Alyssa's Milestones

My intial thought in this blog was to bullet point Alyssa's two year milestones. I thought rather than compare her to her brother (I'd like to point out, this isn't because we think or want one to be better than the other... it's because her brother is the only frame of reference we have), that I'd search the internet for a list of developmental milestones to reference.

Why is it that I can't find a nice little list of things that Lyssie should be doing at 2? I know, don't put her into a box... but I really just wanted to mark where she is at this point. But alas, no such luck. So, here's my best summary of where she is. I think she's doing very well... yep, another parent that thinks she's raising a genius!

1 - we have two little Mexican jumping beans! Alyssa has been jumping (actually getting air) since December. She has perfected this jump now and can nearly do two in a row - of course, I think she's would complete the second one if she was watching where she was jumping since the second jump normally lands her into the side of the bed or couch.

2 - yak, yak, yak! Out little princess (hahahaha) is talking up a storm! She has many full sentences and she knows how to use them. "no, I play Robbie"; "no, I reading", "no, I not done" - are you seeing a trend here? She also is very polite. She loves to say thank you "dane doo" and she really gets us with her "dane doo daddy" or "dane doo momma"

3 - Our little budding artist. Lately, Robbie has been very focused on illustrating and writing his book. This means a lot of table time. And Lyssie has to do whatever her brother is doing. She's got her circles and lines down. And... she's starting to tell me about her doddles "dat Robbie" or "dat cow"

3 - Animals. Her big brother is going to be a Paleontologist and an Elephant Zoo Keeper, so it's only natural that Lyssie loves dinosaurs and animals. While I'm thankful she isn't yet identifying Anklyosaurus or Parasaurolophus, she does know her animals very well. No longer is everything a moo.

4 - Alyssa loves to read. And she has obviously already memorized many of her books. For example, as I'm reading to her, she is pointing out on every page where the bunny is hiding... and there isn't any hestitation like she's searching.

5 - Can drink out of a cup all by herself. We don't practice this. I only know this because one morning I came down from upstairs and I noticed that Kasey had given Robbie the sippy cup or milk and Lyssie the regular up of orange juice. The juice was gone and Lyssie was happy as a clam - no spillage anywhere!

6 - Last month we were celebrating Lyssie's achievement of 22 pounds. After being sick for two weeks, we are back under 21. But, I'm hopeful with a few weeks of good health, we'll be able to turn our little two year old around in her car seat and open up a whole new world to her! Yep, she's a peanut.

Okay, that's it for now. I am being paged from downstairs... and I now hear feet coming up the stairs. Oh - that's another one. She can go up and down the stairs without help or support. Scary!