might be a good choice for Lizzie.  That, or pick-pocketing.  She is sneaky like no one else.  She instantly loves you if you have an iPhone or iPad.  If you'll share it with her, you're best friends.  If you won't, she'll just wait until you put it down, stuff it in your pocket, or hide it in your purse.  Then she'll snatch it right up without you even knowing.  It's an impressive talent (though I should possibly be worried).  

We just love this Lizzie girl.  Her temperament is spicy, but her heart is so sweet.  She's always up for a snuggle.  She is sensitive at times, but is thick-skinned and strong.  She loves to please ("I did it!"), but has a mind all her own.  She makes us laugh so hard at the matter-of-fact things she'll say and express.  We just can't get enough of her -- unless it's 10:00 p.m. and she's still awake.  

Love you, Lizzie.