The Handley Baby: Juliet Turns Two

She picks out her own shoes every morning and puts them on herself. I'm always happy when she picks shoes that quasi-match her outfit.

On October 1, Juliet turned two. As mentioned in a previous post, Ray was gone for this event, so we'd already given her a big present from the two of us. So, for her actual birthday, I decided to keep things simple. We made cupcakes for her to eat with her friends at school (which is, according to her teachers, the norm), and we went out for pizza for dinner since Juliet loves pizza. On Sunday, we had an ice cream party with family where Juliet showed off her tricycle-riding skills and was generally the best entertainment anyone could have asked for. This was likely the best week of Juliet's life as she got cupcakes, pizza, and ice cream all in one week. We do not give her any of these things (especially cupcakes and ice cream) on a regular basis. Frankly, I was surprised she even knew what cupcakes are and can only assume she knows from other parties at school.

Here's a snapshot of Juliet at two:

She knows all of her colors.
She can correctly identify at least half of her letters and all numbers 1-10.
She can sing her ABCs.
She knows the sounds that many animals make and can identify almost all of the animals in all of the books we read.
She frequently speaks in complete (if not always grammatically correct) sentences. Recent examples include, "I see a bus!" "Where is that siren going?" "Daddy is at work," "I want to watch alligators," "I want snakes. Snakes are dirty," and "Anna is sleeping."
She is a good eater, but she is fickle in that she loves bananas (or peas or carrots or anything else she specifically asks you to give her) one minute and refuses to eat them the next.
She loves to clean up by putting toys or other things into something else.
She has developed the ability to pretend and imagines cooking supper all the time. She always offers what she's cooked to everyone around her and says that it's "nummy."
She is very good at giving commands: "Kitty cat, get down!" "Mommy, dance!" "Baby, clap!" "Baby, sing!" "Mommy, sit down now!"
She remembers things and people. We used to enjoy out-of-sight, out-of-mind with Juliet in that if you removed it from her sight, it was no longer an issue. That is not the case these days, and she frequently asks for people (especially her daddy) who aren't around and for things (like her dress-up necklace that she got from Aunt Betsy for her birthday) that she can't find.
She chooses her own shoes every morning and puts them on by herself (and even puts them on the correct feet).