Megan at 2 1/2 Years

I forgot to include this picture of Megan in her 2 1/2 year photo post so I thought I would include it with her update.  We used the "turn and smile" technique for this picture.  Actually a bit of an accident that it turned out as well as it did.  The only problem is that it really makes me miss the nice fall weather that we only had for a couple weeks!  

I could probably go on and on about the things Megan has been doing and learned over the past six months since my last update on her.  I'll try to keep it brief and I'm also sure there are things I've forgotten.  She is such a busy little girl!

Megan's favorite sayings:
Whew, that was a close one
I'm so happy to see you (to her stuffed animals, of course)
Daddy will fix it
No problem
You're welcome
Mommy, you potty break!
Mmm, delicious!
No, meself!
What doo-ning, Mommy?
What are we doing today? / Who are we seeing today?

Here's the rest:
-Megan doesn't like to walk much.  Instead she likes to do a "run, hop, march" sequence and thinks we should join in too.  We don't mind too much except when she likes to do this same sequence coming back from communion since we sit in the very back corner and by that time all eyes are on us!
-Megan loves to help with projects.  I told John I won best parent of the week because last Saturday we did four projects getting ready for Cat's bridal shower.  She helped me put spices in snack baggies, make tortilla bowls, wrap a present and make a card.  Even getting ready for the shower she was asking if she could help and was sooo thankfulwhen someone gave her a job to do.  It's hard to do projects with a little baby in the house but I need to make a conscious effort to include Megan on whatever I'm doing because she is a good helper.
-Megan tries to find Twinkle, Twinkle in the hymnals at church each Sunday.  At least she understands that those are the music books.  When we try to follow along with the readings in the Bibles, she makes us put them away and open up the hymnals!
-Megan's imagination is through the roof lately.  She is finally loving to play with dollies and stuffed animals.  She likes to feed them and burp them. 
-Megan's basically told us that she is done with naps.  If we say she has to take a nap, she'll tell us that she already took one today or she only "naps" once a day, meaning bedtime.  Even bedtimes are tough because John will carry her upstairs but she'll be saying, "No nap, no nightnight".  About half of the time we'll make her nap, it just depends on how cranky she is around 1 or 2 in the afternoon.
-I recently updated on potty training and nothing has really changed.  One day I set the potty timer and told her it was time for her potty break.  She looked at me and told me it was time for my potty break!  I thought I had a breakthrough one day last week when I had to use the bathroom but she actually wanted to go herself and insisted on taking off her pants, pulling off diaper, climbing onto the potty all by herself.  That only lasted a couple times though, but she'll let us know when she's ready.
-This girl has the memory of an elephant.  She never forgets... Anything!
-Megan's hair continues to get thicker and longer but you wouldn't know that it's growing.  It actually doesn't go down any further down her back but simply keeps curling on itself and gets more poofy.  When it's wet we comb it straight and it reaches a little onto her back.  She doesn't like anyone messing with her hair.  It gets pretty wild in the morning since some is curly and some is straight.  But if I try to comb or brush it out of the say she says, "No brusha me hair!"
-I'm estimating that Megan weighs about 32 pounds right now.  She seems to be getting a lot taller too but not any leaner.  She is not overweight but I like how her arms and legs have the perfect amount of "meat" on them.
-I think Megan's gained more just recently since she's started eating more and having a little more adventurous taste buds.  It's cute how she associates different foods with the different houses she goes to.  When she goes to my parents she knows that her and Grandma make oatmeal in the morning and often have soup for lunch.  When she is at John's parents she expects eggs and toast for breakfaste and then pizza for lunch.  At home she just flings open the refrigerator door and helps herself.  She will grab apples out of the drawer, reach and point to yogurt on the top shelf and sometimes is able to reach her milk or juice cup if she stands tippy toe.
-Megan's going through a little phase right now where she is afraid of the dark and doesn't like to sleep in her own bed for the entire night.  Even though we have an awesome nightlight in her room that can be set to different colors and also leave the door open she still will end up in our bed occasionally.
-Megan's vocabulary increases daily and she is constantly perfecting words that were once tough for her.  Right now she is really focusing on the "l" sound like in alligator, blocks, follow.  I think it's hilarious when she tries out a tough new word and just muddles through it because it's long and hard.  But when I guess what she really said she is all smiles.  For instance, when I guessed that she was trying to say "burp cloth" a couple nights ago and then "Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood" last week. 
-There are certain words that are so cute with her mispronounciations that I never want them to change such as doof = move, Mimick = Gennrich, Looloose = Lewis,
-Megan loves when we do things as a family and wants everyone to always be there.  I think she just wants everyone to have fun and not miss out on anything.  Plus, it's more fun with more people.  When we tell her that we're headed somewhere, we always get, "Mommy? Daddy? Megan? Owen too?
-There's a quote that you can always tell a German but you can't tell them much.  I think the same applies with Megan because she is sure stubborn like her Mommy.  I like that personality trait and we are just learning to work with it.  It's not always easy since she has it in her mind exactly how things need to go and it's hard to change those thoughts.
-Lately Megan has started tattling and lying a little.  It's mostly when bedtime comes.  She'll ask John if she can watch one more Mickey.  He'll say no so she'll come to me.  I will also say no and tell her I agree with Daddy.  She'll go back to John saying, "Mommy said 'yes' Mickey"!
-Another form of Megan's imagination... Lately, Megan's had imaginary cookies.  When we're driving or just playing at home, she'll pinch her thumb and index finger together and give us all cookies to eat!  Best zero-calorie treat yet!  I think there are imaginary snakes sometimes too...