Well three months have gone by since I wrote Juno’s 12 month update, but I still want to blog about our sweet girl every so often — mostly for myself so I never forget all of the big things she’s doing right now. As I begin this post, Juno is currently nestled on my chest, asleep in my arms as I am reclined in her rocking chair in her room. Clearly nothing much has changed in the past three months. This little one still just prefers to nap on her mama so for now I’m going to cherish every moment because I know I’ll be begging for her cuddles some day not too far away. And plus, most days she really does nap in her crib now…
Overall we have come a LONG way in the sleep department. Right around 13 months old, we started working with a child developmental specialist to get some advice and help with Juno’s sleep. Prior to this, she rarely napped and almost never napped in her crib and our nights were pretty rough with wake ups every 2-3 hours. So when talking with the sleep consultant, I was all ears and we were eager to try anything and everything she advised. Less than two weeks later and Juno made it through her very first night without a feeding and a week after that she made it through her very first night of sleep without a feeding AND without any wake ups! It took just about 14 months, but we were so happy that we knew she could do it now! At first these nights were few and far between but now I ’d say that she sleeps through the night (she’ll do a 9-10 hour stretch) most nights. She still wakes up most nights but she has gotten so much better at self-soothing and going back to sleep on her own. Every so often we will still have to go in and rock her or nurse her, but I’d say the good nights outweigh the bad now and for that I am so grateful! One time she even made it 11 hours! So in the grand scheme of things, we’ve made progress that I never thought would happen and I’m feeling so much better and more rested these days. We are right in the midst of transitioning from two naps to one nap so depending on the day she’ll either take one nap, two naps or no nap. Ha!
Let’s see… what else is new in the last few months? I think she had just taken her first steps when I last wrote and now she is full on running to the point where I have to tell her to slow down often. She is very active and loves to be outside digging in the dirt or running around the yard with Remi. We have been loving the weather lately and have been going on long walks and playing at the park a lot. [Update: no longer playing at the park — when I first started writing this blog post, all was still well in our little world and the Coronavirus restrictions hadn’t hit us yet like they have now]. She points out every airplane in the sky along with every bird, rabbit or squirrel she sees!
Juno is communicating more and more everyday. We love all of the little (and loud) sounds she makes. She can say dog (“d-oo-g”), woof woof, mama and dada and she’s starting to use a lot more sign language as well. She can sign dog, bird, airplane, more, all done, eat, hi and bye and she seems to pick up a new sign everyday! She has been loving watching the Baby Signing Time videos.
Some of Juno’s other favorite things right now include:
-playing the harmonica
-climbing on and patting Remington
-all of her cousins
-Remington and all dogs for that matter (she walks around going “woof woof woof” all the time)
-scribbling and coloring on paper or with sidewalk chalk
-washing her hands (we are thankful for this one amidst the coronavirus pandemic right now)
-bubble baths
-feeding the dog and giving her treats
-eating (this girl can EAT and sit at the table for a long time)
-taking care of her baby doll
-temper tantrums (ha!)
-FaceTime — we are so grateful to have this technology while we are so dearly missing our family while we #stayathome — she loves talking to her Yaya and Papa and their dog Paisley, Grandma and Grandpa, her cousins and even her Great Grandma too!
Juno’s not so favorite things right now include:
-diaper changes and getting dressed — she’d run around naked all day if she could
-when we lay her in her crib and walk out of her bedroom — the separation anxiety is real bad right now
-when we tell her “no” or take away something she wants or do something she doesn’t want to do
-going to the doctor - we had a bit of traumatic experience a few weeks ago when I took her in to get her ears checked. You know it’s bad when you can’t even get her weight because she is clinging to mom so hard and when the doctor comes in to help the nurse because she can hear the screaming throughout the whole office. In Juno’s little mind and heart, this was SO scary for her. This was our first really hard trip to the doctor. Her ears were fine; the doctor diagnosed her with “fussy baby syndrome”. Oh goodness.
Juno weighs about 18 lbs 5 oz and I have no idea how tall she is now, but I’m thinking not much taller than last time since her 6-9 month pants still fit her. Haha! Her 12 month clothes are just barely starting to fit. She’s still in size three diapers but I think she’d prefer to not where a diaper at all if she had her way. She’s gone potty on the toilet three times so far and always likes to sit on the toilet whenever she is in the bathroom.
The debate is still out on what color her hair is (red, brown, strawberry blonde)? It always looks different. It’s growing so long and is almost long enough to put up in a little pony tail on top of her head, although I doubt she will let me do that once it is long enough. She doesn’t like bows or headbands at all right now. Her eyes are still bright blue and just the prettiest eyes we have ever seen. Juno now has 6 teeth (2 on the bottom and 4 on the top that aren’t quite all the way in yet). We love Juno’s big personality and we melt to the floor when she out of nowhere leans over and gives us a kiss.
Juno has been SO happy lately — she loves being independent and she thinks she’s a big kid all of the sudden. She runs around talking and laughing and pointing and clapping. She can go up and down the stairs completely independently and her newest favorite thing is to stand on her “stand-y” at the island and help us cook or bake. She likes to eat her snacks here too.
The past couple of weeks as things have progressed everyday with the coronavirus, I’ve been trying to just soak up my time with her and view the world from her eyes. In her mind, she doesn’t know that the world is facing a crisis and she thinks it’s pretty great that I get to be home with her all day every day. Mom doesn’t have to work anymore? GREAT! Mom gets to play with me around the clock? EVEN BETTER! Juno literally stops and squeals with delight at every bird, airplane, squirrel, pile of mud … you name it and it amazes her. Wouldn’t the world be such a better place even amidst these hard times if we took just a little time each day to view the world from a child’s perspective? I’ve also been trying to intentionally put down my phone, turn off the news and just play with her when she is awake. I know that babies and kids can read us like a book when it comes to our emotions and how we are feeling and the last thing I want is for her to feel even a smidgen of the anxiety, fear or stress I might be feeling so amidst all of this I’m trying to be intentional about counting my blessings and not taking one second of the time I have with my little love and our family for granted.
Juno Elizabeth, you are perfect in every way. We love you so stinking much. You are our girl, forever, and are the biggest blessing!
