twenty-three months

I really could go on and on and ON about how this month was the best month yet and about how I wish I could bottle up her cuteness forever and ever. She has us in hysterics pretty much all day long.
She goes to bed with a book all by herself now, no struggle, no pleading, just a goodnight hug and a kiss. I tuck her in and tell her that I love her after we read her stories and she says "Night, Night Mommy, sleep tight. BYE!"
The predictability is so refreshing and welcomed when you have a baby in the house. The two year old? She's got nothing. She doesn't even scratch the surface of difficult. I would have fifteen kids if they came out like Renee is right now and stayed that way forever. FIFTEEN.

I curse the day that I took her to the playground all excited to show her the swings and the slides and the bridges because now whenever we are outside or driving in the car all she can talk about is how she wants to go to the playground RIGHT NOW. She says HAVE IT! when she sees a slide in someone's yard and then she repeats her request to play on it over and over and OVER until I find myself begging her to please just shut up already. 
She loves puppies and bunnies and when she sees someone walking with their dog she says "HAVE HIM." And Ski and I just laugh because the dog? It is SO not happening. I can't even handle the kids and the cats, can you imagine life with a dog? SHOOT ME. I have to admit she makes it sound pretty appealing though when she says "Please, have him, Mommy?"
She's fallen in love with TV and if we're not outside with her she would prefer to sit on that couch and belly up to the milk bar and watch Go Diego Go! I love how when I ask her if she wants to watch Diego she says Go Diego Go! Like she is telling me that I'm getting the name of the show all wrong. I absolutely love how she puts up her pointer finger and says "ONE show, Mommy. ONE show!" circumventing the limit she knows is coming. And each and every time I turn on the show she follows up that request with "Glass of Milt." She still begs for milk pretty much all day long. Given the choice of ice cream and milk the girl would take the milk.

I would have promised her a lifetime of chocolate when I was on maternity leave if she'd just sit on the couch and watch FIVE MINUTES of a show and now I'm back to pushing the blocks and the trains and the Little People. I think if Cameron had been born when she was 23 months old I would significantly less wrinkles.
It makes me smile every single time I warn her to be careful doing something or tell her that we are going inside in five minutes and she looks at me and says "O-tay."
She apparently doesn't like big diggers because with all of the construction around town right now she spends pretty much all of our car rides saying "No like digger, Mommy, no like big digger." I tell her that I don't like diggers either and that we should go get our nails done instead.

She doesn't like me to take her picture anymore and says "Mommy, no picture"  with a whine when I get the camera out. You'd think she'd be used to it seeing as how I've had the thing plastered to my forehead since the day she was born. She glares at me when I try to take her picture.
I love how she says "EWWW" when I change Cam's dirty diaper or when one of the cats puke in the house. Her brother is always going for her hair and the tattling has already started. If you get him too close to her she says "Cammon, no pull my hair or Cammon no tickle me." I love that grammar is all wrong.
She has started to play pretend, feeding Elmo grapes and blueberries and building houses with staircases with her blocks. She LOVES playdoh more than anything else in the world and sort of wants to like finger painting. She likes it for the first few minutes and then decides she wants her hands washed.
She pees on the potty almost every night before bed and we are getting ready to make a run at potty training. She is interested and understands it. I'm still a little concerned that she is still waking up with pretty wet diapers in the mornings and I know that is one of the signs that I'm supposed to be looking for but I figure we should at least try it now while she interested and loves to read her potty books.

She's a sweet little girl, my Renee. There are so many days when I look at her and I just can't believe how lucky I am to be her mom. I can't believe how much I took for granted when she was a baby and I can't believe that I ever once thought she was difficult. She shares better than any kid I have ever seen, giving her brother toys without prompting and has always been a good sleeper and a good eater. She rolls through changes easily as long as mom and dad are close by. She's still pretty shy around people that she doesn't see very often. I have been putting together pictures of the last year for her birthday coming up and my heart breaks when I see how much she has grown, how much she has changed, how independent she has gotten in the last year. I love her at twenty-three months as much as I have ever loved another stage of her life and I love that little girl more than I have ever loved another human being. I am so incredibly proud to be her mommy.

Comments

[Nicole]

Could that little girl get any more gorgeous?! I LOVE her hair and can't believe how much it has grown! I remember 22/23 months being a pretty fun time with both Cooper and Maren - they were still so sweet! (Not that they aren't sweet now - it is just less of an all-the-time-thing and more of a when-they-want-to-be-thing.)

And good luck with the potty training! Both C. and M. started showing interest at 22 months, and I think had I stuck with it, they would have trained.

[beejo]

she is so beautiful. i am loving this age too.

[anne]

Not sure Renee and Ryan are destined to be together anymore...he ADORES diggers, and could care less about milk.
Cute pictures!!

[Becky]

She is sooooo freakin' CUTE! I can't stand it. Her curls...wow! Do people ask you if you curl it every day? Regan always gets that question with Jillian. I told her to start saying "yep, it takes like an hour and she just sits still while I do it" just to see peoples reactions. So in two months are you going to keep saying she is 25 "months" or upgrade her to the 2 year old post category? Hard isn't it? She is officially your big girl! And Cam is your little guy. Fun age. You can take the 3 year old for a spin if you want...guaranteed you'll give him back! This age is harder than two...

[mrs. chicken]

This is the best age, and she is positively edible in her little Tea outfits.

And PS: You win mom of the year medal for letting her paint at your DINING ROOM TABLE.