Mick-eeeeey Mooouse! Siiiiister! Want Cookieeee! Ahhh-cado, More Ahhh-cado!
We are having SO much fun with Janie at her current developmental stage. We can't believe how quickly she is learning new things, especially new words. It really seems like she picks up several a day. What is even more fascinating about Janie's learning is that we have spent significantly less time "teaching" her things the way we would do with Clara. Instead, Janie is an observer and one who has a big sister she wants to copy all of the time.
For Christmas Janie got a cute little purse and accessories from Auntie Sherri. At first she wasn't all that interested in it, that was until Clara started playing with it. It was then that Janie started carrying it around constantly as well as stuffing it full of other small toys she knows Clara likes. In turn, Clara has been known to hang it just out of Janie's reach or hide it in the Lego bin. It is cute and funny now, but I really hate to see what this sisterly dynamic looks like in ten to twelve years!
This past month Lil' Gem Baby has been for the most part healthy, which means she is sleeping better (still not great, but we are happy about "better"), communicating more effectively and all around just a happier kid. She even has longer stretches of independent play or willingness to listen to a more complex book. When something is not going her way, our Janie can make a LOUD and stubborn fuss, complete with some pretty miserable-looking faces. And when she gets what she wants she can turn it around just as quickly.
Janie is really attached to her "Binkie" and will ask for it many times during the day. We only try to give it to her at certain times, this is one of those battles I don't always have the energy to fight. This is different than Clara who only had hers at night and in the car at 16 months and it seemed more like an out of sight, out of mind situation. Clara gave hers up when we explained that "Binkies were for babies" around 20 months, already I can tell that it may not go quite as smoothly with Janie. On the other hand, one of the big lessons of parenting for us has been that you can't always predict the behavior of young children, but I am sure there will be posts about that "adventure" in the future.
Janie has been teething again the past few days. She has a total of 6 teeth now. Three on top and three on bottom, that give her little grim kind of a "Z" shape. She is starting to get top teeth further back and they seem to really bug her and have lead to a few tough nights of sleep.
Janie's hair seems to be getting a little darker, and when she gets out of the bath is seems really curly. Once she sleeps on it, it flattens out (unless she sweats). She has a few clips that she is willing to wear, or maybe doesn't notice, but she really does not like to wear the little ponytails that look so darn cute on her and pulls and pulls on her hair till they come out. Over the past few weeks we are finally seeing a lot more of Kevin in her appearance. Several people have commented and you can really see it in some photos we recently took (I will try to post soon).
Janie continues to get better with walking and now likes to try to jump and spin in circles. She also does a cute little "dance" when we sing songs, by shifting her weight back and forth. She loves to climb, especially Mommy or Daddy. She also seems to always prefer the direct route even if it has obstacles, instead of going around. For instance, if she wants a certain toy across the room, she beelines to it even if she has to climb over Daddy and falls twice wading through the sea of toys. In this way she is really different from cautious Clara.
One of the best milestones this month is how much better she has gotten at showing affection and even saying "Luv you" to us. She really gets excited to see Kevin when he gets home from work and she seems to get a little sad when he leaves saying, "Dada, Bye-Bye" several times in the first hour he is gone. She greets us when we walk into a room with a sweet "hi" and grin. She has enough sweetness to far outweigh her orneriness.
I know this sounds weird, but somewhere in the past few weeks I feel like I have stopped being as sad about her growing up so fast and turned the corner into feeling excited for our future with her as a part of our family, in a long term sense. I thinks about the relationship the four of us will have when they reach their teen years or even adulthood. (I also really look forward to a night without getting up with her.) I guess all her changes have allowed me to better conceptualize her as our child instead of our baby, that I just wanted to keep a baby.
As the girls get older, I am reminded of what a treat is it to get to just know Janie and Clara both, with their unique little characters they are such incredible pieces of God's grand masterpiece! How lucky we are to be their parents!
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