Kinley 2 1/2 Year Update

I think that the last update that I did on Kinley was when she turned 2. She turned 2 1/2 on December 12th. Before I keep posting about our day to day and before the new baby gets here and I really don't have a lot of free time, I want to be sure I get a little update on here on what is going one with her at 2 1/2 years old! 

We had her well check on December 14th with her new pediatrician here in Tyler, Dr. Barret. She did great. He even asked me if she was always as good as she was acting. That answer would be no! We just got lucky! These were her stats at her appointment. Her weight was 32 lbs. 6.4 oz. (85%). Her height was 3 ft. 0.61" (79%). Her head circumference was 50.3 cm. or 19.8" (93%). She's staying consistent in her growth charts from prior appointments and still on the larger side compared to others her age. 

We had her very first dentist appointment on December 13th. Can you tell I'm trying to knock out all my to-do's before the new baby gets here?!? We went to Dr. Massey at Boozier Dental. She did great at that appointment as well. She was happy as can be and let the dentist look her over. It probably didn't hurt that there was rocket ships in the waiting room with games, a TV overhead while she was getting examined, and she got a prize from a toy machine afterwards! Evidently they don't do x-rays or anything until kids are 3 so we probably really could've waited on getting her into the dentist. She has her two upper molars already and her bottom two are still coming in. I noticed her top left molar around the first week of August. It was right before she turned 26 months. I wrote down that I first noticed her second molar on the top right on September 21st. 

Like I've done on previous updates, here are some little facts about Kinley at 2 1/2:

• Still wearing a size 5 diaper during the day and a size 6 at night. She doesn't really have a big interest in potty training. She has pooped and peed in the potty but not consistently or even a lot.  She won't tell me that she's pooped normally until afterwards. Even then, she will tell me she hasn't even though she has. We were trying to push her at first because we really wanted her potty trained before we added another baby to the mix. However, I've heard even if they are potty trained, they usually regress when a new baby joins the family so I'm not too worried about it. She will when she's ready I guess. She will spend a lot of 30 minute sessions sitting on the potty but normally just reading her books. Then she'll get up, put her diaper back on and proceed to pee or poop in it. They also say she'll try at school. One time that she did pee in the potty, she stood up and peed in floor right afterwards. Another time she said poop and went on to squat and poop in the middle of the bathroom floor. She did try to tell me, but I was already wet and in the shower and she acted too fast for me! 
• She can still wear some size 7 shoes, but I would say she's a size 8. I definitely wouldn't buy anything less than an 8 now.
• She is still wearing a size 2T or 3T. 
• She is a good eater here at home. When we are away from home and especially at restaurants, she doesn't eat as good, but here at home, she eats! She loves chicken, corn dogs,  bologna, cheese, yogurt, apples (probably our current fav fruit), bananas, blueberries, crackers, carrots if cooked with a roast, green beans, chicken and rice, my baked pork chops, my mom's fried pork chops, macaroni, and spaghetti. She loves quacamole and will eat it by the spoonful. Just in the last couple of days, she has ate up some taco soup too... although, she doesn't like the hominy in it. For breakfast, she loves blueberry muffins and pancakes. She doesn't like eggs anymore and hasn't in a while. She also loves bacon. She had a stomach bug and went a few days without eating. When she started eating again, she started eating a ton. The other day at lunch, she ate a corndog, half an apple and some cheese slices. Then she asked for more corn dog, more cheese, and more apple. She finished that plate off too so by the time she was done, she had ate two corn dogs, a whole apple and some cheese. Needless to say, she didn't get milk before her nap that day because I was afraid her belly would explode.
• She loves cookies and candy (specifically Reese's and M&M's) but doesn't get either too often. One day when I asked her if she wanted a cookie, she said "Giggy and Pa's cookies?" I guess she associates cookies with Giggy and Pa's house! Haha. 
• She LOVES sweet tea. I can't go through a drive thru or let her see a cup with a straw or she thinks it's sweet tea and wants it!
• She also loves apple juice and orange juice. She usually gets one or the other once a day with her breakfast. Other than that, it's usually water the rest of the day and maybe a Capri Sun in her lunch on days that she's at school. 
• She loves her Pa, Giggy, Grandma and Papa. She also loves Pistol. If you mention Pa and Giggy's house, you can't forget Pistol! 
• We were just sleeping with Tigey and my old pink bear but that has changed drastically. She has been sleeping with 5 stuffed animals and tells them night night every night... so do I. The 5 were Tigey, my old Pink bear, baby pink bear, Minnie Mouse and a bunny blanket that was a gift when she was a newborn. However, after Christmas and the tons of stuffed animals that Blake added to her collection, she's added two more puppies to her bed! Now she sleeps with 7 things! I have to tell every one of them good night!
• She will not sleep in socks at all. She has to have them off for naps too. 
• She was still napping 1.5-2 hours a day until the last 3 days. The last 3 days she hasn't napped at all, and has acted pretty good until bedtime. I've tried to get her to nap, she just won't. I'm really hoping it's not the end of her napping! 
• On September 22nd, she slept in her big girl bed for the first time. She made it until 5am and then came and got in our bed and went back to sleep. I think she woke up scared. The next night, I took her and tried to put her in her big girl bed and she looked at me and said "Mommy please." She wanted her crib so I was a softie and moved her back. We didn't try again for a while. Around Thanksgiving when Colt was working a few nights in a row, I just took her crib down completely and moved it into the baby's room. I figured cold turkey was the only way to go and it was. The first night when I took her to bed, I went to lay her down and she said "No" and looked for her crib. When she didn't see it, she immediately laid down in her big girl bed and went to sleep. She slept all night and has been there ever since. It was much easier than we had planned on it being. Her big girl bed is a queen size bed because we had it as an extra so it was a big change. She had been sleeping in her crib with the rail off like a toddler bed pretty much since we moved here and she had jumped out of her crib. 
• She usually goes to bed for the night around 8:30-9:30. We let her watch a show with us before bed. Then she gives Daddy a kiss, Alex a kiss, Lucky a kiss and tells all three "Night Night" individually before I take her to her room. 
• Every night, she takes her gummy vitamin and she HAS to take Daddy his two gummy vitamins too. It's their thing and she doesn't forget! 
• She loves Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. Everything is Mouse here lately! She has recently started liking a show called Henry Hugglemonster. Don't ask me what that even is. It came on after Mickey Mouse on Hulu one day and now she wants to watch it! Before Christmas she always wanted to watch "the other mouse." This meant the old Mickey Mouse Once Upon a Christmas and Twice Upon a Christmas that were playing on Netflix. She loved them too!
• She LOVES school. She only goes on Tuesday and Thursday from 9:30-2:30. One day when we pulled in, she said "School" and pumped her arm. After Thanksgiving break, on her first day back, we pulled in and as soon as she saw the school, she said, "Kinley's coming!!" She also has to carry her own backpack, even if it is just to the car to take it off again.
• She's starting to get into singing. The other day she was singing into the salt shaker. Then yesterday, she was singing into the lamp for her brother's room when I was putting it together. She likes dancing to "Head, shoulders, knees and toes" and "I'm a little teapot."
• She's still a pro at puzzles. I've had two people recently tell me how good she is. A lady from MOPS that was picking up her little girl told me and then someone that watched her in the childcare room at the gym. 
• Her vocabulary has exploded and I can't really keep track of her words anymore. She can say pretty much everything and repeat pretty much everything. Sometimes only I can understand her since I'm around her everyday and some of her letters aren't as clear as others... but she knows what she's saying all the time! 
• Her counting has gotten pretty good. She can count to 10 with some help. She has 1-4 down, but sometimes skips 5 and goes straight to 6, etc. She also sometimes starts saying the wrong thing but changes mid-word as she hears you say the right number. She's getting better everyday at it!
• At the end of September, she started calling me mom all of a sudden instead of Mommy. She started saying "Ok Mom" and "Sorry Mom." I didn't like it so luckily it hasn't really stuck yet. For the most part, she called me Mama or Mommy. Colt is always Daddy. 
• Although she will tell you when asked that she is a "Daddy's Girl," I would say she's a Mommy's girl and definitely prefers me most of the time, although she loves her Daddy too. When he gets home from work, she runs to the door. Colt says she acts better when I'm not around. When he's been gone out of town for a few days for work, he says that she has to reset and start behaving better when he gets back. My mom says she is better and not as clingy when I'm not around too. When I'm there, she doesn't really want anyone to do things but me. Also, when we had family pictures the other day, she didn't want to leave my side and wouldn't cooperate for pictures. However, when we were done, the photographer gave it one last shot and took her outside by herself and said she cooperated and did great! I guess the key is for me to not be around!
• She still loves her Minnie Mouse house shoes. We actually had to get her another pair the other day because she had worn a hole in the bottom of her old ones. She loves all shoes in general! 
• She ALWAYS wants a bow in her hair. I LOVE this. I'm not going to lie, I would be sad if she refused to wear bows. 
• Her imagination is growing. You here her having conversations between her little figurines or dolls. Just the other day, she asked me to come in her room. When I went in, by her kitchen, she had our plates made with food on them, silverware, the works! She also has started making her dad and I coffee in the mornings in her kitchen. Yesterday I made Colt a cup of coffee before work and when I mentioned it, she ran in her room and brought him out a cup of coffee. 
• She has started getting into helping me cook in the kitchen. She'll help me mix the pancakes or the muffins. I'll usually sit her on the counter and let her stir and help. The last couple of mornings, she's brought her in a step stool. 
• When she sees something sweet or sees baby animals, she says "Aww" and put her hands up by the side of her face like she's praying. She also likes to say "Got me, Mommy" or "Got me, Daddy."
• One of Grandma and Giggy's favorite things for her to say is "Okay." 
• If Colt or I ever get an ouchie, she also says "Okay, Mommy?" or "Okay, Daddy?" It's pretty cute. If anyone has an ouchie, she has to kiss it. She also has to have kisses on all her duchies and boo boos. 
• When she gets tired, she says, "I sleepy."
• She loved playing "soccer ball" and going to that weekly. She was 3/13 kids or so that lasted until the end, and she was probably the only one by the end of it that was still into it. Just the other day, she did her soccer cheer out of nowhere. It's been a month since we ended soccer so I'm not sure what made her think of it! She put her hands on mine and then raised them up and said "soccer ball!"
• She loves hitting the baseball off her tee. 
• She got a new big girl bike for Christmas from Santa. We almost asked for a tricycle but assumed she wouldn't have an interest since the neighbor kids have big bikes and she wanted nothing to do with them at the store. She got on the big girl bike Christmas morning and picked it up super fast. It's been cold out, but she has been moving around the kitchen on it and has the pedaling and steering at the same time down now! I was impressed and took tons of video of course!
• She loves her blocks, both MegaBlocks and Lego Duplos. She also got magnetic building blocks for Christmas and those have already been a hit. She just likes to build! She loves playing house with her Little People. She has gotten into playing with her babies lately. She got a new one (a boy baby from Joe and Nadine to represent baby brother) for Christmas. You feed it and change it's diaper and she has played with it daily since we've got it. Her FAVORITE toy of all right now is her Mickey Mouse figurines that Colt bought her off of Facebook Market place. We've had to take them in the car and limit her to two at a time on trips. For Christmas, he found her a Mickey Mouse Clubhouse and more figurines on Ebay and they quickly became an added FAVORITE! The new figurines included Pete and Clarabelle, which for some reason are two of her favorites out of all of them. Is it bad that she loves Pete and he's the troublemaker?!? Grandma and Papa also got her a Minnie and Daisy house for Christmas, and it now included in her favorites too. When she gets one out to play with, they all get setup at the same time. It's like a little village she plays with, and she will play with it FOREVER!
• She is still fearless. She isn't scared of anything. Just the other day, I was getting out of the shower and I hear her start crying. She was in the bedroom with Colt and she did a full superman off the end of the bed. She landed flat on her stomach. I'm not sure what she was thinking! I walked into Colt consoling her and trying to calm her down. He said he was sitting on the end of the bed and just saw her flying by! 
• Her memory shocks me sometimes. Just yesterday at the grocery store, she cried at the checkout because the lady a the checkout didn't offer her a sticker. They'd only given her a sticker like twice before but she remembered.
• She is getting manipulative and figuring out how to pout and try to get her way. She also can give a look. The other day, she was mad at me and gave me the worst look. Colt said, "Did you just see that look she gave you when she walked by?" I'm sure it's just a glimpse of what is to come in our future! 
• Every once in a while out of nowhere she will just rare back and land a kiss on me.
• Driving in the car now, she talks so much. When the car stops, she says "Go Mommy Go." She's also started saying "Green light" and "Red light."
• She absolutely loved all the Christmas lights this past month. She would say "Look Mommy, more lights, more lights." I'm pretty sure we caught her voice and reaction on video. Her reaction was definitely pure joy!
• She is a cuddler, hugger and a kisser. I love it. It may be harder cuddling when the baby comes, but I still love it and wouldn't want it any other way!
• Her favorite color is evidently purple hear lately. At the store, she wanted a purple toothbrush over a pink one. She wanted purple kinetic sand instead of pink. Grandma took her to get her nails painted for the first time while we were there for Christmas while Colt and I ran around for a bit. I told Colt that she would probably pick purple nail polish. Guess what?!? She did! She was proud of her purple toenails and fingernails. 
• She liked Santa from a distance this Christmas and liked to talk about him, but didn't like him up close. 
• I'm interested to see how she does as a big sister. So far, she'll say that baby brother is in Mommy's belly and she'll give him a kiss on my belly. She also knows where baby brother's room is. Right now, she puts her baby dolls in his carseat and swing. I have a feeling when it's a real baby that doesn't leave, we may have a few issues and she won't do so well adjusting, but maybe she'll surprise me.

Kinley is full of energy and has a fun, spunky personality that's for sure. She also has a little mind of her own. She is funny and I literally laugh at her every few minutes. It's fun to see how her little mind works.  I don't even know where or how she comes up with some of the stuff that she does! Some days I can't wait for her to nap so I can get a few things done or have a little me time. Other days, I can't wait for her to wake up so I can see her! She definitely makes our lives better. I want everything for her in life and can't imagine not having her as our little girl! It's definitely a little bittersweet knowing that she's about to lose her role as only child and lose our undivided attention, but I'm excited to watch her grow into her role as a big sister (and also a little nervous too)!