and the award for best big sister goes to...

K A Y E - T U R T L E - G A L - F A C E !

no seriously. i know i've mentioned it a few times before, but now is the perfect chance to really get my brag on about my first born.

my kaye...the little girl who made me a mom...is two and a half years old.

i think it's no secret that kaye is wild. she has more energy than...most children. she loves being on the go.

whether it's riding on the 4-wheeler with her farmer, running around the house like a crazy person, or finding high places to jump from...she go's. fast.

kaye is also showing signs of being a perfectionist. she likes being able to do tasks quickly and correctly the first time. she's quick to frustration, but if we can catch her before she's tried and failed too many times...she's a super fast learner. usually we can show her something once and it's committed to memory.

it's probably the age to pick up on all these new things so quickly, but farmer and i like to think she's super smart.

her growth spurt has finally slowed down...thank god. i was spending a fortune trying to keep her in clothing that fits. she now solidly is in 4's and 5's, hates wearing jeans, LOVES wearing dresses...and will barely let me brush her hair.

yes...my gal finally has enough hair that it should require a daily brushing. unfortunately, she hates it. she says it hurts, so maybe she has a tender head? this doesn't make sense to me...since nothing about my kaye is tender.

have i mentioned that she is quite the yapper? girlfriend can talk for days. my favorite things she says are -
i'll be back in two minutes.
(farmer and i say this to her all the time because 
she used to lose it if she thought she was being left...which she never was.)
 +
mommy! look at me! 
(proceeds to do something she thinks is awesome...
like shake her head back and forth. see! she's super smart.)

sadly - girlfriend is still on the binkie. it's just not a battle i would like to have at this juncture. 

in addition - girlfriend isn't potty trained either. she's had quite a few successes on the toilet, but nothing consistent. she likes being able to pull down her own pants to try...which i think is a win in itself...she can also pull them up. so we have that going for us. 
kaye still isn't the best in front of the camera...but she's getting better, so that's all i can ask.

back to that whole best big sister bit. no seriously...

from birth our gal was spirited, opinionated, and quick to throw a fit. after the age of one until about 2 years and 2 months...the fits were pretty bad. we implemented time outs and patience and talking to her and distraction and diffusing the situation, but nothing worked. her epic freak outs peaked right before her 2nd birthday...but then, just like magic, the past few months have been a dream. 

our gal kaye is such a good girl. i'm not sure if it's the way her language exploded or just having the responsibility of being a big sister, or probably a combination of the two...but our gal has been awesome. an absolute pleasure to be around. 

she's so kind to her sister and loves helping. she'll bring her toys or her binkie. kaye loves telling me when bitty is sad. and she particularly enjoys when sawyer interacts with her...which is happening a lot more these days. sawyer will basically jump out of my arms to get her hands on her sister. 

please tell me this is a preview of the amazing relationship my gals will have throughout their lives.

what i'm saying is this...these past six moths have been wonderful. i have two amazing gals, who in some respects, have made this mom thing seem pretty easy. (knock on wood.)
ps. as usual...all the pictures were taken by amy over at The Farmer's Wife! thank you amy!