The Kalal Family: Our 2 1/2 Year Old

2 1/2 year old Izzy Ann

This girl... She lights up our lives. At 2 1/2 years old, she is spunky, silly, snuggly, sassy, smart, stubborn, sweet, and so special. She has grown and changed so much since she turned 2, I would be sad not to write to remember her in this moment in time. So here's my little 'Ode' to Izzy...

We are constantly amazed at how smart she is! Isabelle is learning things faster than we thought it was possible for a two-year-old. Izzy's got her ABC's down pat and has for a while--not only the song, but she can identify all the letters and get them right most of the time, and she can recognize her name when it's written down. She's got all the numbers, colors and shapes down, too. She can count to twenty like nobody's business :) She loves puzzles, loves to color, write, and draw, and would sit at the table and do 'practicing' for hours. She's even starting to get the hang of how to hold a pencil or other writing utensil.

Her vocabulary is out of this world. She uses words like beautiful, delicious, humongous, and disgusting... to name a few. And what gets me is how she uses them correctly! It's so funny hearing some of the BIG things that come out of a human so SMALL! I love that she can say her prayers all by herself, she can hold a conversation, and she can always tell us what she wants. Well, sometimes we wish she'd use her words rather than whine, but you know, she's two...

A little dark, but gives a glimpse :) She gets a little distracted in the middle, but it adds to the cuteness!

She still loves to have her snuggles, especially if she's just gotten scolded for something or if she has just hurt someone. Her conscience is a healthy one :) A lot of times, she'll say, 'I'm not feeling so well," as she bawls about getting into trouble. I love to snuggle with her--she's still so little for her age, that she just melts into me...

Stubborn is a perfect word for her these days, too. She is a very independent little stinker, and really wants to do more than she is able. She can put her own shoes on most of the time (although often gets the feet mixed up), her undies, socks, and pants, but her shirts give her a bit of a challenge. When she's in a 'mood,' there is no helping her. The other night, she literally walked around the bathroom with her head and one arm through the head hole of her pj's, inside out, with the other arm twisted up into one sleeve. She looked and sounded like a wreck, but she wouldn't let me help her. Jeremy says she gets her stubbornness from her mother... hmmm...

She's a little putz... everything she does seems to take forever. And I mean for-e-ver. To eat a meal with her takes at least 45 minutes. And she usually doesn't even eat that much!

She always has crazy hair. She calls it 'wild' hair. It's just not all quite long enough to stay perfectly in a pony tail, and she usually plays so hard that it gets crazy on its own. She tries to put her own barrettes in, but you can imagine how well that goes. Oh, and she likes girly things... She LOVES to get polish on her fingers and toes, and she loves to hoard necklaces and bracelets, sparkly things, and dresses & tutus.

Izzy is fun-loving and goofy, and she makes us laugh all the time. I am really, genuinely excited that she is in the middle of our family and is our only girl. I have a feeling she'll be a tough little thing, and people won't push her around :) Her cute little voice and super sweet smile are already getting her out of trouble... when she smiles, her whole face smiles.

She idolizes her big brother. She copies him, and I mean really copies him. Especially if he is doing something funny, she even uses his mannerisms! She'll say what he does, use the same actions, and usually wants to be around him. Of course, they have their arguments and disagreements, but they get along really well most of the time. They are very different in a lot of ways, but have lots of lovable similarities :)