Today Lexie is 2-1/2 years old. I can't believe how much her face is changing. Sometimes she looks like a baby and other times, she looks like a big girl. All I know is time is just moving too fast. I wish I could freeze it right at this moment.
Lexie is such a great sleeper. We were worried about her sleeping habits in Dallas and the fact that she slept in our bed. But those worries were for nothing. She loves her bed. After we read a story, do some exercises and meditation to calm her a bit, she jumps into her bed. Lexie tells me to turn off the lights and we press Mr. Seahorse so her night light and music comes on and she's ready to sleep. Once I put her in bed with Eric and she lay there for a little while, then said, "I go my bed."
Lexie never gets out of the bed once she goes to sleep. In the morning, Lexie will wake up and play with her dolls in her bed. We can hear her talking and singing to them. She will stay in her bed until we go and get her. A few times in the morning, she has come running into our bedroom and I've woken up to see her staring at me.
She is a rascal. One morning, Eric heard her in our bathroom. She was playing with things in the drawer. He just stood and watched her. When she realized she had been caught red-handed, she put the things back, closed the drawer and walked out of the bathroom without a word.
Lexie knows exactly where everything is and that's not always a good thing. She has gotten into our band-aid boxes and has covered her legs with band-aids. We also have stickers and stamps that we use when she uses the potty. I thought she had hurt herself and was bleeding because her legs and arms were all red, but she had stamped her body.
Maxx is amazing with Lexie. He is so tolerant of the things that she does to him. Whenever he's lying down, she'll just plop herself on him or push him out of the way. She thinks it's funny to pull his tail and use it as a leash. She likes to shake his hand even though Maxx doesn't give his paw to her. She knows that sometimes she's not being so nice to him, so Lexie will give him a hug and a kiss and she'll say sorry.
Gohan, on the other hand, doesn't want Lexie in the same zip code as him. He will growl at her when she walks by. He has snapped at her when she tries to touch him. The only time he wants to be her friend is when she's eating. Lexie is not bothered by any of this. Her goal in life is to win Gohan over and she never gives up, which probably infuriates him even more!
Ever since Lexie's surgery, we have stopped going to Gymboree. It was just too crazy trying to get her not to fall or get hurt and then to keep her away from other children who wanted to run into her. She does miss it because every once in awhile, she will sing the Gymbo song. We're hoping that once we have Lexie's check-up in November, we can finally put her in gymnastics and dance classes.
Potty training is still a work in progress. At this point, we're not sure she's ready for it. She can go for a week and not have any accidents and then the next week, she's wetting everything we're putting on her. Then she'll tell us she has to go and uses the potty and the next day, she'll tell us after she has already gone. Pooping is still not happening, but she has stayed dry several times through the night and at naptime. We're just going with the flow right now because everyone tells me, she'll get it eventually because we all learn to go, right? I haven't had a kindergartener who hasn't been able to not use the bathroom, so I just have to be patient and trust that it'll happen.
Lexie loves to sing. When she's not talking, she's singing. She counts almost up to 20 and has turned the numbers into a song. She has taught herself to sing Barney's version of the alphabet song. She carries a tune pretty well and she may be making up words but we recognize what song she is singing.
Lexie is always asking questions. Her favorites are: "What's that?", "Who's that?", "What is daddy or mommy doing?" She has a great memory and will remember what you told her. She can tell you what mommy and daddy's names are. She knows her first and last name and can tell you her address.
Lexie had her first dentist visit. She was in heaven when she walked in the office and ran straight to this huge table and played with the toys and colored pictures. She didn't cry when they put her on the big chair. She got to watch a movie as her teeth got checked, cleaned, and flossed. She was put in the "no cavities" club. Lexie was so excited when Dr. Jen opened her desk drawer and she got to choose a prize. She took a giraffe stamper, which later she stamped all over her body.
Lexie has so many toys. She especially loves her stuffed animals. She remembers each one and their names. Taryn gave her this pink piggy and when we're out of the house, she'll tell me that piggy is in the playroom. She knows exactly where each toy is and if you ask her for something, she can usually find it.
Lexie picks up words really fast. We were coloring and there were pictures of balls. She told me that's a basketball and that's a baseball. Then when she was jumping on the couch, she told me that she was playing hopscotch. Eric and I always look at each other and ask, "Did you tell her that?" The answer is always "no."
When we were in the yard, Lexie collected all of her balls and said, "We have to share." She proceeded to give a ball to me, then to Eric and kept one for herself. I hope she remembers to do that when she becomes a big sister. Yes, you read that correctly, we are taking the plunge again and have begun our paperwork journey for another adoption. We know we may have a long wait ahead of us, but at least this time around, we have Lexie.
This month, Lexie's appetite hasn't been as big as it usually is. She still loves eggs, noodles and fish. She refuses to eat vegetables, even the ones that she used to love. I have resorted to going back to baby food. She loves that she can feed herself and that's the only way I can get her to eat veggies. Milk is also not high on her favorites, so we give her yogurt, cheese and orange juice with vitamin D. We're glad that she loves fruits and most of her meals consists of Lexie just eating fruits. One thing that she loves is Jamba Juice. Whenever she sees the sign, she starts chanting, "Jamba Juice, YAY!"
Lexie knows what she likes. When we ask her, "What do you want to do?" She tells us, "go to beach" or "slide at park". Even for lunch now, we ask what she wants to eat. The other day we ate leftover pizza and she said, "Pizza again?" The things she remembers is astounding. We were driving to visit my grandparents's grave and she told me that she was going to pick yellow flowers for amma and ampa because the last time we went, she picked these yellow weeds and put them on the grave. Then when we passed a park, she told me the red slide was broken because the last park we went to, there was a crack in the slide.
Lexie loves to give big hugs now. She'll say "squeeze" and wrap her arms around our neck. That's the most awesome feeling in the world. And when she sneaks up and gives a totally unexpected kiss, that melts my heart. But the best is when she says, "mommy, I love you to the stars!" I just want to break down and cry. Lexie has been my dream for 10 years and I know now that all of the obstacles and disappointments I had to endure were leading me to the right path. Because if I did not experience all that I did, I would not be Lexie's mommy.
