Oliana turns 2

Oliana turned 2 on May 10th. I look back sometimes and can't remember how we even got here!! It seems like we've had her forever, but on the other hand it's gone by so fast. She had a great birthday. We just had a little party at home with friends and family. She was so excited to have so many visitors and kids. She loved the cake, of course, and the presents. Tissue paper is the best!!! We made sure this year not to wrap the toys in the boxes, but take them out of their boxes and just wrap the toys. She enjoyed opening them this year. Last year she was so frustrated by the boxes. I'm sure she didn't understand why she just kept getting boxes as presents. We're learning.
She's doing really well. She's walking with her walker and sometimes without it. She has to hang on to our pant legs to walk, but she's not scared anymore to do that. A step in the right direction. She can even stand for a few seconds by herself. She's not so scared to do that anymore either. She's talking up a storm. She repeats alot of words and says quite a few words on her own. Most of the time she'll say the first or the last part of the word. Like for "milk" she says "ka". For "drink" she says "dri". We're getting used to her language and it makes life so much easier for her to be able to communicate.
She is definitely a two year old. She wants what she wants when she wants it and if she doesn't get it, watch out!!! I'm talking about a throwing herself down, banging her hands on the floor, crying tantrum!! She's such a drama queen. When she's not happy or doesn't want to do something she sobs like it's killing her. Lets just say therapy visits are not so much fun. Mostly it's the physical therapy that she hates. She always has and probably always will. It's hard for her so she doesn't like it. I understand and feel bad for her, but we have to make her do it. If we gave into her every time she cried we'd never get anything accomplished.
Disciplining Oli is more difficult than it was and is for Kekoa. I know I don't want to baby her, but she just seems so much younger than Kekoa did at 2. We are starting to have to discipline though. She has started throwing her cup and her food when she's done. She understands "no", but ignores it most of the time. Typical for her age. She started saying no. I think that's her favorite word to repeat during therapy. She says "na,na,na,na,na" pretty much the whole time.
So we continue on with the challenges of raising two young children. Oliana has definitely become more challenging the older she gets. She gets very bored very quickly. Finding new activities and toys has become alot more work. She doesn't like to play by herself for very long. I think most of that has to do with the fact that she doesn't really know how to play. Most kids play by imitating what they see. Obviously in Oli's case she can't do this, so teaching her how to play is an ongoing challenge. She'll get it eventually. We might be insane by the time she does, but hey, as long as she gets it!! Even though she has become alot more work, she's still a wonderful little girl. She has such a great sense of humor and the best little laugh!! I continue to feel blessed every day to have such a wonderful family.