21 months, Halloween

These girls are full of love and fight and joy and fierceness. Sometimes I don't know what to do with them. They are learning how to play with each other. Juni is very protective of Genevieve in public with strangers and patiently introduces her to everyone we meet at the park. We've been getting through each day with no energy or time to spare. I don't even know what's happened in the last six months. I feel like the world is just whirling around us. Here's our last month! Phone pictures first....

 They built a new shopping center over by "the tube" that leads us on and off the island. The shopping center has a Target and a few other places with lots of room for more. There is a small fake-grass hill that our kids and many others love to play on. However, up in these very large planter boxes, is small amounts of real grass around wood chips and a palm tree. Juni now always asks to go lay in the real grass. The first time she did it I cried. I guess this is growing up in (sub)urban California.

 impromptu beach picnic post-ballet while Papa had to work

 Juniper Opal's 4.... errrrr 4 1/2 year check up. Whoops. She can hear and see and give the Dr. the stink-eye..... see next pic ;)

 post check-up, pre-shots

 starting to believe that it will be ok :)

 at the zoo!

animal carasel at the zoo

Genevieve's didn't even move up and down, but she still fought to get off it the whole time :/ Juni asked to go two more times :)

camera pics...

 We all know, a quiet toddler is never good. Someone found some chocolate.

 fun ride at the zoo for pilot June!

 Juni and I made a Texas chocolate sheet cake with cherry choc chips in it. She was so proud! And it was delicious!

 Trick-or-Treat #1 my little Pink Princess

 and my tired kangaroo

 trying to convince Genevieve picture taking is fun. Ha!

 Already enjoying some candy :)

sister love

 I. Can't. Handle. It.

 Her expressions kill me.

 Mom brought all my Barbies from Nebraska. I knew I saved them for a good reason.

 Genevieve thinks the Barbie Jeep is just her size!

 Trick-or-Treat pt 2

After buying them cute new costumes, the girls decided to wear old ones from the closet for pt 2

Grandma was a butterfly (who was going to be caught in a spider web, but after seeing the girls, she decided to leave the web off)

 Two little doggies that were dressed up like the girls! Their owner thought it was TOO CUTE! ...it was. :)

 Halloween craft fun with Grandma.

 First rain Juni had seen in MONTHS! Genevieve and Papa were still sleeping so we walked to the donut store to get donuts and took a big detour to get lots of puddle stomping in.

 Making pumpkin cupcakes with Grandma!

 Cupcake! Yum!

21 months!

This girl has started using the potty like a pro!!
Pee pee and poopy! Hooray!!!!!

She can say more words than I had any idea she knew. I can't believe how quickly it is coming now.

She loves to help throw things away and dump her own potty into the big toilet.

She hasn't been sleeping well lately, but I'm hoping we will phase out of that soon :)

She's learning to be more gentle with Juicy and has climbed up to pet Juicy several times with Juicy staying to let her. She is a much pickier eater than her sister but loves noodles, fluffy bread, rice... are you seeing a theme here? She won't even eat much fruit, but does sometimes love meat.... ground turkey in spaghetti or cut up chicken or chicken sausage. We just keep giving her things to try and hope one day she'll start eating them! She loves to brush her teeth and go outside and spend time with her sis, who she adores.

 Genevieve is pretending to be a dog :)

 The first book Genevieve read to me. Almost cover to cover!

 More rain! Hooray!!

 Double braids to match Dora.

Popcorn and snuggles pre-bed

19 months, 20 months, 4 1/2

 reading to herself

 "CHEEEESE!" 19 months! This beauty loves to read more and more. She's started communicating with more and more words and sounds. She loves to trot/run to keep up with her sister. She enjoys playing in the toilet :/ putting things in the trash (usually appropriate things!) Her heart soars when she is singing. It is the sweetest little sound I've ever heard. I wish you all could hear it. Juni was always so happy dancing and would sing a little, but Genevieve is so happy singing and will dance along a little. It is so fun to see their differences as they grow.

 "Shhh!" She's pretending to sleep!

 Ballet dress-up to see if the hand-me-downs fit before class started.

 Juni and her "pet dog" made out of Wiki Sticks

 Genevieve's well visit. I missed her 15 month visit :/ Whoops. We were in Nebraska in May and I planned to make the appointment as soon as we got back and then of course forgot. Her percentages are on track. High 80s for height, mid 50s for head, teens for weight. She's long and lean, like she's always been.

 Look at that smirk. She feels special sitting up by Pops.

 Yoga Girls

 Papa had a crazy Summit weekend where there were online presentations around the clock. We bought fun stuff to make giant bowls of popcorn trail mix and he hardly left his computer. He was having fun!!

 "I see you!"

 Juni can be prompted through a lot of "school" work, but she did this 100% on her own, including her name. (Obviously I wrote the word zebra)

 20 months!!

One night we played musical beds..... I started in bed with Juni, then by myself, then with Genevieve, then with myself. In the morning, Genevieve was in Juni's bed and Juni was in my bed with me. I heard Genevieve get up, come to my door, then say, "Shhhhhh!" and close the door. I listened carefully to see what she would get in to as she has ALWAYS come straight to us if we aren't with her when she wakes. Well, I must have fallen back asleep and when I woke up an hour later, I nervously hopped out of bed to find her like this! With her toothpaste by her side and her toothbrush on the floor. She woke up, got her toothbrush and toothpaste out of the bathroom cabinet above the sink!, brushed her teeth, then fell back asleep on the couch! For those who don't know, yes, I "still" nurse her to sleep. She won't go down for nap with Zach, no matter the times he has tried, so for her to just "fall asleep" on the couch like this was a great blessing!! Especially to a tired Mama and Juni!

She is saying SOOOO many words now.... watch, pee pee, poopy, boogie, ewwww, stinky, Mike, Maura, outside, go, phone, remote, more, talk, close, light, high, drink, "I don't know," and more I can't think of. And all of her other words (milk, noodle, hello, cheek, eye, etc.) are becoming so much clearer!!

She is FEARLESS at the playground. Always wants to walk herself now. Is trying to figure her trike out. And is holding her own while fighting her sister :/ The fighting is too much for me, but we do our best to work through it each day. There, of course, is still a lot of love!

 Zoo day adventure

 This girl loves her some ducks!!!

 Spraying himself down! So fun to watch!

 in the tunnel to spy on the meerkats

 In 8 years of going to this zoo, we've "seen" this lion (lying down, a bit of back hair) twice!! They have a very large enclosure with lots of space for them to retreat. For some reason, they had the female fenced apart from him, closer to the viewing area, and he came right up to piss on her cage and roar to stake his claim, I think? Nobody was really sure what was happening, but everyone there was surprised to see him up and about, not hiding back in the trees on the hill.

 This girl has fallen in love with Sydney (Mike and Maura's dog). If she hears ANY bark, she wants to go outside and find Sydney! Here she is saying, "Sydney?"

 "Inside?" She wants to know if Sydney is in Mike and Maura's house and if she can go in to see her!

 This girl is becoming a scooter-riding pro!!

 Oh my goodness, I love her!

 Oh my goodness, I love her!! ;)

Oct marks 4 1/2 for Juniper Opal. 

She is wanting to be Mama to Genevieve, sometimes too much. She LOVES gymnastics and like ballet. She makes a new friend or more EVERY time we go to the park, while Genevieve keeps to herself. Every night she tells me how good her dinner is and thanks me for making such yummy food. She is absorbing crazy amounts from our daily pre-school sessions we do while Genevieve naps. She still loves to run and race down all the slides at the park. She's loving her scooter more and has even ridden it to the park and back. I spotted a prowler in our neighbors back yard one day and spoke with Juni about our increased safety measures and how we were staying inside that morning while the police were coming. I think it's made her a little uneasy as she's had some bad dreams lately of monsters trying to take her away. She's been asking for lots of cuddles lately and has enjoyed sitting on my lab and being carried more than ever. I think she is feeling her independence growing and wants to make sure that we still love her as much as always. Her sweetness still oozes out. She still often tells us she loves us, unprompted.

 family of blocks

 post-nap cuddles

pre-bed cuddles :)

We sure are lucky to have these two girls.