Talkin' Taylor

I have to say, my 2-year-old is quite the talker. Her vocabulary is that of a 3-year-old's (not sure where she got that stroke of genius) and she often says the funniest things. She astounds me every day with intelligent questions and funny phrases that I'm sure she's picked up from watching Mickey Mouse Clubhouse (I'm pretty sure she's learned way more from that show than from me). Some of my favorite things she's said as of late:

1. On the drive home, "Look mommy, a yellow fire hydrant with blue on it!" And so it was, a yellow fire hydrant with a blue reflector on it.

2. Upon seeing red, white, and blue colored balloons: "Oh, my! Flag balloons!" She also knows what an "American flag" is, as well as an, "Argentina flag" (where Blake served his mission).

3. While playing with some spices from our spice rack, she put one container next to another and said, "Two halves make a whole!" I'll credit Mickey Mouse for that one!

4. While her grammar is unusually proper for her age ("Mommy, will you get me some more milk, please?"), there are still a few phrases she says incorrectly that are just so cute: "I want to go at Grandma's house!" Whenever we leave grandma's house, she jumps and dances in a circle while yelling, "Yeah, yeah, yeah! Fun at grandma's house!"

5. One of her favorite requests: "I want to play with you in my bedroom, mommy."

6. At church, she often tells Blake and I, "Good job being reverent," or "Just keep being patient." Before sacrament meeting started a couple weeks ago, she pointed to a bald man 2 rows in front of us and said, pretty loudly, "That boy isn't wearing any hair!" That one got a few chuckles, especially from Daddy :)

7. She is very inquisitive and often asks questions like, "What are you doing?" or "What is that?"

8. She is always concerned about others, especially Daddy. If Blake makes any noise of frustration, she immediately asks, "What's the matter, daddy?" or "Are you okay, daddy?" She also randomly comes up to us and says, "I love you, mommy/daddy."

9. Whenever we turn on Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, she has to ask, "What episode is it?"

10. She really knows what she wants these days: "I want a big girl bed, mommy" and "I want to wear Minnie Mouse panties."

11. Whenever she sneezes, she says, "Bless you!" to herself :)

She is really growing up and maturing into a little person these days. While tantrums are not out of the ordinary, they are becoming a bit more rare (knock on wood) as she has learned to express herself in more appropriate and grown up ways.

She is really smart and surprises us every day with her expanding vocabulary (how many 2-year-olds do you know that can say "congratulations" and use it in the right context? Although, when my sister was graduating from Timpview High School, Taylor accidentally combined the words graduation and congratulations to create a new word...congraduation).

Taylor also has exceptional listening skills. She is very attentive about listening when I caution her not to run into the street and knows not to push the boundaries on things like cars and safety. She has a very good sense of hearing...she always notices the sound of the "choo-choo train" that we can faintly hear from our house.

She also loves music and knows a lot of songs (ABC song, Popcorn Popping, etc.) just by hearing me sing them to her. Oftentimes, I've sung a song to her without her uttering a word of it, only to hear her playing in her bedroom and singing that song perfectly, word for word.

Overall, she is a very obedient and pleasant little girl. With the day to day challenges of family life, she definitely brings a sense of innocence and joy to our family that keeps us laughing, even through the hard times. We love our little Taylor.