Happy 23 month birthday!

Julia is almost 2! I am often amazed when I watch the little person she's becoming wandering around the house looking for "goo-goo eye" blocks, insisting on being a naked j-bird or asking me to trace her handprint on paper so she can color it in. I'm amazed when she walks into her classroom and says "bye bye mommy" and knows "mommy comes back." I'm amazed on our nature walks when she finds and identifies acorns, leaves, rocks and sticks to put in her treasure bag. And I'm even more amazed when this independent little lady crawls into my arms and still wants to cuddle.

Julia LOVES bubble baths these days. She has so much fun scooping up bubbles, dunking her toys and splashing around.

Julia has a huge vocabulary and can be quite demanding and bossy. She's also quite the parrot. Even her teachers at school have commented on it and the fact they have to watch what they say! Instead of "yes", she says "sure." We are working on that : ) And she has recently started saying "mine" - as in, "this toy mine." Hmm, so far it's not too bad, but this may just be the beginning.

She loves music and sings more songs - Itsy Bitsy Spider, Twinkle Twinkle Little Star and Happy Birthday to You. She knows the rhyme 1-2 Buckle My Shoe, all the way up to "9-10 sing it again."

We are definitely having more 2 year old moments. When she doesn't get her way, Julia often falls down on the floor and cries. She also gets upset if, for example, a song on the TV music station goes off and she wants to hear it again (she's clearly been spoiled by the CD player). She is defiant - wanting to run down the driveway and not stopping when I tell her and dropping her food on the floor while saying "no" to herself.

Even writing this, I know we really don't have much to complain about at this stage and we are very thankful!