About June

Sometimes it's hard to imagine June being a big sister because she is so good at being a little sister. When she goes to my aunt's house with her 7 (currently 5) kids she just plays and follows around my cousins and acts like one of them, thinking she is a big kid too. When she was at my friend Tanya's house with her four kids, she said that she sat around the dinner table with them, laughing and babbling into their conversations like she was a family member. And she loves to get attention for her ouchies and be cuddled with a blanket and some milk.

But then again.

The way she is with babies and younger toddlers than her makes me see that she is made to be a big sister. Whenever anyone visits with their younger one she brings toys to him or her and plays so nicely. Just last night we had an almost one year old here, only she's a pretty petite little girl who is still crawling, and June was SO gentle with her. She brought her toys to her and played along side her, giving her a soft little pat on the leg every now and then as if to reassure her.

When another friend was over with her three month old, June came over to where he was on the couch and softly rubbed his belly and then held his hand. She's the softest toddler around!

(Now, I know writing things like this often make people say, "Oh well that's just how all toddlers are," or, my favorite, "Just you wait. That will never last, she'll be worse soon!" And so today I declare that I don't care. June is her own unique self like every human being and in this post I want to highlight those things that I think are telling of the person she is and will be. And I'm choosing to focus on the good things. And I'm allowed to think my kid is the best, right?)

*Ahem. So anyway, she is so soft with babies. But she's also amazing with animals (except abe... she plays a little rougher with him.) My cat gets all alert and threatening and I'm like, "Calm DOWN Miso, she's the nicest toddler you'll ever meet," as she nicely pets him. She does give him hugs though, I guess no cat would like that...

She is not much of a climber or risk taker that way or very daring in the water. She seems to have a cautious soul. But when she's strapped in to something like her tree swing or rides at an amusement park she's crazy! She loves going higher than I want and to be twisted around a billion times on her swing. And she really had no fear or reservations about the rides at Lagoon and even wanted to go on some bigger ones that she was not allowed on. Also, she is pretty fearless when being tossed around by Buck.

She's a goof ball who picks up on subtle silly facial expressions and loves to laugh at silly little things. She likes to grab your cheeks together and and make strange noises. She loves to scare and attack people. Sometimes she will warn you by getting still, looking you in the eyes and whispering "oh no! Oh no!" Next thing you know she is throwing a stuffed dinosaur at you. She also likes to imitate me when I make silly voices, and she does a pretty good job at it!

So far she's not much of a hitter (although she obviously has her moments. and once, a two week streak) When she does hit me out of rage she instantly melts from angry to distraught toddler in two seconds and cries- I can tell that she feels out of control and is scared. It's been hard to know if I should punish her or comfort her in those moments! haa.

Which brings me to her sensitive soul. She doesn't fight back much, just cries. Kid takes her toy? Cries. Kid hits her? Cries. Kid screams really loud? Cries. Another adult disciplines her and she gets so sad, like, "oh no, now they don't like me anymore!" and usually cries.

(When I was a kid, I remember being this way and crying all the time and in kindergarten the other kids always called me a cry baby... so now I'm kind of worried she'll get pushed around. BUT I'm jumping ahead of myself here. Don't have to cross that worry bridge until I get to it, right?)

That having been said, June is SUPER SOCIAL. Any kid who comes in the door is immediately a friend and ushered into her room to play. She is always trying to play with other kids when we are out somewhere. They don't always share the same sentiment (especially the older kids) but when a stranger wants to play, she is elated. She is turning into a girl who likes to play together and interact.

She's really into imagining and scenarios. She has a little doll house and loves to make the mommy feed the baby, the daddy sit on the toilet (haha), the mommy and daddy to kiss and hug, and for them to have conversations and help each other up when they fall.

She has been holding pens and crayons right for a long time now and is so deliberate in what she draws or writes. She gets pretty focused too and even makes songs up that go with the rhythm of what she is drawing. She draws "real" pictures of different animals and mommies and daddies and babies, but at this point, those photos are impossible to decipher apart from her telling us so.

She is focused on whatever it is- T.V. shows or movies, games, puzzles. She seems to learn fast and is getting pretty good and figuring things out and puzzles. She's always been pretty observant.

She is a talker. Talk talk talk! She can get going pretty fast and those times can be hard to know what she is saying. Some of her pronunciations are still pretty... creative, (you should heard the strange German sound she makes for her "k's" and "g's") but obviously that comes with the age. She is saying  a lot but she is certainly not advanced in her speech. And it's funny and I'll miss her babbles when they are gone.

So there you have it. Maybe it's super boring to read about a toddler but I figure it's really just my family and good friends who read this and you care, right? :) I could obviously go on and on about her little personality- about her dancing and her singing and the way she wont let anybody else say the dinner prayer besides her.... but I'll save it for my journal.

Thanks for all your love and support of our little family!