Little Lou Turns TWO!

 

HAPPY BIRTHDAY EVIE MARELLE!!!  WE LOVE OUR GIRL!!  TWO YEARS OF JOY!!!

 

This past year has brought so many firsts for our precious little girl.  First playdates, first pony tails, first words, gymnastics, and first friends.  What I have loved most about our girl is her bright personality.  She is a total spazz and we love every second. She calls herself "Ev Relle" and loves to laugh at herself.  Her love for baby dolls continues and she actually could play all day long with a box of baby wipes.  She loves to clean her babies and change their diapers.  EM also loves a purse filled with all kinds of accessories: bracelets, sunglasses, "lipstick", rings, brushes, etc.  Her newest thing is that she loves to brush her hair and also brush anyone else who will let her.  We recently started doing her hair in pigtails and I could die over them every time.  She calls them "pig-toes" and always says "I-cute" when I finish with the last rubberband.  Her obsession with headbands continues and she has now confiscated a few of mine.  We have slowly eased her into calling her "nah-nah" a "night night nah-nah" and she has done GREAT about leaving it in her bed during the day and only using it in the car.  I am so relieved.  Though she is strong willed, she responds very well to being reasoned with if she is given details of the situation and her CHOICES.  The girl loves to be in charge of her own destiny.  Soo, I have found it is all in how you present the situation with this smart little girl!  Just recently, she has paired a new lovey with her beloved Meme.  It looks the same--just fresh, new, and pink and she has named it "Kitty Kat,"  Meme and Kitty Kat go everywhere with us.  Anytime she gets disciplined or does not get her way, she immediately asks for Meme and Nah-nah--self-soothing at its finest!

Her strong willed nature has shown it's true colors a time or two for sure.  If she has been put in time out for hitting her brother and then is told to say "Sorry Brother," she will LITERALLY refuse and refuse and refuse.  There is no convincing her and no matter how many times she had to sit back in time out, she would not change her mind.  It was hysterical, I mean SCARY.  Finally, I realized she just was mad at the way I was speaking to her and we were just battling wills.  Once I started talking in a sing-songy voice and dropped the firm Mommy act, she was all smiles and walked right up to that Brother and cheerfully chirped, "SORRY, BRODER!!!"  What?!  Seriously?  This has also become a funny issue (for now) when she is eating.  She tends to get ahead of herself and choke.  I will remind her to chew up her food.  Her response: Ev Relle no chew food!  To sum things up, she likes to walk into things on her own accord.  She has even gone as far as closing her eyes in pictures because I have asked her brother to smile with his eyes OPEN.  The girl is a trip.

Evie Marelle's verbal skills have sky rocketed in the last month.  She is speaking in sentences all day long.  Her favorite thing is to go around the house and ask me if something belongs to her by saying, "This is mine?"  She also loves to question my every decision by saying, "Why not?!"  I have been quite surprised at her ability to get ideas across using long broken sentences, especially since she was just grunting about 3 months ago.  She has remained an excellent eater and literally will take 20 to 30 minutes to sit and ENJOY her lunch--every single bit.  She will take that little spoon and scrape out every.little.last.bite of applesauce from each little plastic crevice.  Food is a big part of her life and it makes my life so easy in that department!!

Ev is very social and conscious of her friendships.  She loves to go through roll call if we are going to meet people for lunch.  We had our first playdate without the little girl's mother in attendance and she loved every single second.  She plays well alone, but does not like to find herself in a room alone.  I will hear her holler, "Mommy, WHERE ARE YOU?"  

Her addiction to technology has probably replaced the pacifier obsession.  Every morning she will go through requesting various gadgets in different ways no matter how many times I deny her.  She even put the words "Ipad and Itouch" into the song "He's Got the Whole World in His Hands."  Geez!!

Probably the greatest marker from this past year besides her spunky and fun nature, is her love for art.  She really and truly colors all day long.  All I have to do is draw a ton of hearts on a piece of paper and she loves to go and color in every single one.  After finishing, she will say "one more time" and do it all over again.  Crayons are our greatest ally around here...oh and stickers.  I might as well have packed up her toys the last month because she only goes into the craft closet to play.

I can't believe our girl has turned two years old.  It is bittersweet for sure.  Though she keeps us laughing, her sweet heart is what has truly won us over.  To hear her say "love you forever Mommy" or "love you SO MUCH" just kills me every single time.  She is a doll and the squishiest, squashiest, schmooshiest little thing.  Her head and heart may be old for her age, but I love that she still FEELS like a baby.  Her poor cheeks do not get a break from her crazy Mama and luckily, she has not caught on yet.  She is such a gift to us!!

Much love sweet Lulu!!!!