Life with a 2-1/2 year old

Kim and I are finding that life with a 2-1/2 year old is very spontaneous. Today it was soooo cold outside and yet she wanted to go out and play. So we bundled up and went outside to play. She rode her tricycle all over the backyard, including up and down a gravel hill. She played on the slide, only to find her hands were very cold. So we went in and got some mittens and then all things were good outside. :)

Our family sleeping has been much better since Grandma Rickey suggested that Bagheera sleep with Alli. It's been heaven since we made that switch - both kids in the room together and mommy and daddy finally having a bed to themselves. Ahhhhh!

Alli's speech is so complete I can't believe she has more to learn. She carries on conversations very well. And for any parent that doesn't think kids learn the most by example should be shot. We see everything we do someone echoed by Alli. Right now, she asks if she can do, well, anything. It just dawned on my the other day that this was because Kim and I ask her before we do anything - something we learned to do with her in our communication exploration during the terrible twos stage.

And during this Christmas break, mommy was terribly sick. But I had Alli taking care of me when daddy was out riding. She gave me stickers and fed me tea (pretend tea from her tea set). What more could a mommy want!!!

Christmas was also quite fun with her. She asked to open everyone's presents. And we gladly said yes (except for Bagheera, who likes to open his own gifts!)

We are looking forward to seeing more changes in our little angel during the new year.

How the Big Girl Bed has Changed our Sleeping

So everyone assumes that transitioning a child from the crib to something else makes bedtime more of a hassle since they can get out of the new bed so easily. Well, that's not really the case for our family.

Alli has done a *great* job of staying in bed she goes to sleep at night. We rarely have a problem. But.... she gets out of bed when she wakes up in the morning - no matter how early. She doesn't come into our room, instead she stands in the hallway just outside her room and lets out a little cry. It doesn't matter if we tell her she can come into our room, she just stands there. So, daddy usually climbs out of bed and brings her to our bed so we can get just that extra 15-20 minutes of snoozing in.

But lately it has gotten a little worse. Now she's waking up in the middle of the night, like 2:30am and standing in the hall and letting out her little cry. We usually don't bring her to our bed if we have hours of sleep left, so one of us, usually me, takes her back to bed and if necessary, lays with her until after she falls asleep. But this has also progressed to just going to bed with her in her twin-sized bed (hence the reason it's usually me.) While it's adorable to roll over and see this beautiful little girl sound asleep, it's also, well, not such a good night sleep. When she changes position, an arm usually goes out to make sure I'm still there. Stinker! :D