Today is Alethea’s twenty-three month birthday.  Happy birthday, Sweet Girl!

Thus begins our last month before Alethea turns two and while a part of me feels like she’s still a baby, it is becoming more clear every day that we have a two year old in the house, at least in attitude, if not yet in age.  Power struggles and melt-downs are par for the course around here lately.  It was so bad this week that I took her to the doctor to see if she had an ear infection.  Our pediatrician checked her ears and pronounced them ‘perfect’ and told me that her official diagnosis was that Alethea had a little cold and a “case of The Twos.”  Wonderful.

While this month has been by no means free of conflict between Alethea and her parents, our girls continue to get along beautifully.  Alethea likes showing Lydia toys and giving her hugs and kisses.  She ‘helps’ with diaper changes, baths and putting Lydia down for naps.  She does however draw the line at being in pictures with her sister (after all, everyone has their limits).

Alethea and Lydia were playing together sweetly... right up until I pulled out the camera.

In addition to interacting more with Lydia, Alethea has also increased her ability to communicate with the adults in her life.  She hasn’t quite made it to using complete sentences on a regular basis, but she does generally use two or three word phrases when talking to others.  Some things she says frequently include ‘rock chair’, ‘sing song’, ‘breakfast time’ and ‘shoes on’.

Of course, she also says and does things that are amusing, like sometimes when she screams I’ll say, “Alethea, why are you screaming?”  She’ll hold up her puppy and pass the buck, “Dee, screaming!”  Then I tell her, “Could you please ask Dee to use words if he is frustrated?”  Then she’ll look Dee right in the eye and say, “Use words!”

Another funny moment: Alethea tried to put on Baby Doll's jammies!

Alethea’s current dislikes are: being told what to do, chunks of anything in her food (i.e. tomatoes in her pasta sauce, strawberry bits in her yogurt), coming in from playing outside, coming upstairs from playing downstairs, faces with eyes closed (she thinks you are sad if you close your eyes), as well as anything she deems dirty, messy or icky.

Her favorite things haven’t changed a whole lot, but a few new loves include: Peter Rabbit (both the book and her stuffed animal), bananas, headbands, raspberry yogurt (because it doesn’t have chunks), polka-dots, her sunglasses and PB&J sandwiches.  The later two working in tandem with spectacular results:

All the cool kids eat PB&J

Another admittedly odd new favorite this month is baby wipes.  She pretty much has to have a baby wipe with her at all times.  It started when she had a cold and I gave her a wipe to clean her nose.  She’s over the cold now, but she still has to have a wipe before and after naps/bed and whenever she has her diaper changed.  And don’t try to give her one you gave her earlier, she wants it to be fresh from the package.  I’m indulging her at the moment, but hoping she’ll give up the habit soon, since I’m getting tired of finding wet wipes crammed into random corners all over my house.

So while Peter and I begin to explore the world of toddler discipline, we are also taking time to enjoy Alethea’s increased ability to communicate, her developing sense of humor and the fact that she is so readily embracing her roll as big sister.  We are also looking forward to celebrating Alethea’s second birthday next month!  Stay tuned for pictures as I pull together her “polka-dot cupcake” themed party.