Dear Jocelyn,

At two and half years old:

~You are a natural little saleswoman (or a master manipulator). You always talk us (or I should say Daddy) into 2 of whatever it is you want instead of one. "Two chocolates, Daddy. TWO!"

~You insist on dressing yourself every morning and you wish you could pick out your clothes if I'd let you.

~"Whatcha doing Mommy?" is your most frequent phrase.

~When we go anywhere, you cry the whole way home and beg "No home, No home." You recognize the streets as we get closer to the house and your protesting gets louder. You like to go places ;)

~You love going to "school" to play with your friends.

~When you wake up really early in the morning when mommy goes to work, you make Daddy sing you back to sleep. Amazing Grace is the only song he knows to sing to you.

~You are ALWAYS HUNGRY!! You say, "I hungee mommy."

~You learn songs so fast it amazes us. You absolutely love to sing.

~Your favorite thing is to be read to.

~You aren't afraid to play with worms, minnows, and other dirty things. Daddy loves this about you.

~You love food that other 2 year olds wouldn't touch. For example, you love to eat cooked cabbage for a snack with mommy. And you eat sushi WITH chopsticks!

~You are terrible at cleaning up. Sometimes you fall on the floor and act like your legs and arms quit working when I ask you to pick up your toys. This is something we are working on!

~You think your older cousins are the coolest and get so excited to see them. You think your baby cousin is the cutest. You can't say her name though and call her "Fananna" (Savannah) :)

~You are the worst backseat driver EVER!! You yell for us to GO at stoplights and I have to explain to you on a daily basis that we have to wait for the light to change and for the car in front of us to move. You are never satisfied with this answer.

~You are so sweet and mothering to your mommy sometimes. You like to pat and kiss me and tell me to close my eyes and go to sleep.

~You tells us how much you love us by streching your arms out.

~Daddy learned from Gracie how to get kisses from you by acting like he doesn't want any. Reverse psychology never fails.

~You understand that deer and fish are for eating and it makes Daddy so proud. He bought you your very first fishing pole recently after you spotted one at Walmart and asked for it for months.

~You change your movies in your dvd player all by yourself.

~Mommy taught you how to pee outside in desperate times and now you drop your pants and squat before we can stop you anytime you have to pee outside and we are away from home... it embarrasses Daddy, but Mommy thinks it's hilarious.

~When we take you around other kids, you make friends instantly.

~You are still fearless and will climb to the top of the highest slide or jungle gym.

~You are a little obsessed with boo boo's, being sick, and playing doctor. You insist on wearing a band aid well after the scratch has healed. I wonder if you have a future in the medical field!

~Your mommy and daddy look at each other so often and ask how we got so lucky to have a little girl like you. We are so proud of you. You fill our lives with joy.