oh mia, you're so good at being 2.

so mia's 2 now, did we mention that? and so far? so far it's not terrible at all. i mean sure, she's way more independent lately, but that's to be expected. she's still not having full blown tantrums, though. i imagine she's saving that for when the baby gets here. so let's enjoy her now :).

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mia is finally tall enough to open the door to her room on her own and this only means that she has figured out how to stay out of bed as long as possible at night. once she's asleep she's golden, it's getting her there that's a challenge. she's learned that the following things will keep us in the room with her:

- snuggle me
- potty
- i peed (different from needing to go, and she knows it)
- i poop (liar!!)
- kisses, mama
- where charlie go?

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the other day my belly was particularly stretched to the limit and i was really veiny. while mia and i were sitting on the couch watching elmo i pulled up my shirt so she could see #2 moving around. of course the baby stopped moving right away (it's first game of hide and seek!) but mia stared on anyway. then she poked me in the belly and asked me "who colored mama?" she wouldn't drop it, either. wanted me to wash up.

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we played hookie as a family last week and went up to apple hill to pick pumpkins and what not. mia had her very first face professional face painting. i wasn't sure she would sit still once she realized that a stranger was going to be touching her but she was so enthralled by the paints that she sat stone still the whole time. of course, she didn't smile, either, but that's ok. didn't she look cool?

of course, as soon as we got in the car she upended her sippy cup of water on her arm (also painted) and rubbed it all off. we had left the pumpkin patch and there was no longer a need for the body paint, apparently. she's so my kid.

***

she's a talker, this one. she's been talking since she was about 11 months old so it's not really a surprise. what is a surprise is that she never shuts up. and that she speaks in complete sentences. all. the. time. no really. all the time. it's like having a voiceover for your whole life when you're with her. she comments on every little thing around her. and yes, i know at some point she is going to stop talking to me all together and i should appreciate it now. but dude. all. the. time.

she reminds me of her uncle ben when he was her age. the constant smiling and talking. never upset, always smiling. always talking. and her imagination is picking up, too. not quite like ben's did but still. it's pretty amazing to see her making things up and playing on her own with her toys and telling me all about something that she's imagined.