Audra: 2.5 Years Old

25 random things about Audra at 2.5 years into her life.

1. She can count to 14 correctly (our stairway has 14 steps and that's where we do most of our counting).
2. She knows all her colors and is almost always right when we ask her what color that is.
3. She knows a good number of letters, including A (for Audra), B (for Brooke), C (for Cody), D (for Daddy), G (for Grandma), J (for JT) M (for Mommy), O, P (for Papa), S (for Shane) and Z (for Zoe).
4. "Super Audra to the rescue!"
5. She loves to play with her play food and kitchen and serve us up some of her creations.
6. She is a world-class chocoholic. 
7. Her memory is getting so much better. I can no longer avoid following through with incentives. When she wakes up from a nap, she instantly remembers whatever I took away from her just prior to her nap. 
8. She loves interacting with Brooke. You can tell she is eager to be able to really play with her. She also loves to comfort Brooke when she's crying. "Brooke, it's okay!"
9. She loves video chatting with family but also loves to hide as soon as they answer the call.
10. She loves hide and seek. She also peeks through her fingers when she's counting and most of the time will follow you as you hide.
11. She picks up phrases and loves to find an excuse to use them. EX: "Whew, close" with a brow swipe, "No, I'm fine", "Be careful, Mommy," "Excuse me, coming through," "It's perfect," "It's just me," " I sowwy, mommy" and "I'm coming, Brooke!" when Brooke cries.
12. She likes to talk about who she misses. "I miss Daddy, I miss Grandma, I miss Grandpa." One day she went "Friends went bye-bye, miss Jackson, miss Cordie." So sweet.
13. She sings along to lots of songs, particularly the Frozen soundtrack and the common songs on her toddler Pandora station. She is starting to memorize a lot of the Daniel Tiger songs as well. She went "Clothes on, eat breakfast, brush teeth, put on shoes and off to school" when I told her it was time to get dressed for the day the other morning.
14. Mini-mommy. She loves taking care of her baby dolls. She puts them to sleep, changes their diapers, uses Brooke's toys with them, kisses them, bathes them, etc...
15. Loves to request and eat: grilled cheese, cheese, crackers, and peas. She also loves fruits: watermelon, grapes, cantaloupe, strawberries, oranges, and apples. She has been a pretty decent eater lately.
16. She can climb up slides, but isn't so fond of going down them lately.
17. She is a big helper with grocery shopping. We'll hand her things, and she'll put them into the cart. She'll also help unload the cart when we check out and then insist on carrying a bag inside when we get home.
18. She will color your world with crayons, color pencils, markers, and paints.
19. She can stack 5 blocks high and is getting better about building with a variety of block sizes as opposed to just the long rectangle ones only.
20. She loves to look outside and say "So pretty outside" or "dark outside". 
21. When she is talking about an item, she just has to add who bought it for her - usually inaccurately. Mommy usually doesn't get the credit she deserves, and Papa (grandpa) gets way too much.
22. She knows what she wants ("I like it" or "I love it") and doesn't want ("don't like it"). Sometimes, when it's food, she'll say it before she even tastes it.
23. She is starting to love to do things "all by myself."
24. One of her favorite questions is "what's that noise?" I love saying "I don't know, what is it?" and hearing her answers. Another favorite question is "hey, [Mommy or Daddy], what you doing here?" 
25. She is getting very strong-willed and really testing us. She is still a sweet kid, and a hug goes a long way with resolving a tantrum.