Christmas Tree 2012

Juni is all about the ornaments and lights this year. She asks to have the tree lights on and then off throughout the day and loves to take the ornaments off and play with them. Her favorites are those with pictures of puppies her Papa used to have and Papa's DeLorean car. She even took one to nap with today.

20 months TODAY!

My little Juni-bug, another month has come and gone. You have blossomed this past month even more than ever before. You are becoming more confident with your words, and are getting the hang of interacting nicely with Mama and Papa to let us know what you need, or just to tell us that you love us. I'm so thankful that you still like to cuddle and snuggle and I'll continue to squeeze you tight for as long as you'll let me. You are 2/3 of the way from ONE to TWO! (Big sigh!) My beautiful girl, I can start to see the girl and woman you will become in the way you walk and gesture. I am so proud of you and I look forward to watching you grow.

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Favorite foods: Bananas, bananas, bananas! Jello, suckers, and the marshmallows from Papa's cereal. If she sees a banana, she wants it in her mouth, and a piece for each hand, at all times! She is banana-crazy! She had Jello for the first time at Thanksgiving, and then when I was having trouble getting her to eat with her bad cough back home, I made her some here, and she gobbled it up. Of course I don't really like he having the sugar cereals her Papa eats, but she gets a little here and there, but her new favorite is picking the marshmallows out of the Lucky Charms.

Favorite words: Apple, Mouse, Please, More more more (that's one word ;>)
My favorite is when I say, "Juni say 'I'..." and she says, "I! love! Mama!" and then of course I say, "Yayyyyyyyyyyyyy!!!" and we giggle :) She is throwing out lots of 3 word phrases now.... Lay down here. Read this one. I want this. She will repeat the alphabet back to me, one letter at a time, and has started counting. Anytime she finds two of something, she lets us know, "Two, two, two!"

Some Firsts: Seeing and playing in the snow, jumping, REAL pizza (not fake cheese)

 Believe it or not, mouse was one of her favorite words (because of Juicy's toys) before we got the Advent calendar with the little mouse she gets to move each day, but now it is even more her favorite word. :)

 Running!

 Pretending to be Juicy

 Juicy being Juicy

 But Mama I don't want you to take a picture of me in my pretty new outfit!

 Eating Jello

 After the trip back to Nebraska, she knows who everyone in the pictures are. I have caught her, more than once, standing in front of the frame, saying everyone's name, and pointing them out, "Grandma, Chris, Clancy, Ellie, Lisa...." It is so cute that she really knows and understands now. (Tired eyes; it must have been nap time.)

 one sock, no pants, Papa's hat... rock it girl!

 She put some cheerios and other food into her little pitcher, with a spoon, and brought me her homemade snack to eat :)

dress up in Papa's polo

The rest of the Thanksgiving trip home

 Playing peek-a-boo with Grandma's tablecloth

 Checking out every one of Great-Grandma's closets. Yes, she is just as curious at her Mama. The cupboard doors must be opened! :)

 Getting ready to play in the snow for the first time!

 Yay! (I assure you, I am not pregnant; my mom had gloves in the pockets of the coat I was borrowing.)

 Feeling it!

 Tasting it!

 Getting a little cold :)

 Posing for pictures for Grandma Candy

 Cousin love.

More posing for Grandma Candy

Again, I was so busy focused on getting us here there and everywhere, and hopefully a nap in between, that we hardly took any pictures. I am thankful we were able to spend some time with my mom while she was recovering from her surgery, thankful we got to be home for a holiday and enjoy that festive time with family, and most of all, thankful for cousin love.

Phone pictures from Thanksgiving trip

On trips, pictures are even more scattered than usual. Sometimes we have the camera with and sometimes we don't. I usually post a little before leaving and then not for a while after we get back. After going home over Thanksgiving we've been struggling to get back in the swing of our routine. Juni has had a rough cough for a couple of days, which has meant only a 15 minute nap a couple of days in a row. So, since it has been quite a while since my last post, and so much has happened, I'm going to throw some posts together so you can see her bright shining face.

 Juni's friend, Miles, on the airplane. We are 99% sure Juni's cough came from Miles, but they sure were cute together.

 Since Ellie and Juni are less than a year apart, I have high hopes that their cousin relationship will turn into a lifetime long special connection. Whenever they hold hands or hug I get a little emotional and excited for the love they already share. (Juni also got to have her first sucker, a tootsie pop, at Elbee's restaurant.)

 While shopping for some last minute details for her Grandpa Billy's birthday present, Juni couldn't keep her hands off of all the yarn and fabric and colors and textures. Then, once she went back to Grandma Susie's house and found out Grandma had all this cool stuff too, she was in heaven!

 Connor and Ellie were both so sweet with their little cousin Juni. They doted on her like she was the prize pony and she ate up every minute of it. When we very first arrived, they each took her by one hand and led her to the toy room to play. I don't think I will ever forgot that moment.

Headbands

As Juni's hair grows I have attempted all varieties of barrettes to keep her hair out of her eyes, but within seconds, she pulls each and every one out. After I was wearing a headband in the bath one night, Juni decided she wanted a "hat" on her head too. Since then, she is loving sporting a headband all throughout the day.

19 months since Sunday

Oh my little noodle, another month has whizzed by in a blink. You are thrusting yourself into toddlerhood faster than I imagined possible. When I look back at pictures from month ago, I can't believe only four weeks have passed. Your comprehension, interaction, and curiosity reach new heights each and every day.

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Juni has had a good month. Zach and I purchased a play kitchen secondhand, with the intention of giving it to her for Christmas, but then couldn't resist. She absolutely loves it and plays with it each and every day.

Her favorite foods right now are noodles, pears, and smoothies. Her bottom incisors still haven't cut, so there have been days where she hasn't eaten much but smoothies.

New favorite words include neck, elbow, pants, dog, duck, lips... and lots lots more.

Firsts: coloring with crayons (a new favorite), playing guitar with Papa, cooking with mama (mixing up the Jiffy cornbread), temporary tatoo (she wanted it off, NOW!) :)

She continues to enjoy music class and dancing. Her interest in cartoons has gotten a little crazy. We let her watch one PBS show a day, but she would watch for hours if we would let her. The Cat in the Hat show has a song that say, "Go, go, go, go on an adventure.....," so anytime she wants to watch her cartoons she says, "GO GO GO! GO GO GO!!" and will sometimes turn on the tv or bring us the remote. Over the past few days she has woken up from her nap, in the morning, and even in the middle of night, and each time, before her eyes are even open, she yells out, "GO GO GO!!" The girl means business with those cartoons.

We were able to go as a family to watch Wreck It Ralph, the new Disney movie, and Twilight Breaking Dawn Part II. Juni slept through half of the Disney movie, but even sat in a seat with us, awake, for the entire Twilight movie. She had snacks and toys and juice to keep her occupied part of the time, but I still couldn't believe she made it through the whole movie, especially since the first half of that day had been particularly trying with Juni and I having a different idea of what should be happening at each and every moment :)

She is traveling better, taking longer naps, and adjusting to new situations quickly. Life has become somewhat of a routine at this point. It is crazy to think that this is the point I thought we would be to when she was 6 months old. Now, more than a year after that, here we are. Life is good.

Happy Halloween!

 

These pictures go in a reverse order, but you get the idea :) The weekend before Halloween Juni and I met our friend Annie, along with her friend and kids, at a nearby pumpkin patch. It is no Vala's, but it was fun for Juni to climb on big pumpkins and play in the straw for a minute.

Halloween morning I had to work for a few hours, so Zach brought Juni so I could see her in her costume before she went to music class. My co-worker took a quick family pic, as I wasn't sure what we'd be able to get later on in the day.

I was able to leave work a couple of hours early so Zach and I could take Juni trick-or-treating at the businesses around the corner from our house. When I got home I gave Juni her Halloween surprise, a sheet of pretty stickers to put here there and everywhere. She played with a few and then on our way we went. Webster street has trick-or-treating every year, early in the afternoon, for small children. Last year we dressed Juni up and then just sat on the bench and watched little families go by, so this year we were excited to participate a little bit. I expected to only take her to 4 or 5 places, to the shop owners who recognize us, and then head home or to the park for some family time, but Juni was having a ball. She loved interacting with the shop owners/workers and picking a piece of candy from their bowls, then she would put in her bag that I was holding, and tell the people thank you in her quiet little voice. An hour and a half later, we had gone up and down the entire street. One of the banks had told us to come back at 2 for the costume contest, since our family was dressed up, so we stopped at home, grabbed the stroller, and in the 2 1/2 blocks back to the bank, Juni was out. So, we strolled right on back home and let her take her nap.

It was a great a family day filled with special memories. Papa ended up with quite the bag of candy in the end and Juni has enjoyed a few gummy life savers and still has a few Skittles left to savor. Yay, for happy moments. My heart is full.