These days Leila is full of surprises. She surprises us daily with her words (okay, sentences), her imagination, and her actions. She's a typical two and a half year old...always changing, always moving, always lovable.
Leila loves playing pretend. One minute she is pretending to be a firefighter, the next a princess, and the next she's in a marching band (insisting that we all march along). She plays basketball with a felt lettuce head and then is serving it to us and invisible Elmo in the next breath. Empty yogurt cups turn into cupcakes baking in the oven and then a sidewalk for the lid she is using as a car. Don't even try to suggest to Leila what she might be doing, because trust me, she doesn't like suggestions. "No, that's not a tower. It's a train." What?! Our typical response is, "Oh, of course it is." Smile.
Leila loves adventure too. In the mornings, or after nap time, she asks what we are going to do to or where we are going. She's up for anything! Leila has been spending a lot of time at the beach house with my parents, aunt, and uncle. Earlier this week my dad and uncle took her on the city bus and then on the trolley downtown San Diego. She has mentioned the humongous ships ever since.
If she could eat pancakes at every meal she would. Leila loves cheese...grilled cheese, mac and cheese, string cheese, cheddar cheese, you name it! We still drink our toddler-approved green smoothie most mornings. Leila is weary of most vegetables, but after discovering that she'll eat the "flower" off the asparagus Leila has been willing to at least smell most vegetables. One day she loves blueberries and the next she won't touch them, which is pretty typical about most everything from fruits to meats.
Recently Leila has started calling me "Mom" and although it makes me laugh I think she's too young for that! At least she hasn't called me by my first name...yet. She will sometimes call Jeff by his first name or even just Dad. It melts his heart when she calls for him, "Daaaaaaad...I need you."
One syllable words have two syllables if Leila is saying them and apparently she gets that from me. Who knew?! Jeff caught me saying "may-ill" for mail just this week.
I swear she talks more than any toddler I have ever been around. She wakes up talking and falls asleep talking to her stuffed animals (one of the million she wants in her bed). It's kind of nice she doesn't have just one favorite stuffed animal or lovey. Sometimes we can't locate the exact "friend" she wants and most of the time it can be substituted by someone else. Don't mess with her bedtime routine too much though or she will be hollering.
Leila keeps us on our toes! She's independent yet needs us at the same time. She makes us laugh, smile, and want to pull our hair out (okay, maybe just me). She's a typical toddler yet uniquely Leila. I love being her mother!
