Almost Two...

The gifts are wrapped, the streamers and banner have been hung, the cupcakes have been baked (but not yet frosted) and Ms. Vita is fast asleep in her bed. I can't believe when she wakes up she will be two years old! This year, Vita knows it is her birthday and she has been looking forward to it. She knows she is about to be two years old, and it will be her birthday, and there will be singing and cake and Grandpa and Mema, and presents, and fun. At the end of the weekend, or early next week, I'll do a post with lots of pictures, but for the mean time I wanted to share a little bit about what's going on with Vita right now on the brink of two years. Vita has been reciting her alphabet for months now, she knows her colors, and she is getting better at counting. She can count all the way to 20 but she usually skips 4 and 5. Vita is speaking really well and her vocabulary increases much faster than we can keep up with it. She speaks in 5 - 6 word sentences and sings entire songs such as C is for Cookie and Ring Around the Rosie. It's so much fun to be able to really have a two way dialogue, and it's very helpful that she can tell us what she wants and needs. Vita is becoming very independent and wants to do everything herself, or she wants to help us. It's fun to come up with ways to get her involved in day to day tasks like cooking and cleaning. Vita is pretty good about putting her toys away, putting dirty clothes in the hamper, putting on and taking off various articles of clothing and shoes when asked, etc. She has also been helping out with pulling weeds in the backyard, and helping with preparing her breakfast. The biggest change going on in Vita's life right now is her transition from the infant program to the preschool at her daycare center. For the past 18 months or so, Vita has been with the zero to two crowd, and with a wonderful wonderful staff of teachers that we LOVE. However, it's now time for her to expand her horizons and start attending preschool with the older kids. Although she has spent some time with the preschool teachers we were a little concerned the transition might be tough for her. Over the past couple of weeks, every day Vita has spent a little less time with the infants and more time with the preschoolers. She seems to be having a great time and the transition has been smooth. She's even napping well in the new group. In fact, it's only been a week since she has spent the majority of her day with the older kids, and she surprised me today by asking to use the potty (and then using it successfully)! I think she's watching what the older kids at school are doing, and learning from them.