2 year checkup

Mariella had a fairly uneventful visit with the doctor today. There was some drama involving sitting/lying down on the table, but we managed to get her checked out with minimal tears. Jacob was a super big brother, showing her that it wasn't scary, but she wasn't buying it. She must remember getting a shot last time. Luckily for her, she's all caught up and didn't need any shots today.

She was squirming a lot during her height measurement, so it might be a little off, but she was 35 in. tall (80th percentile). She did a great job of standing on the big kid scale, weighing in at 24 lbs. 6 oz. (20th percentile). That's the same percentile as last time, so at least she didn't drop further.She's just our little peanut girl. Maybe we should have asked for sticks of butter for her birthday. =) I looked back at Jacob's weight at 2 years old, and he was 30 lbs.! Big difference, even though you really can't compare boys and girls.

We're all done with the half-year checkups, so she doesn't go back until she's 3 unless something comes up. It will be nice to only have to take each child once a year now.

2nd Birthday (pictures coming)

Happy 2nd birthday!

Birthday Haircut

Because Mariella's 2nd birthday is coming up, we decided it's about time she get her first haircut. She won't let me do anything with her hair, so it falls in her eyes all the time. Bangs were in order. As I'm loading the pictures, I realized that today is Feb. 22, which was my due date with her. It seems like as good a day as any for a birthday haircut.

Jacob got in on the fun too. He was like a pro, telling Mariella that Mommy would stay with her because he knew how to go by himself.

Mariella with her long bangs



Here she shows her enthusiasm for this milestone

 

As usual, she is thrilled with having the camera on her

Cheese! Smiles from both kids. They are both very proud of their new cuts. (Jacob had a collison with another kid at the gym this morning, which is why he has a few bruises. He's fine though.)

Go, Dog, Go!

Jacob is learning to read! He has been so interested in the sounds at the beginnings of words that we bought him a reading game to play on the computer. We thought it would be a good introduction to simple words that a 4- or 5-year-old would know. Little did we know how completely engrossed he would become with the game, playing the repetitive stories and word games over and over until he "unlocked" each new level. Suddenly, he started pointing out words he knew from the game in other places--see, stop, the. He asked what the words were in the books we read. I decided to take him to the library to pick out some books that have lots of easy words, many of which he already knew, as an introduction to reading. This is the best book!

The book is very simple to read, and all of the pictures describe the story. If he's not sure of a word, we are usually able to point it out in the picture, and he figures it out. He is so proud of himself, and we are so proud of him! We know he's really smart, and he picks up on things so quickly, but it's amazing to hear him actually reading.

(Video coming later)