Today our little Lia is 3/4 through her second year. My, how time has flown. I can't believe that she will be turning the big three in three months! She just seems to be cruising through these toddler years. I might sound like a bragging mom, but I must confess that I refer to Lia on a regular basis as "perfection in a toddler." She is just one of the most pleasant, obedient, patient, happy, intelligent, and easy-to-reason-with toddlers I have ever encountered. I truly feel that it is such a privilege to raise this little girl. She is such a blessing in my life and I am so fortunate to have her as my daughter.
For starters, I have included a few photos that papa took yesterday of Lia exploring the first snow of the season that fell overnight. He threw her snow gear on over her jammies and they headed out into the yard for a few minutes to see what this "white stuff" was all about.
Lou on the deck.
Lou in the back of the "sister wife"
And without further ado, here is a quick list of what Lia has been up to these past three months...
1. Lia has discovered the Disney princesses and Tinkerbell. As you can imagine, it was love at first sight. Although I love the fact that she is becoming familiar with this classic tales, I do not love the underlying message she is being taught that as long as you are skinny, pretty, and willing to dance with strange men in the forest, your life will be perfect. What a bunch of bologna.
2. This is one of my favorites from this past quarter...Lia has started patting our backs when she hugs us. She sometimes evens asks to hug us just so that she can do this.
3. Lia has begun washing my hands and arms while I am washing her in the bathtub. Such a thoughtful girl.
4. Lia has learned our names in the past three months and has no reservation using them when her requests are not being granted quick enough. This one still brings a smile to my face every time I hear it.
5. This one is definitely my least favorite of the past three months. Lia has discovered a high-pitched scream that she will use over and over again if she is not happy with us or something else in her life.
6. Lia continues to be very careful with most things she handles. She has many little toys that are for children older than her that she carefully plays with. I also will let her play with my glass pumpkins (from my Halloween decorations) without reservation if I am in the mood. How many two year olds can be trusted with stuff like that?!
7. Sometimes Lia will confuse 'mama' with 'papa' or vice versa. This happens all the time. However, the funniest one occurred one night when she accidentally combined the two and called me "mapa" while we were eating dinner.
8. Lia has started to grasp the concept of time and frequently uses words like "yesterday" or "tomorrow" in her sentences. She still doesn't understand the timeline behind these words and can be found saying something like "We bought the toy yesterday at the store" when we actually just bought it ten minutes earlier.
9. Unfortunately in the past few months, Lia has grown a bit of a shy bone. She can be the total life of the party if she feels comfortable, but will completely clam up and hide behind us if a stranger pays any attention to her. Hopefully this is a just a passing phase.
10. It's official--the high chair is gone! While wearing panties during our unsuccessful second round of potty training this fall, Lia accidentally peed in her high chair while eating lunch one day. Since I didn't have time to scrub it down right away, the high chair sat outside for two days. It was during this time that Lia moved right into one of our "big chairs" at the table with us and we have never looked back. She's actually doing a really good job and I am loving the extra space in my kitchen.
11. She now understands the difference between boys and girls and loves pointing out peoples' and animals' genders all the time. I'm just waiting for an embarrassing mix-up to occur one day.
12. Lia is all about manners these days and readily uses words like please, sorry, bless you, and thank you all the time. I absolutely love it! The other day, we were in a store and Lia accidentally bumped into another women and said "sorry" right away. The lady looked so shocked! Around that same time, we were in another store and I sneezed. Lia immediately said, "Bless you," and a woman in another aisle (who could only hear us) started laughing right away. That's right, my girl's polite!
13. Lia continues to love to dance to any music around; however, her new favorite is the song played at the beginning of the television show, "The Office." She will totally rock out whenever she hears that song (and maybe her mom can be found from time to time joining her). :-)
14. She is starting to become more and more independent. Lia has now started walking upstairs unannounced, shutting her door, and playing in her bedroom alone. The only problem to this perfect plan is that she is yet to figure out how to turn a doorknob and open a door. So after much banging and knocking, Ron and I always have to rescue her.
15. Lia continues to be a talking machine. Although she speaks in lengthy sentences all of the time, there are some words that she says incorrectly that I think are the cutest thing! Examples? Lia likes to say that we "pinked her toes" after we paint them pink. She also likes to play the "gingerman bread" game on the computer or enjoys "pedaling" other peoples' cats. Lia also likes to say that she "binked" us after poking us with her index finger while saying "bink." She has also discovered the phrase, "Um, I don't know," and freely uses that whenever appropriate. What a fun girl.
Well, that's it for another three months! Until my baby girl turns three....(wah!)
My father graciously agreed to man seven grandkiddies in the kitchen so that the rest of the adults could enjoy a peaceful dinner in the dining room. WHAT A GUY!
One of the items on the program's agenda was reenacting the nativity story while Eric read Luke 2. Natalee produced some of the cutest nativity costumes for the kids and Lia was lucky enough to be the angel. She dawned the princess-like angel dress and wings and immediately began requesting to wear her "glass slippers." So dang cute!
The gang all lined up before "show time."
Here are Lia and her cousins admiring baby Jesus after their performance was over. Please notice Riley's hair spilling out through the crown's prongs--just like what every wiseman's hair looked like 2000 years ago.
The final portion of the evening was the lighting of the candles on the Christmas tree and the singing of "Silent Night"--this is a German tradition that my father did with his family growing up that he passed on to us. I always loved doing this as it brings such a special Christmas spirit to the evening.
Lia's older cousin, Brynn, helping her snuff out one of the candles at the end of the evening. 
Lia opening up one of her gifts on Christmas morning with the help of Grandma (while wearing her new Ariel dress...compliments of her wonderful North Carolina cousins).
