joanna

The other morning I had turned the stove on, readying the pan for some fried eggs.  Peter had pulled up a chair to the side, as usual, hoping to crack some himself. We've been practicing this for a while.  However almost as soon as he had pulled up the chair he left, distracted by something else.  I left the room for a couple minutes to ask Ian something and when I came back Joanna was up on the chair with an eggshell in her hand, held out to me.  I thought she might have picked up an old shell from the carton but then I realized her hands were glistening with egg.  Then I saw the fried egg she had cracked into the pan.  Completely shell free.

Besides feeling some relief that she hadn't burnt herself I was pretty taken aback at her display of self-reliance.  She was so proud of herself.  Do you see that smug face in the last photo? 

This is our Joanna.  I've been thinking a lot about her current stage because she'll be two the end of this week.  She's pretty amazing.  Already fiercely independent.  "I wann ty!" she'll exclaim (I want to try!)  when buckling her seat belt.  Getting her dressed.  Putting on her shoes.  Brushing her teeth.  She wants to tackle it herself.  Typically on the playground, she'll find the most challenging thing to conquer and she'll do it again and again until she feels confident.  It makes her parents stomach drop a bit as we try to buffer her actions but we're also very impressed with her gumption.

She is the sweetest thing.  And she is the meanest thing.  She'll hold my face and snuggle my head.  She'll explain "I yuhh you!" (I love you) spontaneously and thank me after I've changed her diaper.  She'll thank me after almost everything I do for her.  She'll ask for hugs as anyone is leaving the house-- especially daddy.  But the girl can scream like no one else when she's mad.  Or when she wants something.  She says "No!" probably more than anything else in the day-- even if it's just daddy saying her name.  She'll bate her big brother by shutting the door of his room (which he hates) and she'll run away until he comes out to get mad and she'll do it again.  This girl has a wide range of emotions and many ways to express it-- and we love it.  She's a handful at times but adds so much to our lives that we'll take that handful any day. 

She loves to read.  She spends more time turning pages and speaking gibberish as she goes through book after book more than anything else.  She loves Moana and Mulan.  She loves to sing and to color.  She's got a lot of natural rhythm and I love to watch her move differently to each genre of music.  The girl loves her shoes and clothes and especially mommy's makeup.  We are amazed at how much she already knows and how much she is already talking.

We love you Juju.  We're so glad you're in our family.