The Knight Family: So THIS is 2 AND a half....

Addie, a.k.a. Rufus, Ruthelton, Addie-Waddie Doodle all the Day, Sissaroo, and Addica, turned 2 1/2 on June 27th. This girl has always been a "character," but let me tell you that 2 1/2 is much different than just plain old 2. I thought I'd make a little list of why we are loving 2 1/2 around here.

*Her curiosity about things hasn't changed, it's just easier to explain things to her now that we know she has a MUCH better understanding. You can't really get much past her anymore!

*She's what I call "sing-songy," meaning she likes to sing, but also enjoys making up songs about the most random things. She also combines songs like Jesus Loves Me and Row, Row, Row Your Boat. It goes like this, "Jesus Loves Me, this I know, Merrily, merrily, merrily, life is but a dream (only she says something else here that I cannot quite understand).

*She prays for all her friends and family.....AND the silverware. Every night. I'm not kidding.

*Her love of using describing words continues to grow. Her new favorite: bantaskick (fantastic) and she uses it A LOT, especially to describe how she looks :)

*She LOVES to dress herself. In dresses. And that's all. I'm not sure why I bought her shorts and t-shirts for summer because she ONLY wears dresses.

*Along with dresses, she MUST accessorize!!! She's usually wearing something on her head, some sort of jewelry (mine) and princess shoes (also mine).

*She IS most definitely a PRINCESS. She has princess panties, princess pajamas, a princess baseball set, a princess fishing pole, and recently has started quite the collection of princess crowns and Barbie princesses (thanks to her Granny--not me).

*She refers to me as "Mom" more than "Mommy." Which I DON'T like so I've asked her to call me "Momma" if she doesn't want to call me "Mommy." I LOVE being called "Momma."

*She talks about getting married.....and collects flowers (clovers) from the yard for her wedding bouquet. She's going to marry her Daddy.....and her Mommy, so she says.

*Her memory astounds me. She remembers relatives who she's only met a couple times, along with their spouses and anyone else who "belongs" with them.

*If she doesn't want to do something we're doing, she says "I have an idea" and tells us what SHE wants to do instead. I like this method better than a tantrum.

*Tantrums, or meltdowns as we like to call them, DO occur in our house. Probably at least one per day. These mostly consist of crying and stomping, but sometimes include throwing her whole self on the floor. You just have to have a few of these now and then when you're 2 1/2.

*She's really good at telling directions to do something, such as a front flip. She says, "You put your hands down, then put your head down, then flip!" It's really cute listening to her explain HOW to do things....I can imagine she'll be quite the "leader" when it comes to being the big sister in our family ;)

*Her manners are GREAT...we hear a lot of "Please" and "Thank you SO much" around here lately. Just recently she has started thanking me for our meals when we sit down to eat. Melts my heart every time!

*She still can't say "breakfast" correctly and I can't even begin to think about how I would type it as she says it (it's different every day!). She usually says we're eating lunch no matter what meal it actually is.

*She is SO much like her daddy, yet I see myself in her every day. Especially when she's explaining something or talking to Lydia. It's mostly her body language and expressions. I find myself thinking, "do I really do that?" and the answer is always YES.

I could go on and on and on about my sweet girl forever. She is certainly a blessing in our lives and I look forward to watching her grow and change in the years to come. It's already going too fast...so we're trying to cherish each and every day, including both the good and not so good moments of 2 1/2!