Avalon is Two!!!!

I hate to say it, but the first thing I think of when I try to describe Avalon these days is "naughty." She has been getting more and more defiant, but a day or two before her birthday she turned into a full-fledged two-year-old. She is not afraid to throw a tantrum, is immune to bribery and time outs. Getting her into her car seat involves negotiation, punishment, begging, and sometimes cookies. Her behavior is totally age appropriate, but is still VERY annoying. She gets upset at the drop of a hat, and has learned the art of making her parents crazy. If we ask if she wants milk or water, she'll ask for one and as you hand it to her she'll announce that she wants the other. She does the same thing with Waylon, insisting on playing with whatever he has, just for the sake of being defiant. Its interesting to see how different the terrible two's are with a girl vs. a boy. She is so much more stubborn!

All of that said, Aaron and I spend a lot of time just staring at our miracle little girl. She is ridiculously cute with her curly hair that bounces all over when she runs around after Waylon. She is in love with her brother, and always wants to be near him. She also loves to do a skip/hop move that is hard to describe, and she is getting pretty good at hopping with both feet off the ground. When she gets around kids younger than her (even if they are physically bigger, which is often the case), she becomes a hugging bandit. She is not much of a cuddler with mom & dad, but loves to cuddle with her baby dolls. Dollies are definitely her favorite toy, and she has named her favorite, Baby Snowman.

Avalon was in the 25th percentile for height and weight at her well child exam. The doctor said she is doing well, even though she lives on a diet of bread, cheese, ham, and turkey. She is a VERY picky eater, and has several eating issues. The good news is that her speech has improved by leaps and bounds so that she no longer qualifies for speech therapy. The downside is that she now qualifies for feeding therapy with an occupational therapist. She has a very immature bite and basically only eats very soft food. She also avoids all fruits and veggies except bananas and green beans. She still gets a few ounces of milk in a bottle each night so that I have a way to give her a liquid multi-vitamin and Miralax, both of which are necessary due to her very limited diet.

The therapist has also realized that Avalon has weakness in her core, especially on her left side. She can only move her tongue to the right, but not to the left, and when she is sitting on a ball if you push her to the left she will just fall over rather than bending the opposite direction in order to stabilize. Hopefully the therapy will help, but she is so stubborn the therapist is having a hard time getting her to try new foods or comply with her requests.

While we struggle with Avalon's eating issues, she remains a good sleeper at night and is becoming a better napper, likely because she is so active. She has continued to nap well at her new school, which she began attending in the beginning of January. She and Waylon are again at the same school, which has made life a million times easier, especially since its only a few miles from home. The only downside is that Avalon always wants to be with Waylon, and she has tried many times to bust into his classroom while she is on the playground. They have had to keep the door to Waylon's room closed in order to keep out his aggressively loving baby sister.