Brielle as a 2-year-old

We're enjoying getting to know Brielle as a 2-year-old!

She's looking less like a baby and more like a little girl. It helps that she's 3 feet tall now! Her hair is still short and hasn't needed a haircut yet, but that's just because it keeps curling up. She's going to have the wavy hair her Mommy always wanted.

So, is Brielle exhibiting signs of the "Terrible 2s"? In some ways she is. Sometimes she has a reduced frustration tolerance, particularly when she's tired. And sometimes she insists on taking her clothes off because she loves running around naked. It takes a lot of extra time to change her diapers and to get clothes on her, but it's not because she's screaming and crying. Instead she laughs and runs away, so there's actually a real cuteness to her defiance, and it's only a problem when Mommy has a limited time before having to go to work.

She's on the path to becoming potty-trained. She sometimes requests a sit on the potty and will show a prideful smile when she goes. But most of the time she uses the opportunity as an excuse to have her clothes removed so she can run around naked. Oh well.

Brielle is talking more and more. There are many monologues that we can't yet understand, but we love to hear them. The cutest thing she says now is "Her turn!" (instead of "my turn"). If we sit in a chair she wants to sit in, she tries to push us out of the way, saying, "her turn!". We think that she learned this at daycare...maybe when she wants to ride a toy or sit on a potty that another girl is using the teacher says, "it's HER turn".

Much to our delight, Brielle loves art. She enjoys drawing, playing with stickers, and especially painting. It's not the cleanest activity, at least the way she does it, but she has a lot of fun.

Brielle continues to enjoy dress-up. Her favorite items continue to be shoes and hats. For her birthday, we got her a cape...

...and our little super-hero sprung into action!

This last month, Brielle enjoyed yet another birthday celebration with Grammy Barbara and Kelly.

At the end of our visit with Papa Duane and Nana Karen, they provided us with photos they took on their camera. I wanted to include some of my favorite shots they took...
We don't have many photos that include both me and Kraig.

Brielle loved saying "Papa" and was instantly attached to Duane. Even now, whenever she's near the guest room door, she points to it and says, "Papa?"

Brielle continues to love physical activity, particularly kicking the ball and jumping off of any object she can climb on.
And she loves to dance.

Brielle is looking forward to yet another birthday celebration and visit with Granddad Scott tomorrow.