I decided that I am going to start writing in this blog again, just for myself. I want to make sure that I have things written somewhere that I can locate when I want to put childhood memories together for my children.
Joy.
Oh, Joy. :)
She is the cutest little thing. There is something about her that just seems to draw people to her. I think it is how expressive she is. She doesn't say a lot of distinct words (just mama, daddy, baby, meow, no, thank you (dane-do), . . .), but she has the greatest facial expressions and reactions.
She seems to feel everything fully. Very dramatic. Her happy and cute, is SO adorable. Her mad, is really mad, and can't be distracted away. Her sad seems to reach deep into her soul, and not find solace very readily (except in her pacifier--yikes says the pacifier-hater-me).
She loves all things cute and cuddly. She makes this funny sound (like a meow, but over and over--kind of up/down/up/down with the back of her tongue) whenever she sees something she deems as cute. She loves her baby dolls, but seems to especially love stuffed animals with large eyes--cats, bunnies, bears, Gabe's little tarsier, . . . She also loves to see babies when we are out--they are actually the one thing that might calm her down when she is upset, "Oh, Joy. Look at the cute little baby!" (this is most effective when said in that sugar-sweet little baby voice).
She loves to have shoes on, and is always putting on anyone's shoes which happen to lying about. Each pair of shoe has a special time, and she wants only that pair. She actually has a pair that Eve just gave her that she LOVES to wear. They are 5 sizes too big, but that is unimportant. I don't let her wear them if she really needs to be walking about, but she wears them often around the house. they are pink with white hearts all over them.
She like jewelry, and seems to grasp that it makes her look extra fancy wear a bracelet. I smile at this because I almost never wear bracelets. She was introduced to them in nursery, and just LOVES them. She does all she can not to have them fall off (though she is wearing women's, and they are too big).
She is great at getting her brothers' attention, particularly Gabriel's. I had to laugh the other day when she was upset because I hadn't let her do something dangerous. She walked near to Gabriel, crying. She knew he would be on her side. When he looked at her, she brought her hand up to her mouth, tilted her head to the side and down, and cried the most deliberately sad cry. HAND TO HER MOUTH?! It was out of a cheesy-drama movie. I have no idea where she got that, but it was perfect. oh, brother. ;) How could he resist? He couldn't.
She recently started to tickle us. She loves to say, "tickle-ickle-ickle-ickle" and stuff her hand into your neck or tickle your toes. It is adorable.
Honestly, at our homeschool group there are quite a few little toddlers, but people are SO drawn to her. It seems like everyone knows her. I really think it is her expressive little face. She smiles, and chatters at most everyone, but will let almost NO ONE actually touch her. She smiles, says hi, but as they approach she quickly changes to a concerned, "No. No! NO!!" If someone just picks her up, her body goes completely straight and rigid, and she screams like she is being attacked. This is part of the draw of others, as well, since everyone is just desperate to get on her good side. Playing "hard-to-get is already working for her. :)
Our night-time routine is simple, but I love parts of it:
First, we get into jammies, which requires a lot of kisses and tickles--her genuine, fun laugh is just the best.
Next, we brush teeth. She HATES this. It is quite the mental and physical work-out for me to get that brush into her mouth and do any good. The most effective way is to have her look at herself in the mirror--she always tilts her head and says hi to her reflection, like it is the cutest thing she has ever seen--and to ask her to show that baby what a good little girl she is, and how big she can open her mouth. This praise is increased and repeated once the mouth is opened, to encourage it to stay open long enough to, at least, touch each tooth with the brush. My right arm does this while my left arm (which is holding her) wraps around and holds her arms down as best as possible. ;)
Brushing done, she gets a drink of water ("wa-wa" is any drink). She likes to look at herself as she sucks the water up the straw.
Then she says "bye" to her reflection and turns off the light.
Finally, it is off to bed where we turn on her white noise, pick up her blanket, plop her down, ask her in a silly voice if she is too big for her pacifier (she laughs at me every time), give it to her, put her blanket on her. Then she waves to me, I blow a kiss, walk out saying, "night-night", and shut the door.
This all happens between 6:30 and 7:00 every evening. She wakes up between 6 and 7:00am the next morning.
Her consistent night-time sleep has been such a blessing. Sleeping was such an issue for SO long with her, and it took some work, but now it is wonderful, both night-time and nap-time. :)
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Eli and Adam were in the 11-14 year old group--they swam 200 yards, biked 4 miles, and ran 1 mile.
