Two and a half is an amazing age.

I mean, so far every age has been amazing in its own unique way... but right now I'm fascinated. Frustrated, but fascinated. I can see little bits of the individual to come appearing every day in C. We're in the "ME do it!!!" stage right now. And the funny thing is, she actually CAN do most of it. It's just a matter of being willing to step back and let her. Which we've been good at all along, but now suddenly I'm more reluctant. Probably because most of what she wants to do for herself now involves a lot of mess potential. LOL

One thing that's great is her eagerness to help. She's so keen on proving that she can do things, that if I just ask her if she'd like to "help mommy" then she's right there. This morning's project was changing bedsheets. She was totally willing to strip off her bed for me - probably just because doing so reveals a great bouncing surface, but anyway. She still wanted to help!

She's just now finished having a picnic with her little dollies, which she arranged all by herself including all the dishes and play food. Then she went to the fridge, got the apple juice, poured it into her little pitcher and put it back, all without asking for help. Of course there was juice dribbled down the hallway, but surprisingly none on the floor in the kitchen!

Then of course there's the dressing/undressing and all that fun stuff.

And our biggest accomplishment at the moment is, she's actually settling into her "big girl bed". Right now it's just a twin mattress on the floor, we haven't set up the frame yet. But last night was the third night there. The first two nights she woke up in the wee hours and came into our room, but last night she slept right through til 6:30. So there IS hope that she'll be totally out of her crib before the next one arrives!!!