Betsy at 2 1/2 years

It seems impossible that Betsy will be 3 this summer. She's not a "baby" any more and while I LOVE watching her grow, it's so sad at the same time. I sure love her being my little girl! I thought I would update everyone on Betsy and what all she is doing.

Betsy weighs 25 pounds and is 35 inches tall. She is in the 90th percentile for her heighth and only in the 10th percentile for her weight. She is really tall and really skinny. This makes pant shopping so difficult. She needs the length of a 3T but the waist of an 18 month old. Impossible! That is why I love spring/summer so much because I can get her size 18/24 leggings and it doesn't matter that they are short...because they are just leggings and no one can tell. True story I actually put her in a pair of 18 month capris that I bought her last YEAR but they were too big in the waist. I put them on her this week and THEY FIT! Poor little tiny girl! They were short since they are supposed to be capri pants but they just came below her knee so they looked really cute, like long shorts. Hehe!

Okay so anyway, Betsy is AMAZING with her speech. She is talking all the time and repeats alot. Some words are still difficult for her but she will still try to say just about anything. She is also starting to string three words together which is EXCELLENT. That's just about where she should be developmentally. She is still seeing Sooner Start for her speech and she will continue to see her until she turns 3 because she really wants to see if she will qualify for speech at a school. We are starting to think she won't since she is doing so well but I kinda hope she does since I would really like all the help I can get for her.

We haven't been teaching her any more sign language since we don't feel it's necessary since she can pretty much say what she is wanting/needing. She knows 27 signs and will occasionally still use them but will also speak the word as she signs. It's pretty cute. Betsy can count to 10 and will also say 11, 12, 16, 17, 20. She recognizes and can say circle, square, oval, rectangle, triangle, diamond, star and heart. She knows red, pink, black, yellow, blue, green, purple, orange and sometimes white. If you ask her to draw a circle she can. We are working on the alphabet and only a few times I have heard her sing along and she will say B, N, O, P. If I ask her to say them then of course she won't but if I catch her off guard she will say them. She's a stinker! When I ask her name she will say Betsy and she can spell her name like this: B, E, S, Y. She skips the T. When I write out her name she can identify each letter of her name and then says, BETSY!!

I think she is really smart. She pays very close attention when we are teaching her things and she catches on very quickly. She loves to sing songs and her favorite right now is "Rise and Shine" and she sings along great even if she can't say all the words. :)

We worked for a while on potty training last month but she really wasn't getting it. Only twice did she accidentally pee in the potty and when I made a BIG DEAL over it and really celebrated, she totally didn't understand. I put it off and will start working with her on that again soon. She will occasionally tell us when she has pee-peed and so I think she might be ready to potty. I put her on it the other day and she didn't even want to stay so I didn't push it. I figure eventually she will learn so why push it?

She loves to dance and will dance to ANYTHING! She's active alllll day long and crashes at night and for naps. She is a great sleeper, still goes to bed at 8 pm and wakes up at 8 am...sometimes 9. She takes a 2 hour nap every afternoon. She loves going to her Mother's Day Out Program and has so much fun there. She likes her teacher and her teacher absolutely adores her and that makes me feel good.

She is starting to really push her limits and likes to say "NO" alot. I really don't know how to tell her to not say "NO"..I mean how would you teach that? She is into this throwing stage and will literally grab and throw EVERYTHING!! It really wears me out by the end of the day and I know she's just gonna keep pushing. We don't spank or swat her hands or anything like that but she most certainly sits in time-out and this past week she has been there quite a few times. I'm not sure why she does things so much to get in trouble it's not like I don't give her enough attention. I guess she is just testing her boundaries but when she throws toys at me and she gets in trouble and goes to time-out I just wonder WHY she keeps doing it??? The result will always be the same girlfriend so keep on keeping on. I guess it's just her age. She's becoming independent. She says, "I do it" and "I hold it". She's a pistol and no doubt in my mind she would be the firecracker of the trio.

She continues to amaze us every single day. I remember her being so tiny and to watch her grow and do "big girl" things really makes my heart smile. She's my girl.