Happy Half Birthday Finley

Dear Finley,

Today you are 2 and a half years old.  I cannot believe that my baby is almost 3!  Where did the time go?  It seems like just yesterday that you were this tiny little creature teaching me the real value of love, life and everything in between.

Here are some fun facts about you may or may not remember:

*You loves banana's.  You would eat 10 a day if I let you.  I usually only allow 1 or 2 a day and make you eat a apple instead.  You insist on eating the apple whole and not sliced up.  I have to watch you though because sometimes you will eat the core too.

*You have never been driven in car by someone other than myself or Greg.  People think I am crazy but it's a control issue I have.

* You love playing outside.  You loved playing in the snow despite your hatred for winter gear, you love your trike, your pink coupe, you love playing with sidewalk chalk, blowing bubbles and taking walks with us.  You love slides of all kind, you love playing on the jungle gym in the backyard and are so excited for your new playhouse to be set up if it ever quits snowing.

*You have never ever spent the night the night away from both of us at once.  I have only been away from you for 2 nights when Penelope was born.  I realize that I have to let go of this but again, it's part of the control that I need.  I hate not knowing how you are or what you are doing all of the time.

*You have never had her hair cut.  You are getting better with having it brushed but I have had to buy some leave in detangler because you have the worst bed head ever.  It looks like dread locks sometimes.  You are also letting me put in barrettes and pony tails.  The only downside to this is that we lose a lot of barrettes.  In fact, I need restock because we have very few left.

*You are a relatively good eater.  You will eat most of things.  Your favorites include green beans, glazed carrots, meat with any kind of sauce on it, seafood, peanut butter + jam sandwiches, grilled cheese, pancakes, yogurt and of course anything that satisfies your sweet tooth which is quite hard to satisfy it seems....

*You love to wear thongs, rubber boots + crocs.  You get angry when it snows in April and are forced to put your winter boots back on.  You don't like winter boots or jackets or ski pants.  I figure one day you will move to a climate where winter does not exist.

*You love music, singing and dancing.  Listening to her sing is quite funny.  You still love Taylor Swift and The Doodlebops but also enjoys all varieties of music.  You love youtube because you can see the people singing and dancing.

*You love Sesame Street.  Elmo + Abby Cadabby are your favorite although you get really excited for Murray goes to school segment where it starts out with Murray Had A Little Lamb who wore a little bow....if you watch you know what I mean.  You have a lamb at Grandpa Don + Grandma Jen's place that you love and whenever I see you holding it, I sing that song.  Sesame Street is the only show you will sit through and has learned a lot from watching it.  We will have Tree House or Family Channel on but you will rarely sit down long enough to get "in" to any one show.

*You love getting dressed and will randomly change your clothes throughout the day.  You are now developing an attitude for what you will and will not wear.  For example, we were going out for Uncle Neil's birthday dinner and you would only wear pink leggings that had some kind of stain on them.  Not sure what.  I tried to get you into different leggings and skirts to no avail.  You refused. You also will not wear one piece pajama's or anything with feet.  If you have feet on your jammies then you can't wear shoes and yes you wear shoes to bed.  Sometimes you go to bed in one pair and wake up in another.  Same goes with the pajama's you are wearing.

*You are very artistic and love doing crafts, colouring and painting.  You have to be super supervised when doing these activities because colour ends up on things that are not supposed to have colour on.  We learned just how washable Crayola Washable Crayons actually are.  Very washable, all green crayon was washed off of my walls.

* You love to play pretend with you stuffed animals + dolls.  Many of them are dressed in diapers and wear Penelope's clothes.  You feed them when Penelope gets fed, they nap at the same time and they play with the same toys when Penelope has moved on to something else.  You love to push them in your doll stroller and grocery cart and kiss them good night.

* You insist on sleeping with her beloved cat and pink blanket every single night.  You cannot sleep without it.  You go through phases where other animals/dolls may be included but these 2 are needed or you won't sleep.  When we travel, they travel.    We lost the kitty once at the Coach store in Chinook.  Thank God Greg realized it was missing.  When he went back to the Coach store they had saved it for him as they had recognized it.  I don't know what we would have done without kitty.

* You love your sister Penelope.  Well most of the time you do.  I think you have already developed that love-hate relationship that most sisters' have until they are much older and appreciate how lucky they are.  You love to help out with Penelope - folding her diapers, getting her diapers + wipes, bibs so she doesn't get dirty, facecloths to wash her face if she slops, you love to carry her bottle up to her and ensure that it doesn't roll away.  You love to get her shoes + jacket and sharing the puff wheat + cheerios with her.  You love to give her cuddles, kisses + hugs.  While you get mad when she touches some of "your" stuff, you will happily grab other toys for her to play with.  You only get angry when she grabs your kitty and blanket which is ok because that doesn't need to be shared.  She likes to pull your hair + grab your necklaces which you hate but don't worry, soon she will quit.

* You don't always like to share.  That being said, I am seeing HUGE improvements in this area.  While I encourage sharing of most items, some things don't need to be shared and I am finding it a hard balance between the two and being able to teach you what is acceptable and what isn't.

* Finley, you love to cook!  You will cook meals at your kitchen as I prepare ones in the big kitchen.  However, you are a great help when it comes to baking.  You usually dump all the measured dry goods into the bowls, crack the eggs + help stir.  It can a little messy but you really enjoy it.  You like to point to the spot on the cookie sheet where the next cookie should go and same with muffins and muffin tins.  You love to vacuum, sweep and dust as well as unload and load the dishwasher.  I tease daddy that you already better than him and you are only 2.5 years old.

* You quit napping months ago, shortly after Penelope was born.  You will always sleep in the car and sometimes crash on the couch.  You go to bed consistently at 8pm every night  and will sleep anywhere between 11 + 12 hours each night.  You love to be read to and your favorite book right now is Brown Bear, Brown Bear.  You love books that you can pop up but we keep them hidden from you because you tend to destroy the pop ups and then get upset when they are no longer there.

* You love swimming lessons, gymtastics, dance class and are looking forward to giggle toes which we start next month.  You love being around other kids and enjoy going to Caffe Creme, Kidz n Koffee, Play a Latte + other indoor playgrounds.

* You are for the most part potty trained.  You are 100% poop trained but peeing in the potty can be great and sometimes downright terrible.  We're definitely headed in the right direction.  Night time potty training is still a major fail but that can take much longer than day time training.  Getting your pull up off in the morning can be sometimes be unpleasant but you seem to love your potties and panties and are so very proud when you successfully go in them.

* You love playing with puzzles, blocks and mega blocks.  You love to build things and knock them down.  You can play for hours with your puzzles.  You do them over and over and are always so proud when you finish them.  You are such a smart little cookies.

* You are very good at understanding all the words that daddy and I use around  you.  I worry that you are not talking as much as you should be.  Most people think I am just over reacting.  I know you can speak tonnes of words because I have heard you but for some reason you don't like to use them.  I don't know if you are being stubborn or just lazy.  I really don't know.  At 24 months, Dr Bernhardt said you were developing like a normal child.  He has since left the clinic and am debating whether to take you to see our new doctor to get his opinion.

* You love having tea parties, saying "cheers" when we drink our tea, playing with all kinds of necklaces + bracelets and you love your coach purse that is full of the most fascinating items.  I guess you never know when you will need a rattle, frying pan or baby bottle right?  You love talking on your cell phone + taking pictures with your camera.  Your favorite subjects are your kitties, Penelope and me when I am taking a picture of you!

All in all Finley, you are one of the sweetest, most loveable girls I know.  You bring a smile to my face every single days and it warms heart to see you smile, laugh and so happy - especially on days where I don't think I am doing a great job.  Your kisses, cuddles, hugs and high fives are some of my proudest moments.

Happy Half Birthday Finley, We love you!!!