Two Years Old!

I cannot believe it!! Shelby is TWO! Where does the time go? She really is no longer a baby. She's now a talkative, curious and independent little girl. She's so sweet and good, and she makes us so happy. Here is what she is up to now:

• TALKING! Shelby is a talking machine. She is putting together three- and four-word sentences and they actually make sense (at least to those fluent in toddler language), with a subject and a verb and everything! Some examples - Shelby ride choo choo. Mama drive car. Shelby eat nummies (her word for "food") and our favorite - Cat barf. (She loooooves to tell us when the cat has coughed up a hairball). My other favorite is "Mama Hairy back." No, she is not telling me I have a hairy back (rude!) she is asking me to put on my T-shirt with a picture of Hairy Dawg on the back. Haha.
• We are working on manners and saying things like "please" and she is actually pretty good at it. If she asks for something and I say, for example "water, whaaaat?" she responds enthusiastically with a "water, PLEASE!" and it's so cute.
• Just in the past week or so, she has really taken off with the alphabet and counting. She can sing her ABCs up to about E or F, and can count to five, or more if we are helping her.
• When we ask her how old she is, she enthusiastically says "TWO!"
• She is really into chores and "helping" with whatever I'm doing. She loves to wipe floors, dust and sweep. Maybe it's time to start paying an allowance? ;)
• I am amazed at her memory and how long she can remember things and talk about things that happened in the past. If we do a special activity one day - like when we rode the train at Stone Mountain - she will mention it the next day without our prompting. She will also talk about things at the end of the day that happened at the beginning of the day. Like, for example, if she left a book in Scott's car on the way to school, she will mention it in my car on the way home from school. "Daddy Hairy car" = The Hairy Dawg book is in dad's car.
• She is showing more interest in potty training. She now goes into the bathroom and takes off her pants, but it is usually not fast enough and she has just peed in her diaper. (or once on the floor). But it is progress!
• Whenever we are in a wide open space like a store, she loves to RUN! I think our grocery cart days are numbered. The other week, I went to Target with her after work, and she didn't want to sit in the cart. Instead of staying near me, she tore off running through the store, laughing the entire time! This made shopping for a few items VERY difficult, but it was hard to get that mad because she was so cute and having so much fun!
• She gives us such good kisses and hugs at bedtime and says "Dada wuv you" and "Mama wuv you" and it's just the sweetest thing EVER! My heart just wants to burst with joy when we get those good snuggles!
• She is so sweet and cute and good and we love her so much!