Oden Adventures

I completely forgot to take pictures of Vianne on her 25th monthiversary I finally decided I'm not going to be able to keep up with the monthly pictures and updates on the 8th of every month but I'd still like to record the Cuteness of Vianne Rose here, as much as I can get to it.

We're already 3 months into her being two - and it's been a wild ride.  Definitely having our share of "Terrible Two" moments as our little ladybug discovers her will and her opinions, with emotions very close to the surface...but overall, there is still so much sweetness and cleverness and joy and she's learning, with help, to calm herself down and avoid full-blown meltdowns/tantrums.

She is ridiculously verbal and she is constantly amusing us with the way that she express herself through speech. 

She loves to crawl into bed with Mama and/or Daddy and snuggle into the pillows and pull the blanket up over herself, which she calls getting "cozy and cozy".  She also asks to get "cozy and cozy" when she wants to be tucked in at night.  Not sure where this phrase came from, but it sure is cute!

According to Vianne, everything is always going to happen in "one minute".  If you ask her what time it is, it's always "Eight".  A sandwich is a "swannich", lemonade is "yemyade", and look is "yoot", but in the past tense, it takes on more of a 'k' ending.  She says emphatically, "Where is my [insert noun]?  I yooked and yooked and I tan't find it" - and often she hasn't even begun to look for the thing.  (Hard c's are generally t sounds, and l's and z's are still y sounds, and g's sound like d's - which makes for a very cute "toddler accent" all around.)

For the past few months, she has gotten a big kick out of calling me "Amy" and her Daddy "Patrick" (which sounds more like Patritt).  Sometimes when she's trying to get out of her nap, I hear "Aaaaa-mmmyyy" from the bedroom.  Whenever Patrick's phone rings or I get frustrated with something like my computer, she calls out, "Paaa-triiiitt!" (in the same tone I usually use).

Things I particularly love: Whenever she sees a power line tower or similar structure, she exclaims that it's the "Eiffel Tower...like Mama's".  Whenever I wear a skirt or dress or a blouse (especially if she hasn't seen it before), she says, "Pretty dress, Mama!" with this adorable awe in her voice.  She also feels that every flower she sees needs to be picked for me.

She has a razor-sharp memory, and remembers seemingly everything, from stuff that happened a month and a half ago while we were in Oregon (like if we're cleaning up her room, she says, "Clean up! Clean up!  Everybody clean up!...that's what Jenny says!") or which pages in her vast array of coloring books she colored with whom last week.

We talk a lot about her baby brother coming soon.  She seems to be pretty excited, especially when we bring out a new piece of equipment or something baby-related and we talk about how he will use it.  (Mama did a boppy demonstration the other day, for example, and now she likes to replay what it's for...)  She still likes to stick out her belly and say he's in there, and she's also getting a little bit more into feeling him kick on mine (but he does it so much, it doesn't require as much waiting as it used to).  We are anxious & excited to see her in action as a big sister.  She has been taking such good care of her baby dolls lately (feeding them milk, changing their diapers, giving them rides in the stroller) that it will be fun to see how this translates to a real live wiggling, noisy baby!