The Burkett Bundle: Two and a Half!

How is it possible that this sweet girl is already two and a half?

In language, understanding, and memory, she seems every bit of three already, but size-wise, she's still a tiny peanut! She did grow a good bit since her two-year appointment, and weighs almost 24 pounds now!!

Dr. B was very happy with her growth and very impressed by her verbal skills. When the doctor first walked in, Gemma turned to me and asked, "Is she gonna listen to my heartbeat?" I swear Dr. B's mouth dropped a little. She said she didn't expect anything less from Kyran's and Karyssa's sister, but that Gemma is certainly advanced, and even gave me four-year-old verbal milestones to look for!

Physically, she's on track. However, it is harder for her to do some things as well as bigger kids because her legs simply aren't long enough. She can jump (occasionally leaving the ground with both feet), climb on most things and stand on her right foot for about one second.

She is growing into her 18-month clothes, although the waists of her pants are almost always too big. She's too tall for her 12-month pants, though, so we're having to keep pulling pants up now! She is still in size three diapers during the day and at night.

She is showing very little interest in potty training, but loves reading books about it and occasionally wants to sit on it, in an attempt to get a treat. We will probably work on it a little more during the kids' winter break, but I'm not going to push it. It was so easy once Karyssa was ready at 3, so I just might wait for her to tell me she's ready like Karyssa did.

Her schedule varies from day to day, depending on what else we have going on, but most days she still takes two naps - usually from 11:00-1:00 and again from 4:30-5:30. On days that she just gets one, she usually naps from 1:00-4:00. Unfortunately, that can't happen on school days, because I have to pick up the kids during that time. She is usually in bed by 8:00 p.m. and wakes up around 7:00 a.m. (usually after hearing the big kids get up).

There is very little that she won't eat, although she does go through phases or nights when she simply doesn't want something. She loves shrimp, but refused to eat it the other night until she knew she wasn't getting any other food until she did. Even then, she only ate about four pieces. When she eats, she likes to know what ingredients are in her food, and then she always names the big ones - "I want more rice and cheese and hamburger, please Mommy." - even if it's all together in one casserole.

She is very polite and has learned quickly that whining will not get her anything. She does bust out the "please, please, pretty please" which is sometimes hard to resist!

She loves to play games, especially with her daddy. And when he comes home from work, she lets out the biggest squeal and yells, "Dadday!" No that's not a typo, that's actually what it sounds like. When she finds him anywhere in the house, she asks, "Were you hiding from me, daddy?"

She loves to sing and dance and has started clapping along to music now too. Jason was singing the other night and she told him, "Clap and sing!"

She has started running up to and hugging Karyssa and Kyran when we pick them up from school. It completely melts my heart. They love each other so much, and she knows that they will do anything for her. She can say Karyssa when you ask her to, but still insists on calling her Kasyssa. When she talks about them together, sometimes it's KyranSyssa, like they're one person. She is the ONLY person in this world allowed to do that!

She loves Bella so much and will cuddle with and hug her a lot. She also looks at me to make sure I take a picture of it.

Hanging out with the Bellas

She loves to have her picture taken, but will just give you one good smile and if you don't catch it the first time, good luck!

She is constantly asking if we're going to go see Santa. She says she wants to ask him for presents. One day, I asked her what presents she was going to ask him for, and she replied, "All of them." Now, she usually says books and princesses.

She talks about her favorite stuff a lot. "This is my favorite show." "That's my favorite toy." Of course, she has several, but it's adorable to hear her say it.

She loves to "read". She usually lets me read the book to her and then "reads" it herself by describing what she saw on the page and saying phrases that she remembered. She spent 15 minutes doing this last night and I'm not completely sure where she got it, but at one point she said, "And her ENTIRE LIFE was RUINED!"

I could seriously write about this child all day and never run out of things to say. She keeps us on our toes and keeps our bellies aching from laughter. What a precious gem she truly is!