The last couple of months have been excitin6g (<-see?). Lots of growing up around here, new things learned, and lots of vocabulary and learning to dodge and weather twinadoes.
Julien has amazed us daily. The other day he pointed to the alphabet board in our house, and proclaimed ( very proudly) Eeeeeeeeee...to the letter E. What? He is listening? Must be a fluke... "Hey Julien, what letter is this (letter O)?" to which he replied "OOOOhhhhhh". Right again! He's learning his letters, knows several shapes and some colors, and we count to 10. Not bad for a 21 month old. He loves to sing Twinkle Little Star, or his version Twirkle twirkle Lsta.
This kid LOVES wheels. Cars, trucks, trains, loves them. He has patience for putting things together (definitely does not get this trait from me), and can sit quietly with a book for a good while.
Julien loves to be outside. This is where we see impatience in him. He will stand by the door and stomp until we open the door. He loves sidewalk chalk and playing with the toy kitchen outside. He also loves to run the field by the house and find the fastest trajectory to the street. We are working on his listening skills, because it seems that when outside, he is way too distracted by freedom and nature to listen to mom or dad.
Julien also loves the water. Both the beach and the pool (provided there aren't too many people splashing about). He will walk right into the ocean, causing me a mild heart attack. We jump the waves, and he never seems to tire out.
Julien is sleeping well, with the occasional night waking. When he does wake up, he is usually sweating in his crib, so he is probably uncomfortable. This is funny to Samuel and I because when he was just born, and a mere 5lb 12oz, I had to keep him on me, skin to skin to elevate his body temperature because he always ran a degree or two, too low. My, how things have changed!
He is our little man, sweet and affectionate, a little mischievous, and always kind.
Charlotte (or as she refers to herself SHA-SHE) is quite the little lady. Charlotte has lots of babies around the house, including her favorite Woody and Buzz (from Toy Story) that she takes very good care of. They eat with her, she often tries to feed them her applesauce or oatmeal. She takes them on car rides, and to the store with us. Her arms are usually overloaded with animals and babies, not being able to only choose one or two.
Charlotte is developing good manners too. Anytime I give her something she looks up at me and says "thank you Mommy", and when I ask her to do something and she goes ahead and does it, she thanks herself! "Thank you Shashe". So cute :)
She wants you to witness everything, and comment on everything. When there is something she doesn't know she will say "eh?". I will tell her what it is, then she will repeat it softly 2 times before boldly announcing what it is.
Charlotte approaches new situations with gusto. She runs into a new play group, the library, gymnastics, with a Joie de Vivre. She says hello to everyone, and jumps right in. There is a flip side to this temperament, and that comes in the form of .....The Tantrum.
Seems like Charlotte has mastered the meltdown. She knows what she wants, when she wants it and HOW she wants it. It has taken strength to deal with this, because these are important lessons she has to learn.
Who knew a person less than three feet high could hold such energy?
Charlotte takes care of Julien (Juju) as well. She makes sure that everything she has, he gets as well. If he runs off ahead, she is the first to alert us.
Charlotte also loves the water, and jumping in the waves is her favorite. She collects little rocks and shells too.
Bedtime has morphed from sleepy in our arms before being laid down to sleep, to pretending to sleep while we are in the room, to getting up and jumping in the crib as soon as we leave. There are giggles, squeals and lots of talking, about a half hour later, they are fast asleep.
It's hard to believe that in a couple of months they will be 2!
Here are some pictures of the summer, enjoy!
Hope all of you are having a wonderful summer!
