June 2003 I am really trying hard to try to learn and say the right words for things. When mom reads a book – I point to the picture and her mouth to get her to say the word for me. I know that there are a lot of letters out there – I point to them in books and get mom to repeat them. I know an O whenever I see it! I like mom to tell me all the other names of letters. I can say blanket now (B-dee). When we go to sleep – mom has to have her 2 ducks and I have to have Ted. I like it if the cat is with us as well. She is really fun. I try to get close to her and call her “toot-toot-toot” whenever she is near. I will kneel down and walk with my knees to get closer and closer. I know the color red – because it is like Murray Wiggles shirt! Dad got a remote controlled truck (Hacksaw) – I liked it until it started to move! Yikes!! Mom and I were building with blocks of wood and had left them in place when dad started up the truck – so dad ended up knocking down the blocks with the truck! I couldn’t believe it!!! I tried to put the blocks back in the box – but then the truck was hitting the box! It was terrible!! I figured out that there are leftover chocolate eggs from Easter in a box on the kitchen table. I learned to climb on the kitchen chair for that!! I get up there and say “Co-Co” so I can have some chocolate. While getting stuff ready for our trip to Florida, mom gave me a shovel. I was so excited!! I ran to the cat box and took off the lid – I was so happy mom got me my own shovel so I could help scoop poop. But, she came running and snatched it away from me. I’m not sure why she wasn’t happy I was helping?? We had a great trip to Destin, Florida. I got to meet my cousins Min Su and Toby and lots of other family I haven’t seen since I was just born or not at all! I had my 2nd birthday. I got some great new trucks, new clothes, and some Thomas the Train sheets that I love to sleep on! We had a great time in the pool – some days I didn’t want to get in – and other days I would jump off the edge into mom and dad’s arms! On the way back I had had enough of the driving and had a major melt down in the Concord Mills food court in North Carolina! Now that I am 2 – I guess it is time to start drawing the line sometimes and putting my foot down when things are getting too much for me – and I had had enough driving!!! When we got home – I was obsessed with walking sideways – not sure why – but that was pretty fun for a while! I can say “fooos” (for shoes) and “Moor” for more. July 2003 I had my 2 year check up at the doctor. No shots this time – yeah!!! The doctor said I had a very unique personality and that I was growing just fine. I was so calm that a medical student got to feel my belly. I can say “four” when counting – and sometimes “five” and I try to count off on my fingers – only the first finger comes out by itself – but I am still working on it. I can say house (hou-ffa) and can put two words together “Go-ousside” “Moam – puuuusha” (as in mom push me around the house in the truck! Our neighbor, Tina, is coming to watch me some mornings while mom and dad work. We have a great time. I call her “T.” I know when she leaves she goes to “T hou-ffa.” I like walking on the street and pointing out her house. I also found out I can say “now” – I don’t really use the word – I just like to hear myself say it – “now-ow.” One morning mom tried to get me to leave the house without breakfast. I ran to the kitchen and said “Dad fix-a food” trying to get her to understand why I didn’t want to leave the house! I knew trying to get her to cook something was a lost cause! Dad started a cake decorating class and mom and I like to walk through the house waving our arms singing “Dad’s gonna bake a cake.” I love dad’s icing (and the cakes, of course). I like to dust with mom – I have my own small duster – we sing “bless, bless, bless the house” and go outside and “shake-shake-shake” the dusters clean. Mom let me push the stroller up the street one day and I stopped at the top and pointed down one street and then the next and pointed and said, “this way, that way” just like she does. I really like books – I can “read” them to myself if mom and dad won’t read them. I am starting to like Hacksaw the remote controlled truck. I even helped dad drive it with the remote!! I like to sing with mom – we sing the goodbye songs to 'Bear in the Big Blue House' and 'Out of the Box'. I also like to play the “does _____ have a tail” game. We name everything we can think of and say if it has a tail (just for clarification – the cat has a tail, but mom does not!). I know the letters O, U, T, and lowercase i. August 2003 I say “Ah-win” for my name. I still love to repeat EVERYTHING mom and dad say – they are going to have to start being more careful! I got a puzzle with alphabet letters that has a picture of something underneath. I can find C (for cat) and I (for ice). I LOVE cars. And since I have started to notice letters and numbers, I have also noticed that cars have their own symbols. Chevy is my favorite. I love to stroll with mom and stop and look at the front, back, sides, and wheels of any car that I get close to and get her to tell me what they are. If we are going through the parking lot you better distract me or be prepared to revel in every Ford, Mazda, and Cougar (cat). I can use 3 words together now pretty easily. I love the cat – and I like to yell at her for no reason and also to get as close as I can to her to pet her. I like it when she sniffs me. Sometimes I get mom to pet the cat. I still like to say “now” – and typically I like to follow it with “ow” - “now” “ow” “now” kinda in a southern drawl. It sounds so cool! I can also say “all done” when we are done doing something or if we run out of something. And if I do something right – I say “I did it.” I now know the colors red, yellow – and sometimes green and blue. I like to draw with markers. I went to Kiddie Camp for a week. I had a great time – there were 9 other kids there that I liked to watch. We took turns sliding on the 2 slides. They had a lot of great stuff to run around on, climb on, and jump on. There even was a giant Whopper Hopper one day that we climbed in and jumped on – I was a little scared the first time but I asked to go back the other two times! We painted a t-shirt, sang songs, made crafts, and played with a giant parachute. And everyday we got to wear a nametag sticker – I loved my stickers! I liked to wear them at home as well – and made sure that mom had her nametag on, too!