23 months old and FABULOUS!!

Lil Miss Leeza is now 23 months old..ONLY ONE MORE MONTH BEFORE SHE TURNS 2!!
It's so amazing how much children change at this age, and so quickly too! Everyday,she is showing us something new! Her vocabulary is building quickly, although I'm not sure if many people can understand "Leeza speak" as well as her family does. :) She is still ELMO and Sesame Street crazy. In fact, when we get dressed in the mornings, she wants her ELMO panties, and Elmo panties only. The other day, I took her pretty white dress off for her to eat lunch because I didn't want Mac and Cheese all over her pretty outfit. She was in her undies, and after I got her down from her high chair and was cleaning up, she was taking off her undies! I told her No No, we have to get dressed sweetie,and she said "No, ELMO!!!" It was hilarious. Every morning we have to have a discussion on which panties we are going to wear. :)

We moved up a level at Gymboree class,and Leeza LOVED IT! She has now moved up 2 levels..since we started going when she was just 14 or so months old. I LOVED the 22-28 month class, and SO DID SHE! She was SO engaged and really partipated in everything the other kids were doing. It was a lot of fun. Since Leeza has a "late birthday", September 5th, she will miss the cut off of September 1st to start school. However, now I'm excited about that, because I get another whole year with her at home (even though she will attend preschool part time until PRE-k) but I think she will benefit from waiting. I think she has some leader attributes in her. I can just SEE the wheels spinning in her head, and other people have told me the same thing. :)


I took her and her brother to Rack Room shoes to get Sean some school shoes, and see what they had for Leeza. All of a sudden, NONE of her size 5 shoes fit. I bought her a cute lil pair of sketchers on sale for $8..size 7!! She was a real nightmare in the store, wanting to try on EVERY PAIR of girl shoes they had. It was kinda cute, if I hadn't had to chase her down to keep her from destroying the aisles.



Leeza spent this week at the church nursery while Sean and I volunteered at our church's VBS program. It is the longest time she's ever spent in the nursery, from 8-12, but I am SO happy that she did GREAT! No tears, and she has a lot of fun. I'm glad because she starts preschool September 8th, just 2 mornings a week, from 9-12, to supplement our Gymboree and Kindermusic classes. I am excited for her, and it gives me a chance to "get my walk on" to train for the Breast Cancer 3 day walk I'm doing with the Kaz Mama team in November. It's been SO hot and humid I haven't really felt much like training, but it's only 14 weeks away and it's Time to get my GAME ON!! I can get 3 hours walks in while Leeza's learning to socialize in preschool! Sean starts MIDDLE SCHOOL in a week and a half! I can't believe it!



Leeza's "biggest" new skill is that she has learned to swim, after private lessons, since June 1st. I was starting to think that we'd just try again next summer, when, this very week, she just "got it" and she's been AMAZING to watch. Yesterday,she swam for a solid 40-45 minutes. She'd swim to Emily, turn around, and swim back. I used to have to "hide inside" or she'd whine and not listen to Emily, but now I can be out there and video tape her and cheer her on and she's not distracted by my presence anymore. In fact, I kinda think she likes to show off! It's been really amazing to watch how far she's come...from learning to blow bubbles, to putting her whole face in, to using big arms, and kicking..ALL AT THE SAME TIME! She is getting very strong. She can also pull herself out of the pool on the side ALL BY HERSELF! She's such a big girl. :) (yeah, maybe i'm a pretty proud mommy!)

Now, we have to teach her to swim swim swim, then roll over on her back to take a breath, then swim swim swim some more. She is still NOT keen on the back float, but she will do it in the bathtub. :)


Her favorite foods change daily, but she always seems to LOVE edaname! She also seems to love whatever her daddy has. The other night, I made her a turkey and cheddar bratwurst (hot dog to her). She ate half and declared she was done, and gave me her plate. However,she saw one on her Daddy's plate. She ate his whole hot dog! Last night at dinner, we had ravioli. She ate half hers (if that much) then wanted her Daddy's. HILARIOUS! She is a funny girl. She will only drink water, and chocolate or vanilla milk (or, diet coke, but we won't let her). I have caught her "dumpster diving" a few times in our trash can trying to slurp out any diet coke remnants. :) She also learned to say her name this last month..I love to hear her say it .."eeeeeZA" she say..emphasis on the ZA!! :)

We are going to have an Elmo themed birthday party for her at our house (must get invites out now!!)and if I can find one, Sean has agreed to dress up as Elmo. :)
I still laugh and remember Sean's 4 year old "super hero" birthday party, and his big brother Joey dressed up like Batman and his friend John was Robin. Sean looked at him and said "You are NOT the real Batman..you're my big brother Joey!!" Priceless.

Leeza was running around the other night before bed and I cracked up when I saw her...doesn't everyone wear their beads and bracelet to bed? :)