Two and a Half!

Anna Kate is two and a half today!  I didn't really think about it until this afternoon, but when she woke up from her nap I told her that I had news for her.  She was so excited to learn that she can now tell people she is "two and a half" when they ask how old she is!  I even decided we could have a little celebration with our friends at church who we eat supper with on Wednesday nights.  We went out to our local cupcake shop and got half a cupcake for everyone!

In honor of Anna Kate's half-birthday, I thought that I would write down just a few things that I want to remember about this sweet stage of life that she's in right now.  She is just such a joy to be around and there are so many things I just don't want to forget!

~ Anna Kate LOVES to read!  She would probably sit and read and be read to all day long!  She still loves silly little board books, but she also enjoys longer books as well - "Blueberries for Sal" and "The Cat in the Hat" are a couple favorites right now.
~ She has quite an imagination.  She has 3 or 4 imaginary rhinoceros friends that she refers to as "my rhinos".  She is constantly talking about her rhinos, inviting them over to dinner, and texting them on her play cell phones.  We even had to throw them a birthday party last night!
~ She knows all of her upper case letters and many of the lower case as well.  We are starting to work on sounds and she's learning quickly!
~ She knows all her shapes, colors, and numbers from one to ten.  She can count to thirteen!
~ She is completely potty trained except for naps and nighttime.  Not sure when we'll tackle that, but for now, I'm just glad to only have one in diapers during the day!
~ She loves to read the Bible.  She has started to carry around her little New Testament that she was given at her baby dedication, but she still really loves our Big Picture Story Bible.  She has two favorite stories that she wants to read over and over again.  The first is the one where "God came down in a cloud" at the dedication of the temple.  That page is crinkled and torn and taped and smudged because she turns to it so much.  Her second favorite is the "clean hotels" story.  That's the one where it says that Baby Jesus wasn't born in a nice big home or a clean hotel, but in a lowly stable.  We aren't quite sure why she has latched on to those two stories, but she absolutely loves them.  Luke made the observation that both of those stories are about the wonder of the immanence of God.  God with us.  In the Old Testament he could only show himself in a cloud, but in Jesus he became one of us.  Emmanuel.
~ She is a wonderful big sister to Caroline.  They have their share of toy squabbles and Anna Kate frequently needs to be reminded to "be gentle to Caroline," but she really does love her baby sister.  She always wants to give her hugs and kisses and is constantly cheering on Caroline's newest skill (crawling, standing, climbing, etc.).  She is also very protective of Caroline and her allergies.  She makes sure that Caroline doesn't get anywhere near anything with dairy, eggs, or peanuts!
~ She is a very loving little girl.  She is such a snuggler with Mommy and Daddy and loves giving all the rest of her family and friends hugs too!
~ Her favorite places to go are the park, the library, the zoo, and EdVenture.  She wakes up in the morning asking to go to one of them and then puts her hands out and shrugs her shoulders and says, "Would that be a good idea?"
~ Her favorite toys these days are purses.  Sometimes she will carry 3 at a time.  She has to bring one with her nearly everywhere we go.
~ She takes prayer very seriously.  Any time she hears that someone is sick or hurt, she immediately wants to pray for them.  And then continues to pray for them for days.  She also prays for the "sad people who don't know Jesus."
~ She is really doing well in her classes at church lately.  She loves Sunday School with Ms. Tammy and Ms. Mandy and must really listen well because she can always come home and tell us what her lesson was about!  She also really likes her Wednesday night class, but I'm not sure if the "M-uh-M" cookies and "Lemolade" have anything to do with that!
~ She is doing great with her Bible Memory and catechism that we've been doing with her.  She has memorized Genesis 1:1, Matthew 22:37, Matthew 22:39, John 17:17, Acts 16:31, and Ephesians 6:1 (my favorite!).  She also knows all the catechism questions up through the ones about Adam and Eve.
~ She is starting to become very interested in my violin teaching.  She loves to sit and listen while I teach lessons.  We may just have to start that sometime soon!  We are already working on some of the early Suzuki rhythms and pitch-matching.
~ She is a pretty good sleeper these days.  She takes a good afternoon nap from about 1-3pm and then is down at 7:45 for a good 11-12 hours.
~ Anna Kate's current favorite foods are yogurt, raisins, cheese, and "Sagebby" (spaghetti).  Oh and anything that could be classified as "Tessert" (dessert).

Anna Kate is a joy and a treasure and a blessing, and the sweetest two-and-a-half-year-old girl that I know!

P.S.  Her hair is getting really long and is actually in pigtail french braids in these pictures!