what 2.5 looks like

bug is officially 2 and a half years old and the fun keeps rolling.

she is not manifesting the terrible twos-at least they're not any more terrible than her ones.

her speech is developing so rapidly, it's hard to keep up. she is very much like her sister in that if you challenge her verbally, she will clam up and begin to stew, but if you let her start on her own, she may well never stop talking. during a recent car trip, i thought i was going to go crazy listening to her. it was very late and she was obviously overtired. apparently this child copes with exhaustion by ratcheting up her vocal production; pooka fell asleep almost as soon as the truck was moving, but bug chanted the whole way home: "not 'posed to rain. i don't wanna get soaping wet. it's raining, mommy. can't see the airplane. clouds. where the moon?" when she is well-rested, her conversations are more mature, but not less animated.

by some miracle, both of my children are naturally very polite. they picked up quickly the habits of saying thank you, please, sorry, or excuse me. the application is not 100% accurate, but saying it at all shows some precocious sense of courtesy. bug will say, "sorry" when you say "ow" if it had nothing to do with her, but when she barrels into you or steps on your groin, then it doesn't occur to her that your pain might be her fault (perversely, she usually laughs when your pain IS her fault-she gets that from me). bug recently learned the manner of saying excuse me when you want to interrupt a conversation. the next step of then waiting until you're acknowledged hasn't sunk in, though, so she sits there and shouts, "excuse me! excuse me! excuse me!" at you until you do acknowledge her. but it's so adorable to hear her tiny little voice saying these niceties.

if these days aren't exactly the terrible twos, they are definitely the 'me-toos.' if you have something, or are doing something, or going somewhere, she wants to have, do, or go also. it doesn't matter if it's chocolate or medicine, cleaning or playing, to the bathroom or to work: she wants to, too! it doesn't even matter if more than one person is having, doing, or going, she will want to have, do, or go to ALL of them. normally, it's endurable, except when she wants my dr. pepper and we love to share with her.

her undying devotion to her sister (that began the instant they met) is, well, undying. moreso than anyone else, bug wants to have, do, or go to whatever pooka is having, doing, or going to. pooka is the sun that shines on bug's entire world. even when pooka is mean to her, intentionally or accidentally, bug can't help herself--she can't quit pooka. it's funny to watch them together because sometimes pooka enjoys the adulation and sometimes gets aggravated by it, but other times is completely oblivious to it. at the dinner table, she has no idea that bug is mimicking her every move. she drinks when pooka drinks. takes a bite when she does. tries to talk at the same time as pooka does. even puts her hand on her head or some other action. EVERYthing done by the big is mirrored by the small. it's precious to watch.

she has become a bit of a picky eater the last few months. she is starting to reject many vegetables that she used to gobble, and more often than not rejects cooked meat in the form of chicken breast or pork chop. however, while she used to refuse any type of ground meat, she has recently started to enjoy meatloaf, meaty pasta sauce, and enchiladas with shredded chicken. so maybe it all balances out. she still loves all things bread, and yogurt. we know we always have a fallback option (and plenty of children's vitamins.)

all in all, this bug kid is doing a pretty good job growing up so far. well, let's emend that to "growing." she still is a tiny little peanut who expends all her fuel on motion and none on getting any taller.