Tera Evelynne: Two and a half!

I have done this blog posts for my kids since Tera was born (2.5 years ago today!), and you’d better believe that I’m not going to stop now! For the first year, I do a monthly post, and then for the second year I switch to every three months and now I’m doing every 6 months.

I cannot believe that my tiny little Tera is now TWO AND A HALF YEARS OLD. 30 months old.

From this:

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To this:

 

Weight: 25 pounds!!

Eating: Tera is a fabulous eater…when she wants to be. She has gone through several phases recently involving food that have frustrated Theo and I to no end. One was the “no chewing” phase, where she would put her food in her mouth and then REFUSE to chew and swallow. Thankfully, we worked through that one fairly quickly. Next, Tera went through a phase where she just refused to eat, period. Thankfully, she got hungry enough that that didn’t last too long, either. Now, we are in a generally picky stage. I have done some reading on it and read that it’s perfectly normal for her to be picky and that I just need to wait it out. She still eats a fairly wide range of things, but she won’t try anything new and veggies are a battle.

Otherwise, she is a fabulous eater and LOVES to pick what she can eat (Breakfast: Eggs or Oatmeal? Lunch: PB&J or Grilled Cheese?). She also loves to help me cook!

Sleeping: My 2.5 no longer takes naps. BOOOOOHOOOOO. Tera, if you are reading this as a young mother, I hope you know what you have done to me at this young age. No, but seriously. We took away her pacifier at the beginning of December, and she quit napping then. She will lay in her bed and sing and talk and play and jump around, but no napping. She probably actually falls asleep once a week. We are working on teaching her the new rules for “rest time”, and I’m adjusting to having a non-napper.

She sleeps GREAT at night…no problems there! 12 full hours of glorious rest, and then she pops up and is ready to GO!

Clothing/Diapers: We are in 24 months/2T and size 6 shoes. Tera is officially potty trained, but when we do wear diapers, they are size 4s.

Personality: Where do I even begin to explain this girls personality??? Oh, how I love her so. She is very reserved and observant when we are with other people, but she sure does shine at home! I would not classify her as “shy”, because she loves being around people. But when she is around people, she would rather just watch than join in. Many people have commented to me that they’ve never heard her say a word, but I can assure you that when she is at home, the words do not stop!!

This girl is intelligent and orderly. She is very particular about where things go and how they must be put away. She doesn’t need a bib to eat because she is so neat when she eats. She is responsible and I don’t feel like I have to hover when she is around Kiah. She does an excellent job mothering him. We also are fairly sure that Tera is left-handed! I’m interested to see if she sticks with that as she grows and how it will affect her personality.

This kid is hilarious and she knows it! She is getting to the stage where she says the FUNNIEST things, and I just love hearing the ideas that come out of her head!

Despite being laid-back, mild-mannered and so, so sweet, we have indeed hit the defiance of two. I can tell that Tera is really testing her boundaries, and this is SO challenging as a mother because I need to make sure that she has clear boundaries. I think for her personality, especially, she needs those boundaries to feel safe and secure. Tera is very black and white. If someone told her not to do it, she has a hard time doing it (unless she is being directly defiant, in that case…). When we had guests last weekend, they told their daughter that it was juice in the sippy cup (because you gotta do what you gotta do), when it was actually water. Tera was very quick to correct them: NO, it’s water! Oh, sweety. She is totally going to be that kid correcting all the other kids when she herself is breaking rules. I know because that was me! Haha!

Developments/Milestones:

  • Potty Trained!! Woohoo!
  • Speaking in full sentences
  • Can skip/hop, run and jump

  • Can button her own coat and put on her own shoes (it only takes 578 hours, but she can do it!)
  • Knows all of her basic colors, can count to 20 (with some help), can sing half of the ABCs

Likes:

  • Animals (when she sees one, she wants to pet it!)
  • Kiah (especially when she gets to hold him!)

  • Playing with Daddy
  • Going to the park
  • Being outside in general!
  • Seeing her cousins, Grandparents, Aunts and Uncles
  • Bath Time
  • PB&J, Mac and Cheese, Grilled Cheese, Cheerios, Sweet Potatoes, Chicken

Dislikes:

  • Napping
  • Obeying
  • Being asked to do something independently

What we are Loving at this stage: Oh, this stage is SO FUN! Tera is learning so much and I just LOVE seeing her own little person develop! She talks and talk and talks all day long and the things she says are SO FUNNY. She loves to help me and is my shadow wherever I go. She is creative and so eager to learn, and she loves being outside, just like her Daddy and Mommy. We are loving so much having a two year old.

What we are Struggling with at this stage: Oh, the defiance. It’s so hard to jump into this world of parenting/disciplining. Half the time we feel like we have no clue what we are doing. NO CLUE. But by the grace of God, we are seeking to be consistent and raise a child who understands right from wrong and also understands what consequences are, even if they are no fun. I also have to admit that i struggle with the constant shadow. Sometimes I just need a few minutes without someone needing me!

 

 

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3 comments

  1. Nancy says:

    Ha ha! I guess Tera is doing to you what you did to me … stop taking naps at a much too young age! The nice thing about dropping the nap, though, was early to bed at night which gave me a very long evening.
    What a beautiful child, by the way. 🙂 I miss her so much.:(

  2. Nancy says:

    Ha ha! I guess Tera is doing to you what you did to me … stop taking naps at a much too young age! The nice thing about dropping the nap, though, was early to bed at night which gave me a very long evening.
    What a beautiful child, by the way. 🙂 I miss her so much.:(

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