Alayna at 2 1/2

 

You know that feeling when your kids are off doing something for long enough that you know you  should be worried about what they're doing?  A part of you is really enjoying the momentary calm before the inevitable storm.  I can blame it on being a bit under the weather or even just regular Sunday evening laziness.  The fact is, I knew I should have checked on Alayna when she was upstairs being quiet for so long.  When she finally came down I was hoping for the best, i.e. a poopy diaper.  (She often retreats upstairs for a little privacy to do her business.)  This is what we got instead:

 

This picture is worth 1,000 words, but I'm going to write a bunch anyway.  I might as well make a little record of this girl right now.

 

Coloring is one of Alayna's favorite activities.  The trouble is her rebellion against the "paper only" rule.  I suppose I can see how there could be some confusion since white boards are ok to color on and so are the laminated checklists Maddie and Ian have.  But I don't think my make up looks like markers.  She's gotten up close and personal with my make up too, so I'm confident she knows the difference.

 

 

Like I said, I think she's rebelling.  What can I say?  I have another child intent on thinking for herself.  Aside from her love of coloring, lately she's been loving watching Dumbo on Netflix.  She calls it the baby elephant movie.  Though she's not usually captivated by any show for more than about 30 minutes.  She is such a loving little sister!  It's so fun to hear her giggling and chasing and playing with Madeleine and Ian.  It cracked me up yesterday that after I scolded her for doing something naughty (probably coloring on something inappropriate) she cried for Ian to be the one to comfort her.  Just adorable.  She has a good little friend she plays with once a week or so and the two of them just giggle with excitement when they first get together.  She can sing I Am a Child of God beautifully as well as a few other songs.  She's really good at acting excited about anything if you phrase it just right.  For instance, I was changing her and getting ready to put her to bed and excitedly said, "Guess what we're going to do next?"  Her eyes get wide and she takes a big excited breath in waiting for me to tell her what's coming.  And tonight she was tired enough that I think she really was excited for bedtime.  Oh, and she loves p.j.'s.  She'd rather be in pajamas than anything else.  She calls 'em puhjays.  I mistakenly asked her to take her clothes off for the bath when she was actually in p.j.'s.  Don't worry, she corrected me immediately.  Definitely not letting that slide.  Much like her sister, she loves clothes.  Picking clothes, changing clothes, dress-up clothes, etc.  On laundry day, her pile is always the largest thanks to her fascination with clothes and being able to dress herself.

 

Anyway, I know these are mostly phases she'll soon grow out of so I wanted to get it down.  She's hilarious and she sure keeps us smiling. :)