2 1/2 year old Josie

Our little Josephine needs an update!

She is somewhere around 30ish pounds and 37 inches making her as tall as a 3 year old. She is taller than most the other kids she plays with.

Josie has seriously grown up in the last few months. Since Donny was born, she really has become a little girl. I no longer have to translate for her much because she speaks in full sentences very clearly. Of course she picks up on things very quickly and I don't have to particularly teach her something or point something out for her to figure out new things.

Two of the biggest changes for her have been that she is now in a regular bed and she is potty trained! Just after our trip to California in January, I thought it would be a good time to try potty training again. We had tested the waters before, but she was just not ready yet. She did need a little push (bribery) to get going, but I knew she was ready. I started by just having her sit on the potty literally most of the day. It was a little portable potty so we could move it from room to room. We read books, had snacks (maybe gross, but during potty training anything goes) watched movies, played games, whatever to keep her there. When she would finally go, I made a big deal of it and got her a treat ( an m&m or other small candy). It took some patience and a few accidents but she steadily got the hang of it. I just had her run around bare bottom or in underwear while we were training and put her in diapers at night and during naptime. Each day she got better at making herself go without having to sit for a long time and wait it out. After a couple weeks of this, we started going places and taking her potty in public. She did so well! She didn't seem to be nervous about going in public restrooms. She is still doing well, but even 2 months later I have to stay on it. She will usually tell me when she needs to go, but if she waits too long or is too distracted we sometimes have accidents. Pooping has been frustrating lately too. She was doing so well with that until last week she started going in her pull ups at night. I'm not sure if she does it on purpose or if she is half asleep. Either way, I have been waking up to a stinky 2 year old too much lately. Hope that changes. She is doing this all before I thought she would, so I'm still really happy about it. She stays dry through nap time, but I still make her wear pull ups when she's sleeping just in case. Even if she still needs pull ups at night till she's 3 (or older) it's fine since many kids wet the bed for years. Plus we only have to buy pull ups every couple months or more so that's nice.

As for her new bed, it was a long time coming! I know most kids her age were in a toddler bed ages ago. I didn't care. Josie is such a good sleeper, I thought maybe being caged up was part of it, lol. She never tried to climb out of her crib and seemed fine with it. I was terrified at what would happen when she was in a regular bed and could climb out. Donny was (and is) such a terrible sleeper, I wasn't sure if I could handle 2 waking kids. I thought she would be constantly be getting out and would start waking earlier cause she could escape. NOPE. Josie really surprised me! We decided to buy a bunk bed so the kids could someday share a room. It just made sense and would save room. We picked one out, got her new sheets, and had her watch us set it up. She was excited about it. The first night, we tucked her in, said goodnight and waited. She slept soundly for 12 hours without a peep! She didn't even want to get out of bed the next morning! A month later now and she is still great. We don't keep toys in her room and it seems she knows leaving the room is not an option. We will occasionally hear her sprint across the room and back to retrieve a stuffed animal or something, but she gets right back in bed. She likes playing on her bed and I am starting to suspect more playing goes on than I know about. Quite frequently I will peek in to see her sitting up in the darkness organizing her animals or playing mommy with them. Hey, I don't mind!! After sleeping during naptime, she usually likes to play on her bed a little before calling me in to get her. Why did I wait so long to make this change?!?!?

Some funny things she says or does:

*When she is hungry, thirsty, tired, or whatever, she will sometimes ask me, "Mommy, are you hungry (or whatever)?" wanting me to ask her the same thing. I will say "Josie, are YOU hungry?" and she will say "Oh, yeah!" I don't know why she doesn't just tell me she's hungry.

*She loves her brother so much and is always looking out for his safety. Sometimes it goes a little far and she takes away things that are perfectly safe. She always instructs him on things that are sharp, dangerous, bad for you, or yucky. Donny hates when she plays safety officer.

*She is a very good climber and quite daring at playgrounds.

*She is quite nervous and even terrified sometimes of strangers, especially men. When a strange man approaches us, she immediately starts saying, "Mommy, it's ok. Mommy it's ok!" while cowering at my side. I think she says it this way cause I'm usually reassuring her by saying it's ok. Does that make sense?

*Her reply to things lately has been, "Yeah, I LOVE that!" or "No, not anymore!"

*She also says "Ok!!" a lot. For instance: "Josie, did you have a fun time?" "Ok!!!"

*She LOVES nursery so much and will list off everything they did, sang, and ate. She never wants to leave nursery. She also calls the nursery leader Mommy. Should I be worried?

*She is a great helper and is quick to follow commands. She will often sing the clean up song or "Quickly I Obey" when she is helping.

*She can say her own prayers and they are painfully cute. Anytime I peek, she has her arms folded and her eyes closed tight.

*Whenever I ask Josie what her name is she proudly says "Josephine Packard" now. She also calls me by my name if I don't answer after "mommy." I usually wake up to this in the morning, "Mommy. Mommy. MOMMY. MOMMY! MOMMY!!! EMILY PACKARD!!! (Calling for me to get her from her bed)

*She's always offering suggestions to me like, "How about ------- instead?"

*If I ask her too many times if she needs to go potty, she will reply, "Mommy, leave me alone." I can't blame her and I'm pretty sure she learned that phrase from me. Oh, well! I at least tell her to say please.

*She knows and can point out at least half of the alphabet (thanks to preschool!) and knows all her shapes and colors. She even pointed out an octagon to me the other day! Whenever she sees words she will say, "Look! Letters!" and tell me which ones she sees.

*She likes to count things and will ask me how many there are before launching into her own counting. For some reason, she switches 5 and 9 around every time. I correct her but at least half the time she says, "1, 2, 3, 4, 9, 6, 7, 8, 5, 10!" Weird.

*Loves helping me cook and tries making her own concoctions sometimes.

* She says "probably" a lot. Like, "That's probably yucky" or "I probably shouldn't play with that. "

Don't you love her chocolatey smile, lol?!

Not surprisingly, Josie loves to sing. She likes making up her own songs and changing words in songs she knows. Here are some awesome videos of her singing:

Channeling Elton John??

I can't believe she will be 3 this year! She will be out of toddlerhood before we know it!

Stay tuned for some adorable zoo pics of the kids!