Juliet is 16 months {and no longer a baby}

Juliet is 16 months, and anything that may have suggested that she is still a baby has flown out the window this month. We have a full blown toddler on our hands.

Lots of new non-babyish things to report:

• She now takes only one nap a day, and it's usually alone (no more snuggle bunny!)
• No more nursing. She self weaned herself about a week and a half ago. Her last nursing sessions were only seconds long (under ten seconds most times) so she was ready.
• She no longer wants to be rocked to sleep. I remember this stage with James as well. They figure out that getting comfortable in their crib is a lot easier than your arms, and one day they are just done. I am sad this day has come, but so happy that I rocked her to sleep every single night until this day came. 
• She has an opinion about everything. Specifically food (and her hate for everything you give her) and which parent is around (she only wants the other parent at all times).
• She has started to really play with James. Her favorite place in the entire house is in James's room, and her favorite person in the family is most definitely her brother. 
• She has started to talk more. Only a few more words but it is darling. She says "thanks" after you give her something she wants (sounds like "nake"), she says "James" ("Day"), she says "more" at the correct time, says "yeah!" enthusiastically if you ask her something like "would you like some strawberries?"
• She walks everywhere. Crawling is long gone. 
• She understands so much. She can follow simple directions and it is really amazing to see her little mind work. 
• She's huge. Took her in for her 15 month appointment (a month late) and she measures 33" tall, which is in the 95%!
• Her hair is suddenly so long! No more baby fuzz.

All this said, she's had another rough month. So dang fussy and clinging and not happy. She wavers between fussing to crying to out and out pissed off most of the day. I thought there must be something going on, but the doctor says it's her teeth. Canines. The worst most evil teeth of all. They were hell for James too. Plus, converting from two naps to one is never easy on these babies. Hard stuff.

We found out she is allergic to mosquitos this month, when she gets a bite it inflames and turns into a huge welt lasting for well over a week. Saddest thing ever.

She is sleeping well at night (hallelujah!) and is an early riser, waking between 6:15 and 6:30 every day.

LIKES:
Being read to, she brings me books throughout the day
Playing with James
Throwing rocks in the river (she has had a great teacher since birth)
Berries
Walking
Splashing in the bathtub

DISLIKES:
When James is aggressive
Riding in the car when she's grumpy
Getting new teeth
Any food that is not berries
Not getting her way in all areas of life

Here is a photo I snapped on my phone yesterday. She has been like this much of the week (always pissed and sad), sigh. It's exhausting to say the least.

Finally, from 1 month until now:

Backyard wrestle

Not long ago I wrote that James loves to wrestle his Daddy. I said that Juliet was not quite big enough to join the fun, but it won't be long.

The time has come. Juliet and James team up to wrestle Daddy nightly. It is their favorite way to burn off energy at the end of the day.

This particular day we'd come back from the splash pad (hence the swimsuits) and kids were so excited to wrestle. We lay the blanket on the lawn and let them play for as long as they can.

E, by the end, is exhausted.

Tummy kisses are a must during wrestling.

Neck kisses too.

Ka-SLAM!

Farmhouse weekend {with two cranky kiddos}

E returned from Japan last week and decided to take a four day weekend to compensate for being away Memorial Day weekend. We had grand plans, a hike, a pool date, and an overnight stay at the farmhouse.

The pool didn't happen as the weekend started out quite chilly, and a hike wasn't in the cards either (soon though, I hope!). The farmhouse was something we really wanted to do after having so much luck on our previous two trips in March and April (Zion and Las Vegas).

However, luck was not with us on our little overnight jaunt.

Yes these pictures look happy enough. And there were plenty of wonderful moments, but there were lots of very difficult moments as well.

I won't go into details, but neither kiddo was well behaved at all. Sure, there are plenty of smiles above, but trust me when I say, E and I were about to lose our minds.

The majority of the overnight stay looked like this. Juliet crying out of frustration, not getting her way, and teething. James in the background playing it cool until he wasn't playing it cool and acted out.

But thank goodness I brought my camera, because looking back on these photos makes me forget how overwhelmed I was feeling.

Seriously, how could I possibly be mad at this face? (He was being a terror, I tell ya!)

We cooked on the BBQ outside and decided to eat on the front porch. I wanted a photo so badly. I remember we were both mad at James at this point, and I love that the only photo I have of dinner is E giving James a very stern "stay where we told you and eat your dinner" face.

I don't know what we were thinking, but I was hell bent on an after dinner drive to enjoy golden hour.

We drove a mile down the little curved dirt road and up onto a hillside with one of our favorite views.

We threw dirt balls into the irrigation ditch and tried to enjoy the moment.

It is just spectacular.

Finally, we loaded up the kids, brought them back to the farmhouse, had a disaster of a bath (and I so wanted a photo of both of them in the huge farmhouse tub) and put them to bed. James was up for quite some time more, but at least he wasn't crying.

The next morning everyone was tired. E "slept" next to James, while I "slept" next to Juliet. I was zombie like when both kids were awake at 6:15 am.

But, we made the best of it. We got some coffee, let the kids play in the dirt and talked about when we should head home. Originally our plan was to stay all day.

Juliet, however, wasn't feeling it. She was miserable. Canine teeth I think.

So we took a little morning walk, enjoyed the day before it got hot, Juliet alleviated some of the pain by chewing on some rocks and we discussed how we wanted the day to go.

We visited some horses and saw the barn.

Somehow Daddy eked another smile out of Fussy McGee here.

And then we packed up the car and headed home, still early in the day. When my sweet little happy snuggle bunny looks and feels like hell, and James is not showing kindness, we knew we'd been beat.

Farmhouse, we hope to see you soon.