The Girl with the Curl

You know that nursery rhyme,
"There once was a little girl with a curl, right in the middle of her forehead
And when she was good, she was very, very good.
And when she was bad, she was horrid."

Birthday Balloons!

Sometimes I feel like that was written about our temperamental little Juliet.  She is the sweetest, snuggliest, most thoughtful two-year old I know.  Except for when she's not. ;)  I will give you this warning, don't cross her, or you will discover what the term "strong-willed" truly means.

Juliet Katherine turned a whole two years old at the end of October, leaving me wondering where on earth my little baby went.  I feel like I blinked and suddenly I have this active, talkative little girl who just wants to play princesses and dinosaurs all day long.  Which is fine, but I still want to know when the transformation happened and how exactly I missed it.

Juliet soon made the discovery that sand is NOT very tasty...

The biggest transformation of all is that Juju now sleeps in her own bed (this is a small miracle, people!!)  I can pinpoint that moment to  after we moved into this house and I started a very regimented bedtime ritual.  She does still drink a bottle (filled with water), and will still wake up in the middle of the night, sometimes multiple times.  But for the first time in two years, there are no small children in my bed.  Pretty sure that will change in a couple weeks when the next baby is born, but that doesn't stop me from enjoying this small victory!

Juliet's favorite things include: baby dolls, animals (especially dogs and chickens), pretending to cook, playing with London, snuggling her mommy, pretending to be a dinosaur or monster, and playing ball.  She also loves to eat, and will eat almost anything, or at least give it a try.  We'll see how long that lasts.  She says her favorite color is blue, and she is a pretty decent counter...in fact, she might be better at that than her sister.

She also is much more verbal than her sister was at this point, but it probably helps that she has her sister to talk to 24/7.  She speaks in full sentences, and sometimes says words and phrases that I can't believe she knows already.  She loves to tease people, and sometimes will say or do something and give you an impish grin to let you know that she's "just kidding!"  As London likes to say on a daily basis, "Juliet's a stinker!!"

Still a Mommy's girl, but she thinks Dad is pretty cool too.  At least he is fun to play with.  But in her mind, if you want something done, you ask mommy.  We're a little worried to see how she is going to react when Mommy has to take care of new baby sister, but she does love babies, so I am keeping my fingers crossed that she will want to be my little helper.  Pray for me.  ;)

Tiny Baby Juliet.

Love you, Jujubee.