Leilani's 2 and a Half!

Ok, so I've had this post sitting in my archive for almost a month now, partly because I don't have as much time to blog right now and partly because I haven't been quite sure what to say.
My two year old...
I love and adore her dearly and at the same time struggle and fight with her.
She's a spit fire this one.
You know when friends and neighbors start suggesting books to you on how to help manage your toddler that you've got a "lively one" on your hands:)
(Either that, or they're trying to find a polite way to say, "You're a crappy parent!")
I prefer to think it's the first.

Leilani has a gift for speaking.
That is the first thing people notice when they meet her.
"Wow she talks really well for her age!"
They've been saying that since before she was one.
She could probably star on "Kids Say the Darndest Things"
She constantly keeps me laughing by the things she says.
You could probably hear me say several times a day, "You need to learn to close your mouth and open your ears," because she's also a master selective hearer.
She hears EVERYTHING because I often hear it repeated to me...oops! But she is very good at zoning away off into some play land when she knows a command such as "Leilani come clean up your toys" is coming her way.
Which leads me to her next greatest talent.
Imagination
This girl has got it!
Sometimes I have no idea whether what she's telling me actually happened in the real world or whether it happened in her own head because both are extremely real to her.
She often has many imaginary friends to talk to and I rarely am asked to call her by Leilani.
It's either some baby animal, mostly "baby kitty" or some princess.
For example:

She found this umbrella and played for hours pretending all sorts of things, Mary Poppins included.  

 or

this bubble packing became Rapunzel's hair, a snake, a pet dog, a pillow, a lion's mane, and the list continues.

I love this aspect about her because it makes playing with her a lot of fun!

She loves playing with friends!

This is Harrison, one of her favorite friends to play with.

She gets absolutely gitty when I tell her a friend is coming over to play.

She is silly!

And just like most little girls she LOVES to play dress up.

She puts on ridiculous costumes and twirls around the floor.

She recently got to wear a "pretty married dress," as she calls it, to be a flower girl in Targhee's cousin's wedding.

The dress

The shoes

The bow

The audience's attention all on me!

She was in heaven!

You can be sure she thought the whole day was about her.

We practiced for months because I didn't want her to choke under pressure:)

Instead she did perfectly and made sure that EVERY petal was out of that basket.

When she reached the end of the aisle she turned around and declared,

"We need to get some more!"

It was hilarious.

And last but not least,

She is a Daddy's Girl!

Leilani adores her Dad.

They just understand each other in a way that I can't.

Targhee is going to school full time and works full time and so his time at home is precious to all of us.

Leilani eats up every minute she gets to spend with Dad.

I love watching them laugh and play.

I wonder sometimes if Targhee was exactly like Leilani when he was two because he can still play pretend with her for hours.  Dad's have a gift to never grow up:)

I am so grateful for my little girl.

My life would be very boring without her.

I know she was sent here as a teacher to me.

She will often remind me, "Mom, you need to be patient!"

Which is of course one of my biggest weaknesses.

She is the perfect teacher to help me learn this quality:)

I love you Leilani!