Half Way to Five

Coralyn is officially 2 and a half years old today! Bittersweet...my little girl is growing up so fast!

This precious child brings me so much joy and can make me laugh so hard sometimes! And of course, at other times, she can make me so mad and frustrated. But I wouldn't trade her for the world.

Speaking of the world...today we were getting into our car in the Aldi parking lot, and out of nowhere Coralyn announces matter of factly, "Mommy, there's China," as she points towards an empty lot and closed down computer store. We've been learning the letter J this week, and J is for jungle, so I thought perhaps she meant the trees and such in the empty lot resembled a jungle. I guess there are jungles in China; that's where the Panda Bears live anyway. I was so off track though. As I took a closer look at our surroundings, I noticed there was a picture of the world on a clothing donation bin. That -- the picture of the world -- was China! Of course! After all, I had told her China was on the other side of the world!!! She also associates the moon being in China during the day when it's on the other side of the world! Or if she sees an airplane in the sky, and I ask her where it might be going, she usually answers, "China."

Trains, however, are almost always headed to the zoo. Why the zoo? Because when we ride the tram over to the Africa section, we pass over train tracks. So of course, train tracks lead to the zoo! Where else would they be going?! :)

Coralyn has an extremely good memory. I think if you tell her something one time, even in passing, she remembers it, forever. For example, the first time Lawrence was helping her get her swimsuit on, he mentioned it might be a little bit tricky. It was her first one-piece and so she had to step in the legs and then pull up the body part, and then finally slip her arms through and get the straps on her shoulders. Every single time since then, whenever we get her swimsuit on she explains, "It's a little bit tricky."

She also has an amazing sense of direction (which she most definitely has to have gotten from Lawrence and not me!). She could tell you how to get to the library: across the street, pass the fire station, up the hill, and then you're at the library. From there, she knows how to get to church, and loves announcing that church is on her side as we pull into the parking lot! Backing up to the point where you would cross the street to go on to the library or church, she knows if you turn right you can get to the Community Center (aka Swimming Pool) and Kinsey's house.

Coralyn with Kinsey at the park

Even more impressive though, is when we are driving along and she knows where to turn to get to Lawrence's gym -- you have to go over the highway, down other road and wind your way to the gym! Seriously!!! And lately, she points out Worlds of Fun when we are still miles away. She apparently has great eyesight as she notices the "Rollercoasters!" the very second they appear in the horizon! That announcement is usually followed by, "When I'm older, I'm going to ride the rollercoasters."

She's also going to ride a school bus when she is older. And go to high school, which we pass on our way to Chick-fil-A and Hy-Vee. She definitely knows those two places well! Chick-fil-A means storytime with Miss Julie, and Hy-Vee means several things: cheese would the be most important, followed by a car cart, and then free samples. I was so confused one day as we pulled into Hy-Vee, and Coralyn shouted out that she wanted a cookie. She has no idea that places like Wal-Mart and Price Chopper and perhaps Hy-Vee too give free cookies to little kids. She only knows the deli gives a free slice of cheese, which she is very prompt to remind me about, over and over and over again. But a cookie? Oh yes, in the organic health food section there are almost always samples of mini sunflower seed cookies. I should have remembered...

While on the topic of remembering, Coralyn can remember exactly what happens in a book, after we have read it one time. If I am busy with Kellah and can't, "Read this book, Mommy," I have Coralyn read it to herself. She will sit there and repeat the story, almost verbatim to the real text. She's really likig Curious George books right now, and if she watches an episode of Curious George on Netflix, she is super quick to point out, "Just like the book, Mommy!" The same goes for anything she sees on Diego. When we go to the zoo, she knows the specific names of animals like emus, red-eyed tree frogs, organutans, and so on. She also recognizes the difference between a turtle and tortoise!

If the girl doesn't have her head in a book, she is probably singing a song. She sings songs that I have taught her, and thus she usually sings off key, much to Lawrence's disappointment :) Or she will make up her own songs. I love listening to her sing to her animals -- all 27 of them it seems -- at nap time. And every night we have to sing her three favorites: Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star which leads into Away in a Manager (the stars looking down at Baby Jesus must be the same!), and then we end with "Wee Little Man." But with her memory, I am afraid that this list is going to get longer and longer over time. The other day she requested, "Round and Round" (which is about David and the stone that killed Goliath). I had just introduced that one the day before when we were in the car on the way home from the zoo. To keep her from getting grumpy and waking up a peacefully sleeping Kellah, I started to sing songs with Coralyn. "Another one, Mommy!" the second we would finish each song. After about 30 minutes of non-stop singing, I was running out of songs! And another frequent request lately has been "Larry" which means Veggie Tales, as we recently found it on Netflix. She started singing, "Keep Marching" the other day when she saw the picture of Joshua and Jericho in her Storybook Bible.

Her knowledge of the Bible and things related to God and Jesus is growing as well, which blesses my heart to no end. Each week when we learn a letter, we memorize a short Bible verse to go along with it. She can quote them all from A to J, with very little help! I play the "So Big" game with Kellah, but I change it to "This Much" and ask her, "How much does Mommy love Kellah?" and then stretch out her ams as I say, "This Much!" We always end with, "How much does Jesus lvoe Kellah?" and I make the "This Much" even bigger, and louder. I then remind the girls, "Jesus loves you the most." So now when I ask Coralyn, "Who loves you the most?" She doesn't even hesitate before saying, "Jesus!" Well...sometimes she will be honery, and smile when she answers, "Not Jesus!" She surprised me the other day when I asked her, "How do we know God loves us," and she aptly repsonded, "because Jesus died on the cross." I love that she was reading her Bible all on her own the other day during nap time. At that point I was delighted she wasn't sleeping! :) I also enjoy hearing her pray, "Amen. Thank you for sending Jesus. Thank you for the new day. Thank you for the food. Amen." No matter what meal, or what time of day, that's the prayer Coralyn will pray. I can't wait for the day she prays to tell Jesus she trusts Him as her Savior!!!

"What else?" As Coralyn would say. She tends to try to enlongate our bedtime conversations so she can stay up just a little longer. So, when we go through everything we did that day, she always asks, "What else?" She does the same thing when we talk about all that we are going to do tomorrow when she wakes up. "And what else, Mommy?" no matter how many things I have already mentioned!

So, what else? Oh, yes. She now does a good job of telling people her name when they meet her for the first time. Coralyn can also inform them that she is 2 years old and that her birthday is on October 6. To go a little farther, I've started working on her with our address. When I ask her, "Where do you live?" She answers, "The United States." So I agree and then try to get a bit closer to home and explain that we live in "Liberty, Missouri," which she can now tell you herself. A few days ago she even told me our address when I questioned her on that. I had been going through the questions: What's your name? How old are you? Where do you live? What's your address? and I guess she caught on lots faster than I expected. I should have known though, with that memory of hers!

It does scare me in some aspects! She is very good at repeating exactly what I say and how I say it. I got frustrated the other day and exclaimed, "Darn it!" annoyed at myself for whatever it was I had done or forgotten to do. Without skipping a beat, Coralyn mimicked, "Darn it!" She did the same thing with "Holy Moly," "URGH!," and "Let's go, people!" Yeah, now every time we have to stop and wait at a red light, Coralyn shouts out, "Go people, go!" much the same way that I do when the person in front of me doesn't respond to a green light as quickly as I would like. :)

A few other accomplishments:

*She knows most of her letters. Lawrence brought home a sheet used for Kindergarten Round-up, and did identified all but a few. She will point out letters on signs when we are driving. "Chick-fil-A starts with a C like me, Mommy!" was one of her most recent discoveries.

*She can count to thirteen, and then jumps to eighteen, and then eleventeen! :)

*She knows her basic shapes, and all her colors.

*She can get dressed on her own, when she wants to. She can put boots on by herself, and thus LOVES wearing her pink rain boots, ALL the time. Who cares if it's not actually raining outside?! She also seems to think that stickers are a great accessory!

And some of her favorites:

*She LOVES to eat, especially white yogurt (as she calls it) and peanut butter sandwiches. If I ask her what she wants to eat, it's usually one of those two things, or both! But make sure you put "so much" peanut butter on her sandwich.

*She really like animals and going to the zoo. We have gone so many times that she is now convinced tigers and monkeys and such live at the zoo, not in jungles or forests or such.

*She also likes going to church. "There's Miss Jeanne's car!" she will point out as we pull into the parking lot. She loves Jeanne (and so do I!). She also knows that church means animal crackers, goldfish, and other snacks that she never gets at home. When we are in the grocery store, she sees those boxes and announces, "I have those at church, Mommy!"

*She LOVES to be outside, no matter what the weather. She likes playing at the park, jumping on the trampoline, picking flowers, and anything else that involves being outside.

Coralyn is a super big sister, and friend. She remembers all the activities we do with our various friends and then thinks that the next time we go to the zoo or park or wherever, that those same friends should be there again.

Coralyn and Adi at the zoo

When we get ready to go somewhere, she will get excited, "Me, and Mommy, and Kellah, and Daddy, and me, and Kellah!" She might repeat our names several times, just to make sure we are all going to be there to get in on the fun. One of her favorite "trips" to make is into the big city (Kansas City) to go to the "big city library" (the Plaza Branch). If someone tries to come near Kellah or worse yet actually touch her, Coralyn is quite quick to act and wants to protect her little sister. She is good about bringing her toys, but doesn't always understand the concept of sharing her toys with her little sister. Of course, it's perfectly fine for her to play with Kellah's toys, though. I recenlty got out the Bumbo Seat for Kellah to use, and now Coralyn is all about sitting in it, even though she gets stuck!

Oh, yes, my little girl is definitely growing up! If I misspeak and call her little, Coralyn is very quick to remind me, "No, I"m a big girl!" She might even add, "I'm getting bigger and bigger and bigger," or "I'm so big!" stretching out her arms like I do with Kellah. I love my Coralyn to pieces and am so blessed to be her mommy. I am so very thankful for the past two and a half years with her. I pray we have many more years ahead of us to make more special memories together.

At my cousin's wedding