Valerie

She's almost 2 years old now. Really, she isn't very old, but because Kate is so little, I feel like Valerie is all grown up!

We have so much fun with this little girl. She's a real kick in the pants - quite the little character. Most likely, she's very similar to every other almost-2-year-old, but because she's OURS and she's our FIRST one, we are constantly amazed at her! I wish that I could capture on camera (or video would be even better!) every little thing she does so that you could see it and I would never forget, but those "perfect" moments pass by too quickly. Or they happen while I'm changing Kate's diaper and can't get to the camera. :)

So, you'll have to settle for my stories and these totally random, in no particular order, photos!
I love that Valerie is making wonderful friends (and actually remembers them!). She is starting to play WITH children rather than beside them, and she talks about her friends a lot. Especially, Emma (pictured below), Annalise, Hana & Makayla.
The era of "forts" has begun. Valerie had her first one in the playroom not long ago and she loved it. Of course, she was a bit tired and made herself a "cozy" inside the fort. Complete with her signature "fingers in mouth" look (see below).

Her Aunt Stacey came up and stayed with us for nearly a week... Valerie had tons of fun with her at the Imagine Children's Museum!
Our silly little girl used to be such a MARVELOUS sleeper... how many times have I proudly declared that she sleeps 7pm to 7am??!! Well, not anymore. She still takes naps and goes to bed easily (most of the time!), but now her morning wake up time ranges between 5:40 and 6:30. EARLY BIRD!! We've tried everything from adjusting bedtime, to shorter naps. Nothing seems to change that morning wake up time. So, we've just decided that we'll be morning people too... with a STRONG cup of coffee in hand!
As much as Valerie loves her little sister, she sometimes gets jealous of Kate's toys. She also wants to be like Kate at times... asking me or Micah to "wrap up" in a blanket or "hold baby Valerie." In the picture below, she wanted to put on her "sleeping blanket" like Kate. (Sleeping blankets are ones that have armholes and zip up... great for kiddos who thrash around at night and won't keep a blanket on themselves!)
Did I mention, she likes to suck on her middle fingers? :)
One of her popular sayings is, "Run around, Mom!" Which means she wants to go outside in the cul-de-sac to run around - literally in circles! She's learned that when she sees a car moving or hears one start, she has to run to the nearest sidewalk. In fact, she's so good at it that she goes running to the sidewalk even when she hears a car on the next street over and it isn't within eyesight! Safety is the name of the game. :)

She got a soccer ball for Christmas and she enjoys both kicking and "passing" (aka throwing) it to us. It'll be fun to see her join a bunch of other little munchkins in the next year or so as she learns to play the game!
Val is a good helper around the house. From taking the garbage out (see pic below), to scrubbing floors, dusting, and even throwing away Kate's wet diapers... she joins in wholeheartedly! She even sings her favorite "clean up" song. It's great!
In fact, Valerie loves to sing. It used to be that she wanted ME to sing all of the time. Now she'll sing with me and I've even caught her singing by herself from time to time. Some of the most popular are:

Jesus loves the little children

Head and shoulders

Old McDonald and (believe it or not)

Happy Birthday

She enjoyed watching the Superbowl and eating wings and chilli-cheese dip with Daddy on our new big-screen tv. :)
One of my favorite things to do with Valerie... she stands on the stair landing and I stand on the floor in our front living room. She asks me to kiss her between the railings. It is so cute!! She gets down on her knees so that I can reach her and once we've kissed between one railing, she'll scoot over to the next and say, "other side!" We continue that way till we've kissed between nearly every railing on the landing. Adorable!

Imaginative play is just starting to take off with Valerie. I was amazed today when she played for nearly 45 minutes BY HERSELF! Even 2 weeks ago, she never would have done that. Now though, I sneak a peek at her and she might be building a tower with blocks, playing with a puzzle, changing her doll's "dirty diaper" (I have to limit the number of wipes she can use!), or putting her teddy bear in "time out" - the most common reason for time out is when teddy touches the remote. Can you guess who had to sit time out several times for touching the remote?!

Its amazing what she soaks in...

Lately, she's taken to calling us "Becky" and "Micah" instead of mommy or daddy... it makes me laugh, but also kinda drives me nuts. :) Actually, she doesn't really call me mommy anymore anyway. She's into the much more sophisticated label, "Mom."

She loves "Thomas," which is the name she's given all trains. She loves buses too and spots them whenever we are driving. Her favorite are the "yellow buses" (school) but she sees lots of white, green and blue buses too (city buses).
One of her favorite places? Outside playground! She loves climbing up and sliding down, but her favorite thing to do is swing.

Happy Birthday is one of her favorite songs because we've been to several birthday parties lately. I'm really looking forward to her 2nd birthday because now she seems to understand what a party is all about! Of course, she loads up on sugar-filled cupcakes, then has a zone-out time (see pic below).

We're in the beginning stages of potty training. Her interest and excitement about it varies from day to day, but one thing is for sure - she'd rather NOT wear pants... and loves to run around the house in just a diaper... or even better - big girl undies! :)
We love our little Val, the Micah-look-a-like...