Goldfish and Glitter: 2 1/2... how did we get here so fast!?!

Kemble just turned 2 1/2......My how the time flies!

It seems like she changes so much week to week, and even from day to day. She talks up a storm, and it's like in the past week or so, it's really been increasing rapidly and her vocabulary is limitless! She speaks in little almost-sentences most of the time. She'll say things like "go outside, me, slide and swing" or "awww woody happy now!" "all done beans, now milk, couch" or "fish, pink bowl and fork and spoon" (for some reason, this silly girl likes to eat her goldfish with a fork and spoon!). Sure, we're missing some words here and there, some of what comes of her mouth is completely unintelligible, and she hasn't mastered saying I vs. me, but I'm just so thrilled to hear her talking so much and especially to be able to understand a lot more of she says! Stephen recently had an unexpected last minute trip to Mexico (or Memico) and got caught up in the earthquakes down there. It was a stressful trip for all of us, and we are so glad he made it home safely and without too many flight delays. When he got home after 3 days, he was shocked at the gains Kemble had made in her speech in that short time.

Some of my favorite Kemble-isms lately:

"OH Dosh!" (said in a tone of complete distress)
THANKS! (instead of thank you....sounds like "Danks!")
"nine!" (mine)
the way she says yes, it sounds like "zes"
watch me (sounds like "Watcha me!")
"Memico" (Mexico)
any spill is a "biiiig MESS!"
for some reason "icing" has turned into just "ice" and she loves to lick the "ice" off the beater
She says "hmmmmmm" and puts her finger by her mouth when she's thinking about something. Where does she pick this stuff up?!
She says "BESS you" when you sneeze!
"enty" (empty)
When she has a near miss playing ball or something, she'll say "ohhh almost!" or "SO close!"
"I don't know that" instead of just plain "i don't know"
"Mama do-ed it. Not me" when she wants me to do something for her.
"I lost my ________ " hysterically, as if it is gone forever. Often, "Callianne" or "Nunny & Kitty" can be inserted there.
"cool!"
It's DELICIOUS!"
"I want nack" as she helps herself to something in the pantry.
"need help?" - sooo sweet, she is always offering to help with everything
"can't hear you!" from across the house, or when really, she just doesn't want to listen
"Dada, stop talking. I'm on the phone"
"NO! NO DO THAT!"

A funny story... I cannot stand for bugs to be in my house. Especially flying bugs. They really bring out the crazy in me.... because I lose control when they buzz around my ears. One time, I was so mad, I screamed at the top of the lungs at the pesky fly "THIS IS MY HOUSE! NOT YOURS! GET OUT!" So of course, Stephen has never let me live it down and anytime there's a fly in the house he mocks me by saying "This is MY house!". Well, recently, there was a mayfly in the house (UGGH!) and Kemble was saying "shoo fly" (even though she normally calls all bugs ants - pronounced aints - she does say shoo fly) and Stephen told her to say "This is MY house!". She didn't, and I really didn't think she was paying attention... but then a few days later we were building her new (old) swingset outside and were in and out a lot so several pesky mayflies got in. I was in the kitchen and she was by the backdoor by herself and I overheard her saying "NO! MY HOUSE! Shoo fly!". It was so hilarious, so then I had her repeat it for my mom and Stephen, we all laughed, so now she says it every time she sees a bug anywhere, even outside.

Her newest thing is to make sure everything matches. She notices when things do match, like if she and I are wearing the same color or same style shoes, etc. However, last night she pulled out a random t-shirt from her pajama drawer for bed, so I grabbed a pair of elephant PJ pants that had the same colors as the writing on the shirt. I started to put them on her and she screamed "NOOOOOO!! No match! No match!". So I told her to find some that did and she chose another pair that matched much less than the pair I chose! They did have a white background like the shirt though, so maybe that means it matches in her little eyes. After that, she struggled to find 2 pillows that matched to go to bed with, and finally settled on a mismatched Monkey pillow pet and her giant Hello Kitty. Every night she makes a big deal out of choosing the pillows and blankets she wants to sleep with. Oh, and she also insists upon wearing her Tangled shirt every single day. No joke, every day. It's not always clean of course, and sometimes it's just "not clean" but she wears it at least twice a week, which is why you will notice it is in multiple pictures here, all taken on different days! We're actually having a new one just like it made as we speak! She has really pretty much outgrown this one.

In case you can't tell... this outfit matches! :)

And of course, it's the famous Tangled shirt.

At night when she puts on a gown, she does a gown dance. It started when she first started her interest in wearing gowns to bed, and she'd get excited and kind of spin and twirl in them. Then somehow it evolved into something more out of a Stomp routine. It still varies a bit from time to time, but she loves to show off her gown dance!

Doing her gown dance in her favorite red gown!

She recognizes her name and when she sees it she says "Kemble Kate Hayslip. Me." Although it sounds more like "dedede hayslip me". She also thinks any word that starts with K is Kemble. :)

She's in a phase where she is not wanting to eat as much. It's hard for me to just sit back and ignore it, but I figure if she's really hungry, she'll eat. She's getting pickier than she used to be and less willing to try new things. If you ask her what she wants to eat, she says hot dog, 24/7. She still loves cheese and fruit and any type of cracker or cereal. She loves rice cakes, Pirate's Booty, yogurt, waffles, pancakes and fruit snacks (Yes, I'm that mom that allowed her to buy them during one exceptionally well behaved visit to the grocery store-I couldn't say no.. and it's been downhill from there).

Over St. Patricks day weekend, we built her a swingset, and when I say we, I mean mostly Stephen, with a little help from myself and my mom. It was a hand-me-down from one of Stephen's old friends in Denton. It looks great and she loves it... although she is afraid to slide down the big slide. It took her a while to enjoy the swing too but now she's loving it. It shocked me that she immediately was able to climb up the ladder to the top part - I was worried she wouldn't be able to do it. She also loves to hang from the monkey bars, and is quite good at it!

They matched for church Sunday 3/18

I just love this little dress Krista and Reese gave her for her bday!

the final product! not too shabby!

She carries these lawn darts around everywhere. She uses them like drumsticks and completely on her own the first time she played with them I heard her say "1-2-3-4!" while hitting them together then drumming. She says she is a Fresh Beat

Practicing hunting eggs

(really Momma was just practicing using her camera settings!)

She's very much into doing things by herself. She likes to attempt to dress herself; she likes to pick out her own clothes when she can, or at least choose between 2 things. She thinks she needs to empty the contents of her potty chair into the big potty every time too - which is really frustrating because it goes without saying that she doesn't always do so without a mess! Did I mention that she is completely 100% potty trained!?!?! Woohoo! It was absolutely a breeze. She really just caught on immediately and has had very few accidents, all of which were caused by an adult not helping her make it to the potty in time for whatever reason. She even lets me know if she needs to potty during the night, and always wakes up with a dry pull-up in the morning-the only time we even use a pull-up anymore.

She's completely attached to Nunny and Kitty still. However, she has two Nunnies, the original and a back-up we bought to rotate in case one was ever lost. Now, she doesn't want anything to do with the old Nunny (she calls him 2 Nunny). And don't think you can give it to her if you can't find 1 Nunny (what she calls the newer one) because she knows instantly. The only difference between them is that the new one does not have whiskers and the old one does, plus the new one might be slightly softer. She also has begun to talk for them, especially Kitty. So cute! And she likes to set them upright and tell them to "watcha me" do whatever it is she's doing.

She has an amazingly sharp memory. She points out places we haven't been in ages, or only went to once, and remembers what we did there and who was with us. She remembers who ate with us most recently at any given restaurant that you might mention. She remembers little boo-boos on herself or anyone else. She just really amazes me at what she comprehends and retains already.

One more sweet story.... the other day she was asking about various family members and I told her they were all at work. I then told her how she was a lucky little girl because Mommy didn't have to go to work, instead my work was to stay home and take good care of her. Well, a week or so later, which was yesterday, we were waiting in line to register her for her new Mother's Day Out program for the fall, and she asked where Daddy was. I told her he was at work. Then she said "BB, work. Butch, work. Buster, work. Mamie, work................Momma stay home me!" and gave me the biggest hug!!! It melted my heart to pieces!

Spring Break was fun (other than the mystery fever Kemble had for several days leading into it), we spent time with Lille (we went to Pump it Up and Chick-fil-A), Sloane (at the zoo), and Callianne spent the night with us. Tomorrow night we will go to our second trip to Disney on Ice, this time it is Tangled and other princess themed, and I know she will love it. She is already saying "Tangled Ice" over and over again after I told her we are going. We also went to Galveston for Mamie's birthday earlier this month and she loved it although she was wholeheartedly disappointed that the beach was cold and windy. Here are some pictures of our times with friends: