Faith August - 28 Months

Let me start by saying I love this age!  It is trying and we certainly have our days but overall, I love this age!  Faith is learning and doing so much (including challenging my consistancy and determination) and we are having such a great time.  She is displaying some oldest child OCD tendencies in lining up stuff but it is cute.
Sleeping:
Faith still sleeps really well.  Some nights it she is still singing to herself at 9pm but rarely after that.  She usually wakes aroun 7:45 but is quiet until I go get her at 8.  Her naps are usually about 1 1/2 to 2 hours.
Eating:
Faith loves food and is a great eater.  We do have some meals where she just won't eat what is being served.  On those nights I will tell her when the meal is over and at that time I take her plate away and she eats again at the next meal.  She is drinking 1% milk from her cup (which she has been doing for several months but this is the first time I am blogging about her).  For the most part she eats everything willingly other than broccoli and any kind of roast.  She loves to dip her food: in syrup, ketchup, sour cream, anything, she just likes to dip.  I have been careful to only serve condiments with food that normally is served with them and by normally I mean that if I eat that food with a condiment then she get it too!  This past week in St Louis we went to Qdoba and I ordered her a mini chicken quesadilla with some sour cream as a side.  She ate all the sour cream and Rebekah ate the quesadilla!
Play:
Faith does great with solo play and recently I have ceased to put the baby gate up at her door bur actually shut the door and she does great.  She loves her dolls, specifically:
Sally Lynn and Her Camping Adventure Little People http://www.amazon.com/Fisher-Price-Little-People-Adventure/dp/B000NW77U6/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1314392089&sr=8-1,
Wheeee is Cars  http://www.amazon.com/B-68621-Wheeee-ls/dp/B002YITFWK/ref=sr_1_1?s=toys-and-games&ie=UTF8&qid=1314392150&sr=1-1
Wooden Dolls  http://www.amazon.com/Melissa-Doug-Wooden-Family-Doll/dp/B0006NUI76/ref=sr_1_1?s=toys-and-games&ie=UTF8&qid=1314392457&sr=1-1
Dress Up Dollies (this is the Langhaugs toy)  http://www.amazon.com/Melissa-Doug-Deluxe-Magnetic-Dress-Up/dp/B0012GV1HM/ref=sr_1_2?s=toys-and-games&ie=UTF8&qid=1314392457&sr=1-2
Also, she LOVES a Bible Story song book that we get from the Langhaugs... unfortunatly I haven't been able to find this awesome book to purchase our own and someday (what a sad day it will be) we will be separated from the Langhaugs and won't have access to this book.  This book got her really interested it Bible songs and motivated me to buy a CD of 120 Bible songs on Itunes and she listens to that during solo play and on the long drives we've taken this month, one to Ozark and one to St Louis.  Her favorite songs this month have been "Jesus Loves Me" and "The Lord's Army"
Skills:
Faith talks up a storm; learning new words all the time.  She speaks in full sentences, knows about half the alphabet on site, and loves to be read to (She and I love Karma Wilson and Audrey Wood books).  It amazes me how much she remembers from our Bible stories.  She continues to refer to herself in the second person; about 2 months ago she was consistantly referring to herself in the the third person.  We are working on her using "I" instead of "you" and she definitly knows "mine"!
She really wants to jump and I am having a hard time teaching her how to do this.  She "jumps" into the pool but it really is more like a belly flop but she really enjoys it! 
She loves helping me cook and really loves "making the trays" for Rebekah's food, although as Rebekah eats fewer and fewer purees we don't do that as much. 
She continues to help me with chores and breaking up vacuuming throughout the day has helped her stay engaged with that chore.  She really likes her lawnmower and with Frank gone we've had a few opportunities to "help" me mow the yard.  We've also been washing the cars and she enjoys that as well.
Travel:
We've been to Ozark twice since Frank left and Faith has a great time there, not only spending time with her grandparents but also feeding the chickens and cows and picking tomatoes and onions.  We also went to St Louis last week and she had a ton of stuff to do there, most of which was heartily enjoyed, except for the late naps and bedtmie.

Our Schedule:

0800 - Wake, eat breakfast, change for the day

0900 - Bible story, outdoor time (walk, playing in the backyard)

1015 - Snack

1030 - Craft

1100 - Chore and Make Lunch

1200 - Lunch

1230 - Dishes or Kitchen Play

1300 - Silent Sustained Reading (or run errands)

1330 - Sister Play and Reading

1400 - Nap

1600 - Snack

1630 - Solo Play

1730 - Help with Dinner Prep if needed

1800 - Dinner

1845 - After Dinner Activity (Park, Freeplay, Waterplay)

1915 - Bath, Bible Story, in Bed o/a 2001