As promised, some pictures of Julianna's birthday, only 3+ months late...
Jules' second year is turning out to be so much fun! She is such a hammy little ham hock. She expresses her dissenting opinions freely and at maximum volume, and just when you think "GAR! What is this kid's problem!?" she leans in for a sweet kiss, a snuggle and a squinty, breathy chuckle. Kinda like this:
In short, she is irresistible.
Since time plays tricks with the mind, I want to document the words she is saying right now because soon she'll be speaking in complete sentences just like Jonathan. She has learned so many words recently!
Spoken:
Uh-oh (her first)
Ball
Dada
Papa
Hat
Foof (what a dog says)
AAUGGHHH (what all other animals say)
Hi
'Sdat? (what's that?)
Signed:
Milk
Banana
Bird
No "momma" in sight yet. :(
Meanwhile, in Jonathan news, he is so big and getting so grown up! At three-and-a-half, he is a full-fledged "kid," certainly no longer a toddler. We switched his school back in October and he has been flourishing there. He makes friends so easily and I hope that is something he carries with him his whole life.
One of my favorite things Jonathan has started doing these days is saying "Mommy, I love you" out of nowhere. He doesn't say it simply as a response to me saying it to him. He doesn't say it to get what he wants - for instance, 3 seconds before asking for a cookie. He just says it to be sweet. It is the most rewarding thing to hear from a tiny being who, as nature intends, has spent 99% of his life receiving, rather than giving love.
Here are a few recent pictures of our sweet and sensitive little guy.
Superheroes are BIG right now. Exhibit B, featuring cousin Will:
Finally, Jer and I always go in and check on Jonathan every night before we go to bed. Inevitably, he is passed out in some unnatural sleeping position which involves arms and/or legs sticking up at funny angles, or him sleeping on top of the book he was "reading" to himself to fall asleep.
I couldn't resist taking this adorable shot of our sleeping monkey, involving the following critical items for a good night's sleep:
Turtle
Shark
Dolphin
Light-up Dog
"Mr. Marbles," his lovey
Elmo book
Thomas blanket
Our next big Team Duguid adventure is coming up soon. We're heading up to Chattanooga to see (and ride on!) the "real" Thomas the Train. We're going with Jer's parents and it should be a great weekend!
