"i yov you mommy" - hana at 2 1/2 years

hana's getting excited for "baby brother's" arrival (due 9/3/09). she talks to him just about everyday and strokes my belly like she's petting a cat. she varies her voice tone based on what she thinks he's doing. so if she believes he's awake she'll say "HI BABY BROTHER!" in a more playful tone. if she thinks he's sleeping, she'll whisper "hi baby brother" and instruct me to be quite so as not to wake him.

hana's expressions of affection have been a lot more purposeful these days. hana has been saying "i yov you too" in response to us telling her that we love her for many months now. sometimes, she also says "i love you anyway" like in the "olivia" book she has. at the end, olivia's mother tells her that she really wears her out but "i love you anyway", to which olivia responds "i love you anyway too". well, hana has also recently started telling us that she loves us unsolicited. it's amazing really because it often just comes out of the blue. she also has been giving kisses too (and not the slobbery baby kisses either). she'll say, "i wanna kiss you face" expecting us to offer up a cheek and then she instruct us "i wanna kiss you other face" so she can kiss the other cheek. as she kisses you, she cups your face in her hands. ah! it is just the BEST! if she only knew how much heart melting goes on when that happens. i mean, she could diffuse any potential time out with some well placed kisses and i yov you's...

that said, she's also been getting reprimanded for sassing people lately. when jon and i are reprimanding her about something and using firm tones, she'll say "stop it mommy!" at daycare, when ms. leona or ms. susie (ms. leona's assistant) redirect her about something she had been saying "i'm gonna tell my mommy"... that is until they started saying "no I'M gonna tell your mommy". she isn't particularly obsitinate and will rethink her entrenchment when she sees it's not serving her or if she's given an out. she once went back to ms. susie and said "i sorry i tell mommy" realizing that it wasn't really a winning situation for her. with us, when she turns it around, she'll proclaim "i yistening!" (as if to say "look mom i'm listening now") and then suggest that we give her a sticker for it. we have never given her a sticker for anything but using the potty, but it's funny that she lobbies for it nonetheless. jon and i have decided that she's being strategic and that this will only spell trouble for us in the teen years if she does not use her powers for good.

she has also been "reading" books to us lately. her letter recognition is getting quite good. she has memorized books and can guess what some words are that she has seen time and again. here's a video of reading one of her favorites right now... "CAT" she's actually got the whole book memorized practically, but it's hard to tell from the video because she's distracted by the taping and hasn't figured out yet that you can't see what's being taped and be taped at the same time (at least not with our meager set up... prehaps when she is older, she can have that kind of set up in her broadcast journalism career...)