Is Inara really 2 months shy of turning 2?

I'm a few days late on the 22 month birthday blog, so I thought I better use nap time today to wish my sweet girl a happy birthday. I seriously can't believe that Inara is 22 months and will be reaching the 2 year mark in just a couple short months. Man, time flies exponentially faster when kids are around. I mean, I always feel old but I feel even older now that my baby is getting so big.

Life as usual has been a roller coaster ride, mostly on the up swing though. We've hit a few road bumps as Inara just does not do well at all with teething. The poor girl has been running slight fevers and drooling like crazy, along with the usual teething cranks. On days like this, she usually just wants more of mommy's attention and to be held and snuggled. It can be hard on me, but I just have to remember this too shall pass. I've turned to giving her an assortment of pain relievers that she is now, thankfully, taking. After a few moms suggested it, I am going to try Motrin tonight since I'm not sure if the Tylenol is working. She is taking the Hylands Herbal Tablets finally and those seem to help too. I'm just concerned about the fevers though, since she's never been one to run a fever in the past. And this all comes in perfect timing too as we are preparing for our trip to CA in 5 more days. More on that in a sec.

Let's see what else is new with Inara. The talking and vocabulary are out of control now. She amazes me every day with all the new things she says. The other night I asked her if she was done with dinner so I could clear her plate, and she boldly responded, "Wait a minute." I commended her because I use that phrase with her all the time, and she used it appropriately. She is definitely a girl who has her own opinion. This is most reflected at meals, unfortunately. I say unfortunately because she's developing some picky eating habits. This could be due to her teething or her turning 2 soon. Foods that she ate just a couple months ago are now turned down with a wrinkled nose. Once she loved strawberries, blueberries, tomatoes, bananas, but not so much lately. The one thing she always seems to eat though is cheese. That girl could eat cheese for all 3 meals and snacks in between. This means most meals consist of a grilled cheese sandwich, mac & cheese, or cheese quesadilla. I'm going to start mixing things into these three staples to see if I can get more vitamins into her diet. We'll see how that works.

One of our daily rituals is playing outside. She absolutely loves the outdoors. She's gotten so brave when we go to the park and now goes down slides all on her own, without me waiting for her at the bottom. It's amazing to see how much she's grown by observing such behaviors. One thing that cracks me up (and totally reminds me of me) is she always has to clear the wood chips off the steps before she can climb up, and if there is dirt or debris on the slide, she will politely point it out to me and have me clear it before she can slide down. She's so concerned about things being clean and orderly that's for sure. (She does this with her hands to. When eating, she continously asks me to clean her hands. She doesn't like to be dirty for long.) I've recently taken her to the outdoor pool at the rec center, and she does fairly well in the water. Most of the time, she'll play here and there with friends, but she'd much rather sit on mommy's lap and be an observer. I try not to push her too much, but sometimes I would really love to see play more with other kids and have fun rather than be the passive observer. Again, this so reminds me of me though. I've always wished I was a more active player vs. the calm observer.

Another of our daily rituals is taking walks. I bought her a little buggie/car that I can push her around the neighborhood in. Most of the time, this is her toy of choice after dinner when Daddy is home, but she and I have taken many walks too. I find it amusing to walk with her because she loves to point things out to me. Of course, we have to look for airplanes, and when we do see them, she always says "NeeNee" and I respond, "Yes, soon we'll go on an airplane to see NeeNee." She then quickly follows with "Toby?" Jacked. Toby has now taken the #2 spot, pushing Pop and Spanky to #3 and #4. (Actually, I think this is kinda cute since she only knows Toby from web calls.) When walking, we also look for flags. The girl is fascinated with flags, particularly the American flag. We also look for flowers, birds, kids, bikes, dogs, rabbits, etc.

One thing that truly amazes me is Inara's ability to recognize similar objects. For example, our friend with the little boy Owen drives a white SUV, a Trailblazer I believe. So any time we see a car that looks like this car, Inara will yell out Owen. The same goes for a black SUV like Kristi's. Inara will point it out and call out A for Avery. We have a couple Fisher Price Little People books and one of the little boys has short blonde hair, who she instantly associates with her friend Owen. Unbelieveable what a great memory she has and how she can associate various things with people she knows. Of course, this is also true with Curious George. She associates so many things to her favorite monkey: carrots, rainbows, boats. She may watch too much TV, but I've said it before and I'll say it again, Inara has learned SO much from George.

I swear Inara has the happiest, bubbliest personality that is so adorable. She does the funniest little things all the time. Something she started when my parents were here is she makes beeping noises when she walks backwards like the beeping trucks and vans make. Now she does it all the time, not just when she's walking backwards but even when she moves cars, strollers, etc. backwards. So funny. Also, her responses to questions can be so cute. We often ask her "Whose silly?" when she's being funny. Her response now is "ME!" Yes, she now can use the pronouns me and you, and she uses them correctly. She also has to mimic so much of what I do. If I'm sweeping, then she goes into the cupboard and gets her little broom and dustpan. And if she sees me wearing my apron while cooking, then she has to put hers on too. I love that I have a mini me running around her. It's one of the coolest feelings in the world.

One conversation we have numerous times throughout the day is when we go see NeeNee and Pop and all the fun things we're going to do. She can't wait to swim in Pop's big pool, even more so now that she saw videos of Kylie jumping in the pool. I've also told her about going to the fair with Kylie and all the farm animals we're going to see. She gets so excited. But she gets even more excited when I talk to her about going to Mickey Mouse's house called Disneyland. She always asks if we're going to ride the train with NeeNee. Yes, sweet pea, we're going to ride the train at Disneyland. I think she's going to have the time of her life when we go to CA. But I know for SURE that my parents are also going to have the time of their lives with this little munchkin. Even though they just saw her in April, she really has changed so much in just a few months that they are going to have a blast. So 5 more days, NeeNee, Pop, and Spanky, so be prepared because you're going to have your hands full for 12 days. We can't wait!