Sometimes when I see an old picture of Aven or during a conversation with a mom friend, I’ll try to think back on what life looked like with Aven at a certain stage, and I surprise myself with how much of the little details I’ve already forgotten! So now that she is 2 1/2 years old, I wanted to document a little snapshot of what life is like with her.

First, we’ve hit a major milestone, people!
My kid is POTTY TRAINED. Feel free to cheer! (I am!) I thought it was never going to happen, because she’s been using the potty randomly since about 18 months, but it was so inconsistent. We had just gone to her 2 1/2 year check-up and her doctor reassured me that she was close and it would happen when she was ready. The thing was, I knew she was ready. So about a week after that appointment, I just told her she was going to wear big girl panties all day. She didn’t put up a fight and turns out, that was the ticket! She has had accidents, of course, but I was shocked with how quickly she transitioned. (We also give her M&Ms for going, so I’m SURE that helps quite a bit). I guess I should have pulled out the big girl panties months ago! Anyway, we are pretty thrilled to get a short break from diapers before baby #2 comes. (She still wears Pull-Ups at night for now.) 
*These potty books are her absolute favorite and I really think they helped with getting her excited about going potty: Big Girl Panties & My Big Girl Potty

Other milestones & big moments: 
-Her first time to a movie theatre (to see Finding Dory)
-Getting ready to transition to a big girl bed in the next week
-Learning how to dress herself
-Memorized her first two Bible verses: Nothing can separate us from God’s love – Romans 8:39 and Trust the Lord with all your heart – Proverbs 3:5

Typical day:

7-7:30 Wake up. Breakfast of choice is milk, muffins, fruit, and dry cereal. She always asks to watch Daniel Tiger within 46 seconds of waking up.

9-11:00 We run errands if needed. Gotta capitalize on that good mood in the morning.

12:00/12:30 Lunch time. (Pretzel chips with peanut butter or a half of a sandwich, yogurt, cheese stick, fruit, etc)

2ish-4ish “Rest time.” This is something I had to start once she quit taking a regular nap in my bed. She wasn’t sleeping and I was getting frustrated spending so much time trying to get her to settle down. Now she goes to her bed and understands that she has to be still and quiet until I come get her. Most days she falls asleep at some point, and other days she just lays there and talks with her stuffed animals. Either way, it gives her (and me) time to chill out a bit and then she’s more pleasant for the remainder of the day.

4ish (or whenever she wakes up): Play time while I start cleaning up, prepping dinner, etc.

6ish Dinner time. She eats some of what we’ve fixed, depending on what it is, and some of her own food.

7:30 or 8 is bath time. We still do a bath most nights. If we aren’t home at this time or if we’ve had an extra busy day then we skip it.

In the bed by 8 or 8:30 (most nights)

Eat:
she’s still pretty picky, but she does branch out now more than ever. She has a major aversion to meat unless it’s a Chick-fil-a nugget (because DUH). She loves baked beans, mac n cheese, corn, strawberries, bread, ketchup, and sour cream.  Oh, and lemonade. 🙂  Such a well-rounded diet. (Only not).

Play:
right now she is loving fake food (her “begetables”), her play bowls and plates, coloring books and crayons, her little guitar (“pintar”), as well as constantly lining up small toys/puzzle pieces/alphabet magnets into a big pattern on the floor.

TV:
Mickey Mouse has taken a bit of a backseat to Daniel Tiger. And I have to admit, I don’t hate it. Daniel Tiger is such a cute show, with tons of moral lessons and since they put everything to a song, she often breaks out a verse in the middle of our day. Plus, she gives me “ugga mugga” nose kisses like Daniel and it’s the sweetest EV.ER.

Bedtime/Sleep:
Like I mentioned, she has rest time every day, and most of the time she’ll take at least an hour long nap during that. At night, we usually do a bath plus the normal bedtime routine stuff, and then we either sing songs, read a Bible story, or have a dance party before she gets tucked in for the night. If she’s especially tired or cranky we short-cut and stick with the necessities. Generally she ends up sleeping from about 8/8:30p-7:30a.

Stuffed animals:
always a rotation of favorites going on, but she is not usually without her tiny Bunny and Lamby, Mama Fox, Baby Fox, and even Ella the Elephant has been making a comeback. (as you can see, we are SUPER creative with our stuffed animal names) 🙂

Clothing:
She wears sizes 3T and 4T right now. She is obsessed with dresses, and calls them “Princesses”. She loves picking out a princess dress, a hair bow, and panties for the day. All girl. ❤

Favorites:
the color pink, her rain boots, playing hide & seek (but she’s always the seeker), her pink kitten purse, being a helper, the library, smoothies, trains, riding in her daddy’s truck, church, nail polish, Finding Nemo/Dory, and green M&Ms.

Personality:
Despite the typical toddler stuff, she has a really sweet spirit. She is highly observant and detail-oriented. Particular; routine-oriented. Still very social, although occasionally her shy side comes out. Affectionate. Sassy. Generally happy.

My favorite things about this stage of toddlerhood:

She’s so verbal & can communicate really well which makes parenting easier in general. I love seeing how different she is from me & how she really is her own person. She loves to pray before meals, before bed, and even when she knows someone is sick. She also prays for the baby and talks about the baby in my belly multiple times a day. Watching her big imagination. Listening to her sing songs. The way she says her full name. When she asks me “can I snuggle on the couch with you mommy?” (The answer is always yes, a million times YES). When she’s cranky, we can say “no smiling!” and she breaks out a huge, cheesy grin. And she makes me laugh CONSTANTLY.

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What’s been your favorite age so far? Why? I would love to hear about it! 

*All professional photos are credit: D Crowe Photography. Affiliate links used in this post.