Aliyah at 2 years old

Aliyah went to the doctors for her 2 year checkup. She did not like it at all. She wanted the "doctor [to] look at Mommy's belly" instead, like the other doctor appointments she has gone to with me.

When the doctor walked in, she asked Aliyah how old she was. Aliyah, being the tease she is, held up 3 fingers and said "three". The doctor was confused and looked at us. We told her two, but Aliyah held up her 3 fingers again and said, "no, three". Silly girl! She's trying to grow up too fast!

She weighs 28 pounds (75%) and is 33 inches tall (50%).

She received her Hep A vaccine which was less traumatic than having the doctor listen to her heartbeat. In fact, I don't think she even knew she got a shot! But she did know anytime the doctor got near her. The highlight of the appointment was the sticker she got and that the doctor "brushed her teeth" (put on fluoride varnish).

Aliyah is such a smart little girl. We are always amazed at what she does and learns. Here's what she is doing now:

• She knows the alphabet and loves to sing the song. She points out letters on signs, movies, or anywhere she sees them.
• She knows her colors and can tell you the colors of the dresses each Disney Princess wears. (she can also name all 7 of the dwarfs on Snow White).
• Aliyah can count to 20 (although she skips 19) and recognizes the numbers '1-10' whenever she sees them. She also tells me whenever we go shopping that things cost $40. It's so funny!
• She blesses "Grandma and Grandpa" in all her prayers. She loves to talk with them on the "computer".
• She helps herself to snacks in the fridge. (We have to keep a close eye on her and what we put in the fridge!)
• She still loves to sing:

(I love to see the Temple)

• She loves to play with her princess dolls and wants you to play along, which always starts out like this:

Aliyah's princess: "Hi"

Your princess: "Hi"

A P : " How are you? Good." (She says "Good" before you even have a chance to respond)

Y P: "Good, how are you?"

A P: "Pretty dress" and then she shows you her princess's shoes and wants you to comment on both the dress and shoes.

And then the cycle begins again with "Hi, How are you? Good." etc

• She loves to read books with us and on her favorite books she used to cut Jeff off and finish the sentence for him. Her favorites lately are Berenstein Bears, Jesse Bear, any dragon book, and of course, any princess book.
• She can now spell her name:

• She has been off her pacifier for a month now! She had been using her pacifier only for nap and bed time. Last month we traded her pacifier for a "big girl pillow". (I made her a princess pillowcase for it. She loved it the first night and then wanted to trade it back for her pacifier the next night. Ha ha. Funny girl!)
• She can put her PJ pants on by herself and gets very excited to show you that she can.
• She makes us laugh! Two weeks ago I was washing her hair with shampoo. She asked what it was called. When I reminded her that it was called Shampoo, I saw her little mind working and then suddenly she looked at me and said, "Sham-Pooh, Sham-Tigger" and "Sham-Eyeore". I was laughing so hard!

There is never a dull moment with our cute, smart, 2 year old, Aliyah!