yesterday, emma counting all the way to 20.  she knows it by memory as well as by reading the numeric symbols.  i’ve found that she’s pretty good learning through repetition, so everyday we count to 20, and without her telling us, you just need to trust that something’s getting to her and sticking.  so everyday, yes, we do go through numbers and letters w/ her, shapes (circle, square, triangle, rectangle, oval, octagon, diamond, heart, star) and colors, and even refining her fine motor skills like coloring or writing.  I also make it a point to get her started with reading, so that’s why we’re teaching her to also recognize her letters and numbers in writing.  she even knows how to read her own name, and a couple of short words.  

aside from scholastics, she’s still the normal 2 year old- jumping off furniture 2-3 feet off the ground, tumbling, jumping on bed, and running around 8pm at nights.  she’s pretty well balanced.

spiritually, we even try to teach her things.  if you ask her where Jesus is, she pounds on her chest and says, "in my heart." 
when i ask her who gave emma the snow, she’ll say, "jesus." 
if you ask her who Jesus loves, she’ll say, "the little children." 
if you ask her who the lions wanted to eat, she’ll say, "daniel" and if you ask her what daniel was doing, she’ll say, "praying." 
yesterday, i asked her to pray before bed and this was her own prayer, "Jesus, thank you for tatay. Jesus. Amen."

we were really overjoyed when she said her first prayer, all by herself.  every night, she asks her dad to sing Matthew West’s "I Love You."  If you don’t know it, it goes, "I love you more than the sun and the stars that I taught how to shine, You are mine and You shine for me too. I love you- yesterday, and today, and tomorrow, I’ll say it again and again….I love you more."  Aside from that song, she loves to sing Jesus Loves the Little children, I’ve Got Love in My Heart, Read Your Bible, Deep and Wide, and from this year’s christmas cantata- Glorious Impossible.

i was talking to one of my girlfriends one day and really shared how i never knew what a two year old was capable of…you really just have to spend time and talk to them about these big things in a way that they can understand…but they can…they really can. and when they get older, they’ll play w/ the things you’ve taught them and then teach you from what they’ve created from that short stem you gave them.