Today, she is thriving, lively, facetious and sweet, all at the same time. She’s almost 2, and not exactly terrible two, but she has her moments.

I am so proud of who she is becoming. She is a child of music, the outdoors (when it’s warmer out), creativity and puzzles. She loves to pick out her own shoes, play with play-doh, color and paint, attempt to play guitar, sing songs, and run up and down the hallway like E.T., arms in the air, screaming at the top of her lungs. It’s cute, actually. Very, very, cute. She lets me paint her nails and she loves when I fix her hair.

People keep telling me she’s ready for a sibling. What they forget is that momma’s not ready for a sibling. We’ll talk about that possibility when her 3rd birthday approaches, but for now, I am happy with my single little Peach.

Her birthday party is going to be absolutely lovely. We’re doing a Lollipops and Lemonade theme. Are you on Pinterest? If not, ask someone to invite you ASAP! If you are, check out the board I made dedicated to her party inspiration… it’s going to be sweet (literally): http://pinterest.com/jessi_wallace/zoey-s-2nd-bday-lollipops-lemonade/

Until next time…

I’m happy to say that two of the three have already been accomplished and we’re only 17 days into 2012. Can I get a raised roof?! Yeah, baby.

Zoey no longer takes a paci.

In fact, I ended up taking it away before the new year. I think it was that week between Christmas and New Years Eve and I had that epiphany moment where I felt like I needed to do it then or 2012 was going to be difficult. I collected all of them and cut the tip off just one and gave that one to her. She basically just complained for about 30 seconds that it didn’t work, handed it back to me, then never asked for it again. That was SO MUCH EASIER than I expected!!! Seriously, paci-free for 3 weeks now and I am shocked. 21 months old… YAY!

The toddler bed transition happened January 13 and as expected, she loves it. Unexpected: she doesn’t climb out… like, ever. She stays there until we come in to get her up. She won’t get out. I don’t know if she hasn’t figured it out yet… even though she climbs in herself for bed, and we ask her to climb out herself in the morning… but during the night, she doesn’t get up. We put a baby gate up in front of her bedroom door for now so she won’t roam the house. When she potty trains, we’ll move it to the end of the hallway. But I am pleasantly surprised that we knocked out two of those goals already!

So potty training is on the horizon. I don’t think she’s ready yet, although she’s curious in the potty, she isn’t telling me when she needs her diaper changed or anything like that. So I don’t really sense a readiness yet, but we’re getting there. For now I’m trying to figure out which one to buy her. I’m torn between two:

Fisher-Price Cheer for Me! Potty

or…

Fisher-Price Ducky Fun 3-in-One Potty

Both are actually 3-in-one and have a detachable seat to go on a big potty. Both play music when the potty is used successfully. The ducky doubles as a step stool… but the Cheer for Me looks more like a potty, which might entice usage more. The ducky looks too much like a toy, which is why I am leery. I want her to see it and understand that it’s a potty, not a toy. It’s fun to use, but not to sit and play with unless it’s potty time. Get my drift?

So I don’t know yet. If I get the Cheer for Me, I can always decoupage a wood stool for her later. I might enjoy that more anyway.

Two goals down, one to go! So excited to see what else 2012 will bring…

Santa brought her some Melissa & Doug wood puzzles, Veggies Tales books, a Color Wonder kit and filled her stocking. Mommy and daddy get the credit for the table (sorry Santa, you didn’t stay up late working on that thing weekend after weekend), Veggie Tales DVDs and a Magna Doodle. The play-doh in her stocking and Magna Doodle are her favorites!

She got all kinds of fun goodies from family members, too, including a toddler-sized microfiber lounge chair. I am very thankful that no one went overboard! We were able to put everything into her room (minus the table), mostly of it fit perfectly in her toy box, and her room isn’t a disaster. Whew!

Glenn and I set a modest budget for each other and we both went over slightly, but not overwhelmingly so, and we had a good Christmas for each other.

Glenn got me:

• Willow Tree figurine – Tenderness – since it represents where I am currently as a mother
• Red Corduroy Wedge TOMS, that are FAB
• A Spice Rack that will go wonderfully with my coffee house themed kitchen
• A Paula Deen Signature Stoneware baking dish
• A new skin for my iPod

I got Glenn:

• The Fantastic Mr. Fox DVD because well… it’s pretty fantastic
• The RiffTrax LIVE Nashville DVD for The House on Haunted Hill because Glenn can be seen in the audience
• Xbox LIVE points (I figured I don’t really need to link that one)
• A Rubiks Cube Coffee Mug – because dude can solve the 3×3 and 4×4… he loves the cube.
• An Interlinear Bible that has English, Green and Hebrew translations in it

Modest and fun. Plus we all got pajamas. We all had a good amount of presents to open and then we just enjoyed my home made donuts and food after food after food.

More importantly, we got to go to church and partake in the Lord’s Supper to reflect on why Jesus was born in the first place… to die for our sins. What a wonderful way to celebrate our savior’s birthday.

Thank you, Jesus, for the many blessings I have in my life. My husband and my daughter, but mostly You.

Amen.

Merry Christmas!

She was such a cute little stinker (still is!) and I remember holding her in her monkey footie pajamas and making her giggle as I’d cover her face in kisses. Now, she’s a big kid:

…and she absolutely hates footie pajamas. She has a meltdown when her feet are covered.

This year, she hit quite a few milestones:

• Learned to walk
• Learned to talk
• Started daycare
• Made new friends
• Learned to run
• Switched to whole milk
• Tried peanut butter (have I mentioned it’s her favorite food?)
• Learned to “dip” her food (want a trick to get a kid to eat anything? Give 2 dipping options. Sour cream and guacamole are her faves)
• Learned to answer “yes” and “no” properly
• Tried chocolate
• Learned to say more than 30 words by 18 months old
• Said her first sentence (on December 17 to be exact): “I want coffee.” Oh boy…

So, what is in store for us in 2012?

Well, she’ll be 2 in three months, which is really hard for me to fathom. It also means we’re going to be……..

wait for it………….

POTTY TRAINING.

Oh Lord, please help me. I’m not looking forward to that adventure.  =x It’s the one part of parenting I always said I wished would just go away and happen over night, but I know it won’t. However, I’ve been investigating Naked Boot Camp as a method of training. What is Naked Boot Camp you say? You can read about it here: Potty Training in Three Days. This might occur during Memorial Day Weekend… it’s already a 3-day weekend in itself, plus I could take that Friday off to make it a 4-day weekend. I just don’t know yet. I know other parents who have tried it and it worked. The trick is to do it before they get to 28 months, because I guess after that age they become more defiant. I don’t want to push her. I won’t push her. But I’ll try this adventure if she’s ready. and we won’t know until we try, right?!

It’ll be nice to have less trash. I don’t care what the Diaper Genie or Diaper Champ claims… there is NO solution to rancid diaper stench. It’s horrible and hard to avoid. And by golly, I’m ready for her bedroom to smell clean!

If Potty Training wasn’t hard enough, we’re also going to convert her to the toddler bed along with the potty training, aaaaand taking away the paci. Yep, I’m going to be the mean momma who breaks her of diapers, crib and the pacifier in one year. Oh boy. Let the fun begin. =x

To be honest, if I could predict how 2012 is going to go: the crib-to-bed transition will be easy. She already plays in her friends’ beds and thinks they’re amazing so I think it’ll be pretty easy. Potty training may or may not go well. The most difficult task: the paci. It’s her BFF. However, we only allow her to have it at bedtime. She doesn’t even have it at daycare during nap. But boy, does she look forward to having it at bedtime. The only non-bedtime approved paci time is when she is severely teething. She tends to get 3-4 teeth in at once and has a really hard time with it, so we cave during that phase.

2011 has been wonderful. Full of so much adventure and so many wonderful memories. 2012 is going to be interesting to say the least. I hope I can remember to blog more often… please check in, comment, say hi… you there?

• Hubby spent the month of August in Atlanta wrapping up his last job. It wasn’t easy, but thankfully the month passed as quickly as I hoped it would.
• Hubby spent the months of September-November unemployed, which was a much-deserved break.
• Our church moved into a new building in October. Hubby being unemployed was a good thing during this time!
• Hubby has a new job as of this week and so far, loves it, and I expect it to stay that way.
• Zoey is 30 lbs at 20 months old. No more ear infections, but has had her first case of strep. With those massive tonsils, it’s no wonder.
• It’s been pretty much decided that Zoey will stay a single child at least until 2013, possibly until 2014. Unless someone has some extra cash laying around for daycare. I’ll happily take it off your hands.
• Everything else is great. I promise to blog more. it just isn’t easy when your only internet access is at work.
• Are you still there? Following? Reading? Is this going into a void?
• A photo update is needed, right?

…but also more  c o m p l e x.

Link back to my old blog here: jessiwallace.blogspot.com

The two loves of my life.