two!

two years.  i still can't believe it.  how is it possible that you've already been a part of this family for two years?  mostly, it feels like you were born just yesterday but i also can't imagine a day when you weren't a part of our family. 

avery, here's you at two:  

you're funny.  

you make us laugh all.the.time.  you repeat things we say back to us all the time which is both hilarious and terrifying.   

you love your baby sister.  

i'll admit it isn't always easy and you don't love her 24 hours a day but things have gotten a lot easier in the past week and you really are the sweetest with her.  you constantly want to hold her, you always come and comfort her when you hear her crying, you show her your toys, help with her diaper changes and baths, and hug and kiss her all the time.  

you're a big talker.  

your dad was making fun of me because just the other day i said that i felt like your vocabulary has just exploded, but really it has.  everything is a part of your vocabulary now and you are constantly saying words and phrases that i didn't think you knew.  you're talking in full sentences, using pronouns correctly about half of the time, and having conversations with anyone you decide is worthy of one.  the other day we were coloring and you said to charlie "look dad, i made a circle on the table".  last month you hadn't figured out that avery = i or me but now you use it all the time.  one funny thing that you say all the time is "i do", which means yes.  sometimes you use it correctly like when we ask you if you want to go take a bath but other times it's just a substitute for the word "yes".  

you love books.  

you read to your sister, to yourself, you ask your dad and i to read you books all the time.  you've really liked our christmas books this month and you're still a pretty big fan of dr. seuss.  i love watching you read and reading to you and i hope that your love for reading doesn't end any time soon.  you have a great memory and have memorized a few of the books that we read pretty frequently.  fox in socks is one of your favorites that you ask your dad to read just about every night (apparently i don't read this one fast enough or without mistakes because you never want me to read it unless he's out of town).  you also like to read this one on your own and you know what's happening in each of the pages.  you'll say "fox socks box" and "sue sews" and "slow joe crow comes" and on and on.  i think i actually enjoy watching you read the book more than your dad.  :)

you love being outside. 

you love going to the playground, going on runs in the stroller with your dad, and playing with the snow.  it's been really, really cold lately but we try and get you outside to play as often as we can.  

you love animals.  

you play with your animals all the time and are really good at identifying them.  you can tell the difference between an elk and a moose, a big horn sheep and a ram, a lizard and an alligator, a monkey and a gorilla, and many others that i won't name here.  you love to make up games and songs with your animals and had a really fun time playing with your grandma when she was out here visiting.  you're less into our animals these days and are currently in a phase where dunkin seems to annoy you a lot and you're always pushing him and saying "dunkin move".  but then you'll climb on top of him and pet his ears and grab his tail.  you're pretty lucky he's such a good dog.  you're always trying to get the cats in trouble and will tell us "toby get down" (your way of telling us that toby is on the counter) even if he's not even around.  you still love going to the aquarium and will get pretty excited if we talk about going.

you're a great helper.

you help to clean.  usually the appliances are a favorite although the other day you helped me out with cleaning the bathrooms.  you'll get out a diaper, changing pad, and wipes if i need to change ellie and will actually get upset if anyone else tries to help.  you hand us wipes while we're changing her and you love to pretend to change your animals.  

you're a great sleeper.

you sleep about 11-12 hours at night and put yourself to sleep.  you demand that i put your blankets on you when i put you in your crib.  you're also (finally) successfully napping in your crib.  we have the same routine for naps as we to for bedtime:  books, a review of our day, and then you climb into your crib.  your daddy started singing the wheels on the bus to you at nap time so you now request that during naps.  
   

aaand ....
you play imaginary games all the time with your animals, stuffed animals, the dogs and cats, and just about anything else.  you give kisses and hugs all the time and demand that we give them back.  you also will ask for a kiss if you see your daddy and i kissing.  you love the broncos and assume that every football team on tv is them.  you ask to wear your broncos shirt every day and get so excited when you wear it on game days and your daddy wears his, too.  you're cautious about new people and situations and prefer to hang back with your dad or i until you're really comfortable with new people. you love to draw and are really good at holding pens, markers, and crayons.  you're still a bit ambidextrous.  you write with your right hand but eat with your left.  you love your grandparents even though we don't see anyone as often as we would like.  you love to meet new dogs and are fearless about petting other people's animals.  you smile and laugh all the time.  even though you've started throwing some epic tantrums you usually bounce back pretty quickly.  you wake up grumpy from naps just like i do.  you take care of your bunny the way that i take care of ellie.  you hold her, dress her, cover her in blankets, feed her, and change her diaper.  you LOVE christmas: the lights, the trees, the decorations, the cookies,