Suri's Top 5 (2.6)

                                       

Suri is 2&1/2 years old today!

Earlier this week, someone asked me how old my daughter was and I replied, she will be 2.5 on Friday... I guess I am somewhat attached to each & every last minute of having a little girl who is only "2 "years old.  And now today, officially have a little girl who is 2 &1/2 years old (gulp, sniff sniff).  I can hardly believe how fast time is flying but so happy to partake in the ride of watching my little girl grow up. As Suri's likes to say " I am 2 but will soon be 34 like you Mommy"! I am sure that day will come soon enough my dear... but until then,, I want to enjoy every moment of you being 2 : )

• Loves to RIDE anything with wheels! Her tricycle, her big girl bike and her balance bike to name a few of her favorites.
• Loves to play "stuck in the mud" he make believe game she likes to play as she likes to rescue you with her rope.... She is also into Fairy Wings and pretending. 
• Loves to paint her nails and my nails and her dolly's nails...
• Loves to SING loud! (twinkle twinkle little star & Itsy Bitsy Spider are her favorites right now)
• Social beyond words and full of questions. Her newest thing is to ask everyone "what's your name"?. She is quite the social butterfly and I am afraid the familiar cautioning your child to never talk to strangers", will never apply to her...

This past month has been another month of tremendous growth for Suri. She has learned to ride her bike with training wheels and is practicing mastering her balance bike. She loves to practice her letters and counting and is easily engaged in activities and games that incorporate either of the two activities. She loves to sing and sing loud.
Suri's awareness is definitely increasing and she is noticing many things she seemed to be oblivious to before... for example... she was getting out of the bath tub the other night and as I was drying her off, she pointed to her boobs and said " me have tiny boobies"? I validated her observation when she then pointed to my chest and said " you have big boobies" ( I guess they are big in comparison to hers... ha). I then proceeded to tell her that I am a lady and that she is a little girl. She then asks me "when I grow to be 34, I will have big boobies like you"? Astonished that I was having this conversation with a 2 year old, I once again validated her comment and proceeded to change the subject. . . Keep in mind, this little girl forgets nothing... So a few days later I was dropping her off at Mary Beth's house and one of the first things Suri tells Mary Beth is that she is 2 but when she is 34 she is going to have big boobs like Mommy!!!!  Grrrreat!  Thankfully she has only decided to share this wonderful piece of knowledge with Mary Beth!

I have reintroduced Suri's Therapeutic listening after a wonderful 3 week break of no headphones! Some of Suri's sensitivities were becoming more and more prevalent as the time passed with no music and within 24 hours of reintroducing her to an album that targeted the areas of concern, she was much more balanced and overall, a new child. Hopefully she will be able to get back to the point where she was and we will be able to attempt another break in her listening program. As skeptical as I was initially about this program(due to the fact I do not understand entirely how/ why it works despite all my efforts in educating myself), it never ceases to amaze me how powerful it is in targeting non favorable behaviors.
Suri loves to talk. And talk and talk and talk. I should have known that since she started to talk so early on, she was going to be a chatty one. I'm not sure how this noticeable characteristic is going to go over come her school days but for now, I have met many people in the neighborhood that I had never met before! Suri loves to ask people what their name is. Of course no one can just provide their name without asking her what her name is. And once they open that can of worms, Suri proceeds to tell them everything about us... that she is 2 and I am 34 and when she is 34 she will get to chew gum like mommy and so on and so forth... :)  She definitely fills her space with laughter :)

Suri has started to ride a bike! She has her new big girl bike (12in) that she is riding with minimal assistance. I truly feel the 16 inch bike fits her size in length better but it is still too tall for her. Oddly enough though, she peddles better on the larger bike. For now, we are sticking to her 12inch that allows her feet to hit the ground when she stands. She is also practicing riding her balance bike daily. This was not one of her favorite things to do initially but now that she is getting the hang of it ( we go to the mail box and back 2 times every night) she is wanting to go further and further and we have now made it around the block on it. Learning to balance is a good thing for her and she is catching on quickly!

This past week we visited Ron Whiteside at Hanger Orthotics to have him re evaluate her orthotics since she has now grown a shoe size (wearing size 10!). He feels the need to build up her left orthotic as her left knee is rotating in pretty significantly when she walks. Hopefully more support will help promote better alignment sooner than later. Other than that, she wears her orthotics inside her shoes and no one notices :)

Suri also visited the dentist for her 2nd cleaning this month. Her two year molars are in (her top right one barely made it in in time for the cleaning!) and all teeth received the green light! I hope and pray for Suri to have nice teeth as she grows, I know all too well the in's and out's of having to go through Orthodontics and I hope for her sake, she is able to maintain her gorgeous smile with out assistance :)  Luckily Suri looks forward to visiting the dentist and she is a model patient in the chair! Yay Suri. Such a brave little girl!

This morning was Suri's first day of swimming with her new swim teacher Coach Nikki. Coach Jennifer is now on maternity leave and last week she said good bye to the girls as it was their last class together. Unfortunately, our morning didn't start out so well as when I went through the garage to take out the trash, the garage door fell off the track and was literally hanging on top of my car. Beyond frustrated, I went inside to tell Suri I didn't think we were going to make it to swimming today as after getting off the phone with the garage door company, they could not guarantee a technician to the house to fix it in time to get Suri to swimming (via CAR). Suri was definitely not having it and her tears tugged to hard at my heart strings. I looked at the clock and we had  exactly 70 minutes  before swimming . . . and we did have a bike.. . so I loaded her up and off we went!!  Of course it took me over 1 hour to peddle there (as 90% of it was UP HILL) and we arrived a few minutes late and a bit sweaty but she was able to swim with coach Nikki today and was all smiles - she was also pretty happy about the cheer squd we had when we arrived ( I had to call Aqua Safe and let them know we were on our way via bike... up hill but that we WOULD be there, just a smidge late!)! Me on the other hand, was completely exhausted and am still recovering from jello legs hours later. If this happens again Miss Suri, Im sorry, but we will have to re schedule your swim class because Mommy is old and tired and my butt is too large for the non accommodating bike seat! wink. wink.

I know in my profession, I caution parents against comparing their child to others as I know each child develops at their own pace however, now as a parent myself, I can not help but compare Suri to other children her age and have to shake my head in absolute amazement of her abilities. Her conversation skills are remarkable. She holds full on in depth conversations when some of her friends that her age or older barely know their own name. She was potty trained before she was 2 years old, Her interest and thought process is developing way beyond her years & her determination is admirable. I know every parent admires their own child and feels as though they are little rock stars, but Suri Rose.... I see lots and lots and LOTS of children on a regular basis and you my dear, are way beyond your years in many ways... you are definitely MY little ROCK STAR and I will ALWAYS be your biggest cheerleader!

Suri's stats for age 2 &1/2 are as follows:

Height: 39.5 inches
Weight: 38lbs
Shoe Size: 10
Clothing Size: (shirts/ dresses size 4T and shorts & swim suits size 4/5T)
Her favorite foods are: Broccoli, yogurt, applesauce, mac n cheese, cheeseburgers, corn, and ice cream!
Her favorite TV shows are: Dora the Explorer and Go Diego Go
Favorite things to do: swim, play "stuck in the mud", play catch and do anything outdoors (even pull weeds!)
Some of the many questions she knows the answers to: The name of her church (CCV), Who the president is (President Obama), What did Jesus do for us ( He died on the cross to take our sins away), What religion are you (Christian), What does your Uncle Don do (he's a policeman & he helps people who are stuck in the mud and he chases bad guys...) What street do we live on (Becker lane), What state do we live in (Arizona)... She is one smart cookie indeed and loves to recognize familiar letters and words. She is eager to learn and is easily engaged in new learning adventures.

Suri Rose, I still can not believe you have been such a special part of my life and of this world for 2 & 1/2 years now. My love for you is indescribable and it continues to grow with each new day.  I am so very proud of the person you are.