The Mother of all Posts! (Tons of Pix)

You're gonna wish you'd never asked for a new post! Go get a snack, take a bathroom break, sit back and enjoy. I'm going to break this into sections to make it easier for me to remember...I need to learn to blog more often so I won't have SO MUCH to say at once. And I have tons of funny videos but I'll make those into a montage and give those to you another day.

Talking and Conversations:
I've been blown away by Mari's language lately, not just her words but also her comprehension. We are now carrying on conversations that actually make sense! She is also tuning into feelings and emotions and wants to make sure everyone and everything is "okay?" Like whem my parents dog jumped over the baby gate at the bottom of the stairs, she said "Daniel-Dog, okay?" (He was!)

Here is an example of a Mari conversation:
I was strapping her in the car seat the day after we had woken up to a surprise dusting of snow. ('No is snow in case you can't figure that out!)

Mari: 'No, Mommy?
Me: I don't know Mari, we'll have to see when we open the door but I don't think it snowed.
Mari: No 'no Mommy?
Me: I don't think there's any snow left, Mars.
Mari: 'No all gone. (said very matter-of-factly)
Me: Yes, the snow is all gone.
Mari: 'No all done.
Me: I certainly hope the snow is all done.
Mari: Mama funny! Funny Mama!


New Skills:
Mari can now jump! She is still way behind on her gross motor skills (had her 2-yr-old checkup on her bday) but not enough of a concern to intervene. She is making up for it in other areas, though!

Memory:
She can kind of sing her ABCs (I'm trying to get the whole thing on video)...she's got the A-G and the Q-Z (okay, what kid can pick up with Q and keep going? weird!), the in-between is garbled. She blew me away counting to 13 with Granddad the other day...he was helping her down the steps and she was counting as they stepped...maybe she can go further, I don't know, they ran out of steps. I thought she could count to 10 but with a few numbers missing (usually 6 & 8).

She has an incredible memory for names...she will tell you every Sesame Street character every made (including the rarely-seen ones like Grover), she includes Isa and Tiko in her Dora lineup...you get the picture! I swear she can rattle off the name of every kid in her school (and there's 24 kids just in her class alone!). It's kind of scary.

More Singing:
Her singing is pretty much non-stop (to the delight of fellow shoppers at Wal-Mart who got to hear E-I-E-I-O at volumes loud enough to shake cans off the shelves). Tonight she was singing Hi-Ho the Dairy-O...pretty funny cause she got stuck and all I heard for about 10 minutes was "the wa tacks the dag" (the wife takes the dog). Also she LOVES singing "no more monkeys jumping on the bed" (no need for phonetic spelling...she's got that one down perfect).

Why we haven't been blogging:
So what have we been up to the last few weeks? I did Mari's bday at school, rounded out my old job, re-decorated Mari's room, hosted a next meeting of our Playgroup With a Purpose, had Mari's 2nd birthday party, and started my new job all in the span of 6 days! And I survived! Holy Cow!

Check out our Playgroup With a Purpose blog for pix from our last playgroup meeting...it was so much fun and can't wait to get the next one going.

Mari's room makeover

Birthday Party Day!

Um...a little self-decorating!

Tired of waiting, think I'll empty the wipes container.

The cake!

Party dress complete with beads.

Blowing out the candles.

Dancing with Mommy!

More beads!!!

The GIANT Elmo book. (There was a distinct theme to the gifts...Elmo book, Elmo chair, Abby Cadabby Doll, Abby Cadabby book, etc)

Too much birthday!

My SIL with Mari and my niece Madison. (not trying to leave any family members out but this was a great picture!)

More Random Pix

Mari taking her new stroller for a spin.

Yes, she is sleeping with 3 giraffeys! We bought a couple more and I retired the original to the memory box with her other "brought home with her" items.

Another of Mari's bday gifts...supposed to wait until bathtime but try telling her that!

I haven't posted any pet pix in awhile...if there is such a thing as reincarnation, I'd like to come back as either of these two. ("Ham-Ham and Mick-a-Mouse" aka SamSam and Mickey Mouse)

Go Diego Go, Go Diego Go!

Finally getting some nice weather!

After desperately searching the house for my quiet (you know what a quiet 2-yr-old means!) child...here is where I found her!

Fun hairstyle with awesome hairbands.

New toy...Spin and Spray Turtle!

Okay, that's it for now...if you're still reading, I will try to get some videos posted eventually. I also need to tell you about the Ethiopia Heritage Camp coming to Virginia in July but it deserves a post all it's own. So I'll post that soon too! We are going and would love to meet up with some others.