Shirley, Shirley. Oh, my Shirley.
If Richard is my pride and joy, Shirley Jean is the apple of my eye. Has there ever been a two (almost three) year old so beautlful? So intelligent? So independent? So lovely? So sweet? So loving? Never.
My Shirley girl changes every day. Her vocabulary has exploded in the last six weeks and she is now constructing four or five word sentences such as, "I can't sleep right now." "I canna do it myself." "I need another one, please." "I'm still dry, see?" "I canna do the light!"
Shirley loves her brother. Usually. She loves it that he is starting to wave, and will frequently say wave to him while saying, "Hey, buddy!" She is also a very good helper with him. She will bring me a diaper or nukie and will often try to comfort him when he cries.
Shirley's favorite activities include coloring, painting, singing, dancing, watching Curious George, reading ANY book, praying, snuggling, bathing and cooking. Her current favorite book is "How do I love you?" She has the whole book nearly memorized and re-tells to me at random times. The other day she said, "Mama, I love you like blue days." The actual line from the book reads, "I love you like the sun loves the bright blue days." Close enough for me! Her other absolute favorite book is called, "God Lives in My House." Every time we finish reading it, she tells me, "God lives in my heart, Mama." These are the things I will always remember.
Shirley's favorite foods are spaghetti, noodles with butter, macaroni and cheese, strawberry-banana smoothies, apples, cheese, bananas, pork, chicken, apple juice, chocolate milk and "lunch" (aka: sandwiches).
Shirley Jean LOVES other children. She loves going to the playground (indoor these days) or the nursery. She immediately jumps in and makes friends. This is a complete change from about six months ago when she screamed bloody murder when I tried to leave her in the nursery at church. Praise the Lord for answered prayers! She is very social and often asks about her friends. She particularly adores her friends that are a little bit older. Can you blame her? They're just so COOL!
Shirley loves spending time with her Grandmas and Papas and asks for them frequently. She also adores "My Lorn" and "My Rine." (Lauren and Ryan.) She loves her other aunts and uncles, but for some reason Lorn and Rine have really bonded with Shirley's heart. Every time they come over she waves goodbye saying, "Thanks for coming to my house! I LUFF you!"
Shirley's problem solving skills are pretty amazing. If she wants something off the counter, she gets her stool. If she knows Mama will say no, she asks Daddy (I suspect this will continue for a long time). If the wheels on her stroller won't turn, she tips it over to figure out why. She hides nukies so that when I take them away after naptime she will know where one is in her secret stash. (If you're wondering, her secret stash is in the oven of her play kitchen. She doesn't know that I know.) You name it...she'll try to figure it out.
Shirley knows all of her letters by sight and most of their sounds. She can count actual objects up to thirteen. After that, everything is "twenteen." She can recognize her name in writing and is starting to recognize Richard. Soon I will have to teach her her last name. Pray for us! :) She is getting pretty good at drawing a circle, but that's it so far. Of course, she knows all her animal sounds...including some pretty crazy animals like a wombat, penguin and camel. I'm not even kidding.
At this point, I am very pleased to say that Shirley is 99.7% potty trained! For the most part she even wakes up dry! I am so proud of her! She LOVES going potty, and "Doesna need help, Mama!" This is not true. She needs help, but won't admit it. Nothing spells disaster like a little girl trying to do it all herself in the bathroom. I'm just saying.
As you can probably tell, I am so proud of my princess. She has captured my heart. There will never be another Shirley.
If Richard is my pride and joy, Shirley Jean is the apple of my eye. Has there ever been a two (almost three) year old so beautlful? So intelligent? So independent? So lovely? So sweet? So loving? Never.
My Shirley girl changes every day. Her vocabulary has exploded in the last six weeks and she is now constructing four or five word sentences such as, "I can't sleep right now." "I canna do it myself." "I need another one, please." "I'm still dry, see?" "I canna do the light!"
Shirley loves her brother. Usually. She loves it that he is starting to wave, and will frequently say wave to him while saying, "Hey, buddy!" She is also a very good helper with him. She will bring me a diaper or nukie and will often try to comfort him when he cries.
Shirley's favorite activities include coloring, painting, singing, dancing, watching Curious George, reading ANY book, praying, snuggling, bathing and cooking. Her current favorite book is "How do I love you?" She has the whole book nearly memorized and re-tells to me at random times. The other day she said, "Mama, I love you like blue days." The actual line from the book reads, "I love you like the sun loves the bright blue days." Close enough for me! Her other absolute favorite book is called, "God Lives in My House." Every time we finish reading it, she tells me, "God lives in my heart, Mama." These are the things I will always remember.
Shirley's favorite foods are spaghetti, noodles with butter, macaroni and cheese, strawberry-banana smoothies, apples, cheese, bananas, pork, chicken, apple juice, chocolate milk and "lunch" (aka: sandwiches).
Shirley Jean LOVES other children. She loves going to the playground (indoor these days) or the nursery. She immediately jumps in and makes friends. This is a complete change from about six months ago when she screamed bloody murder when I tried to leave her in the nursery at church. Praise the Lord for answered prayers! She is very social and often asks about her friends. She particularly adores her friends that are a little bit older. Can you blame her? They're just so COOL!
Shirley loves spending time with her Grandmas and Papas and asks for them frequently. She also adores "My Lorn" and "My Rine." (Lauren and Ryan.) She loves her other aunts and uncles, but for some reason Lorn and Rine have really bonded with Shirley's heart. Every time they come over she waves goodbye saying, "Thanks for coming to my house! I LUFF you!"
Shirley's problem solving skills are pretty amazing. If she wants something off the counter, she gets her stool. If she knows Mama will say no, she asks Daddy (I suspect this will continue for a long time). If the wheels on her stroller won't turn, she tips it over to figure out why. She hides nukies so that when I take them away after naptime she will know where one is in her secret stash. (If you're wondering, her secret stash is in the oven of her play kitchen. She doesn't know that I know.) You name it...she'll try to figure it out.
Shirley knows all of her letters by sight and most of their sounds. She can count actual objects up to thirteen. After that, everything is "twenteen." She can recognize her name in writing and is starting to recognize Richard. Soon I will have to teach her her last name. Pray for us! :) She is getting pretty good at drawing a circle, but that's it so far. Of course, she knows all her animal sounds...including some pretty crazy animals like a wombat, penguin and camel. I'm not even kidding.
At this point, I am very pleased to say that Shirley is 99.7% potty trained! For the most part she even wakes up dry! I am so proud of her! She LOVES going potty, and "Doesna need help, Mama!" This is not true. She needs help, but won't admit it. Nothing spells disaster like a little girl trying to do it all herself in the bathroom. I'm just saying.
As you can probably tell, I am so proud of my princess. She has captured my heart. There will never be another Shirley.
Finger painting!
Ready for some yunch!
Miss Shirley got out of her bed at some point in the night and curled up in Daddy's clothes.
We found her like this in the morning.
Magic paint!
Magic paint!
4 comments:
It has been nothing short of incredible to watch her grow these last few years. Thanks so much for sharing these milestones, Erin. I just love reading them and sharing in the joy of the small-wonder of it all :) God bless your beautiful family!
Aww, Jo. Thank you. Love you.
Aww, Jo. Thank you. Love you.
oh, sweet friend. i sure feel the love in this post. what a beautiful tribute to your firstborn shirley girly. it's made me love her all over again!
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