Life with The Snyders: Chloe Grace: 2 and a Half Years Old

Two and a half years old!

There are moments where I can't believe you're already two and a half and other moments when I have to remind myself you're only two and a half. I feel like I can literally see you growing right before my eyes.

You are 38 pounds.

You are 3 feet tall!

You are potty trained!! We still wear a diaper at night and nap time. Most of the time you stay dry during nap. Nights are no where close to dry, but until we move you into a big girl bed, we aren't messing with sleep.

You are still a great sleeper except when you have an ear infection, which we knew but didn't expect an ear infection in the middle of the summer. You sleep with a pillow now, but rarely actually keep your head on it. Just like you never stay under your blanket.

You have just recently started letting Daddy put you to bed. The two of you lay in the floor and sing songs together before bed. Your favorites right now are your VBS songs and "the song you sang when I a baby," which is "Great Are You Lord" because he told you one time he used to sing that to you when you were crying as a baby.

You listen to everything we say and are talking about. If you don't fully hear or understand us, you'll say "what you say?" Or you'll ask, "why you say ____?"

We've spent the majority of the last 6 months in quarantine for COVID-19. You haven't seemed to notice any difference other than asking to go to school and to church to see "Mite."

The move to Durham was a little bit harder than I expected. You talked about going home and Jack and David a lot and started not sleeping well. You would take 2 hours some nights to go down for the night and were waking up in the middle of the night and then super early in the morning. We thought it was just getting used to Durham. Two weeks in, we realized you had a terrible ear infection. After a trip to urgent care, an antibiotic that wasn't helping, a desperate call in to our Morganton pediatrician, a second antibiotic and steroid drops, we were finally on the mend. Our great sleeper quickly returned as well, which was so nice! Laying on the floor beside your bed for hours at a time was rough.

You love our new house though and love to show it to people. Then you'll say, "What you think?"

We started swim lessons soon after moving and you have loved those! One day at the pool you told me you didn't want me because you wanted to keep swimming with Mrs. Stefanie. The beach was another huge hit this summer!

You are a good eater. You still love fruit. You've loved pickles and tomatoes this summer. Your favorite is mac and cheese. I'm pretty sure you would eat it for every meal if I let you.

You even jokingly call yourself Chloe Macaroni!

Daddy and I just love watching your personality shine through...you keep us entertained and on our toes.

You are timid and still very careful when you're moving and playing. You are not the one to just go for something physically. You want to feel safe before moving forward.

You have a sensitive heart and it is easily broken. You cry if someone corrects you, especially if it is unexpected and even more so if it's a male who corrects you.

One afternoon Jessica very nicely told you to not put your baby on Kinsley in the stroller and it broke your heart because you were just trying to share your baby with Kinsley.

Stephen Stockham often broke your heart and I think it's because you like him so much. One time at church he told you to put your shoes on and you cried. Another time he jokingly told you not to eat ranch with a spoon and you cried.

Visiting our new house Stephanie told you not to stick a nail in the outlet, again very nicely, and you cried.

When things like this break your heart, it's a slow response. Your lip quivers, your eyes well up, and as soon as you get to me, you cry big big tears.

I think it hurts your feelings and embarrasses you.

It is so sweet and sad at the same time.

You're also still very sensitive to loud noises. They easily scare you and you do not like them. Lately you've started saying "what is that noise?" when you hear something loud.

You're shy, but will say hey to just about anyone.

You LOVE FaceTime and learned how to use it yourself. Now that we're in Durham, Dee, Missy, and Rebecca are your regular FaceTime calls. Before we moved, it was Mema, Poppy, Allyson, and Nana too.

In addition to FaceTime, watching videos is still a favorite. We try to limit it, but early mornings and long car rides are usually filled with you zoned into the YouTube Kids app. You've actually learned a lot from some of the videos and we catch you recreating them when you're playing on your own. Your current favorite is playing doctor.

You like to say, "Let me check you fever."

You have the cutest lean forward when we ask you to smile.

I'm pretty sure you sing 95% of your day.

You are very particular about what song you want to listen to every time we're in the car.

You want the volume up high and will repeat "I can't hear it" until we turn it up as loud as you want.

You LOVE dipping sauces...especially ranch.

You have an excellent sense of smell...I guess that's sensitive too. You often know Kinsley has pooped before anyone else and you immediately move away from her once you smell it.

You love to pick up little things and put them in your bag to carry around. When I clean up for the day, I spend most of my time emptying all of your bags. You especially love back packs.