16 months old, since Saturday

Juniper is a true gem in our lives right now. She is independent, listens well, and quite laid back when we are out and about for a child her age. Her little molars are crowning, so we have had some melt down moments, but we have been getting through them together, one at a time. She continues to impress us with her potty chair. She gets so excited when Mama and Papa clap for her when she goes in the potty like a big girl.

She has consistently started to say lots of 'B' words
belly button
balloon
ball

She also said outside, Sean, and many others here and there.

She continues to enjoy reading, walking backwards, reading, dancing and singing, and reading.
Her kisses have become a much bigger pucker than ever before and I love it!!
She climbed up on the step stool, top step, all on her own multiple times so that she could turn the touch lamp on and off.

She now points to cheek, chin, back, toes, and feet as well as all the others from before.

And, she has added owl to the her animal sound repertoire.... whooooo whooooo  

She truly is a toddler now.

Papa, don't work; pay attention to me!

Lately...

Juni asked to put on her bear's shoes and then walked around in the rubber high heels effortlessly, as Papa stood close by, and then we took them off :)

She has been going potty in her potty chair multiple times a day. I wasn't planning to start trying for a few more months, but when we were in Colorado, she started walking into the bathroom and pointing at her diaper to tell us she was peeing. She told us she was ready, so we are giving it a go. We found some cloth training pants at a garage sale a while back, so we've put them on her a few times and she seems quite pleased with them.

Papa decorated the apartment with all kinds of balloons for my birthday, and as they fell off the walls, Juni jumped at the opportunity to pull and stretch and play with them.

She continues to adore her real life and her mini Juicy Louise. When Juicy runs away, she is quick to hug and kiss and pet her mini. This day, she sat down with her for her snack, and was more than willing to share, as she always so willingly does with the real Juicy Louise. Just recently, when given only one of her favorite fruit and veggie freeze dried snacks after asking for the bag, she offered it up, without hesitation, to her kitty. Her sweetness oozes out of her endlessly.

Juniper still loves to push buttons on anything. She has learned how to turn off the TV, all on her own, and sometimes plays with my old non-working laptop while I am doing something on mine. She even likes to Skype with her reflection :)

Mama turned 29! Yikes!

Zach chose a Wonder Woman theme for my birthday this year and really did a great job at creating a fun day of celebration. He decorated the apartment with streamers and balloons in Wonder Woman colors, bought me a boat load of Wonder Woman gifts, including the cake pan. We were lucky enough to spend the day as a family and enjoyed shopping for a potty chair for Juniper, making chocolate peanut butter and spinach and artichoke fondue at home, and just giggling. Zach helped the whole day and baked the cake for me to decorate and chopped all the yummy things for us to dip in the fondue. Juni was a delight and really helped us celebrate the day. My Wonder Woman pjs weren't quite public friendly, so I put my jeans on (kind of) for the picture. :)

Colorado Springs with Grandma

Juni and I took a short vacation to see my mom's new condo in Colorado Springs. We didn't do anything big, but we had fun spending time together and enjoyed getting to see my Aunt Char as well as a little outlet shopping where we stocked up on the next 2 sizes of shoes for Juni at a bargain! She was just outgrowing her birthday shoes, so it was perfect timing. As we continue to get her hips checked every few months, things seem to be staying in place, but I want to make sure she has the proper support she needs to make sure they stay that way, and "proper shoes" are expensive!!

Juni's favorite activities of the weekend include watching the mule deer up close and personal, sliding around on her tummy on the kitchen floor, and closing all the doors and then yelling for me to come open them for her. She was lovey as always and enjoyed her time with her grandma.

15 months, yesterday

Juni is still having a hard time getting those big boulders to push through her gums. Her sleep and moods go to and fro as they bother her one day and not the next. She continues to be the sweetest little girl. She loves to give hugs and kisses and 'gentle gentle' rub our heads and our arms.

She loves to point to her eyes, nose, mouth, tongue, teeth, ear, and we are working on cheek.
She is still mimicking words, but sticking to her tried and true (Mama, Papa, Juicy, juice, milk, up, yes, shoes, tissue, this.) She continues to 'woof,' 'meow,' and 'quack,' and occasionally, 'rawr.' She still signs for eat, milk, more, up, and all done/all gone, and we are working on help.

Her favorite activities include talking on the phone, playing with her new/second-hand Alfie robot, and pulling her alphabet magnets off of the fridge. She now gets excited when she sees babies, and wants to wave at and say hi to everyone she sees.... Little Miss America style.

4th of July

This year we were lucky enough to be invited to 2 BBQs and were able to watch the parade in Alameda as a family. It was a great day filled with lots of fun! We were hoping to be able to watch some fireworks with friends, but Juni was done before 8pm, so we headed home for her bath, got her to bed, then watched some of the big displays from our living room window that overlooks the bridges. Our holidays are changing and becoming filled with little-one fun!