Julianne is now twenty-one months and continues to love to talk. She loves talking so much that she often does so for up to an hour and a half before going to sleep for naps and bedtime. To put it lightly, sleep has become a battle and I seem to be losing. So often she seems tired when put in her crib, but she wakes herself up by talking, banging on the wall, and rattling her crib around. Once she goes to sleep she sleeps soundly, but is only sleeping 9-10 hours at night. Her nap has also shortened to 1-1.5 hours. I think I struggle most with this because I love sleep so much. I wish she would too!

Perhaps one of the reasons for her fight with sleep is that she is learning so much and just can't shut down her little brain. She recognizes and names about two-thirds of the alphabet and can point to most colors when asked where they are. She loves the colors red and yellow and when asked what color something is her standard answer is "red" even if it is not. "Yeh-yo" (yellow) has become her favorite color because we have a friend who has a bright yellow car. Whenever she sees any kind of yellow car she says "Day's tar"(Dave's car). Some other words and phrases she has picked up are: "lie-bah" (library), "May I" (said whenever she wants something), "Geh dat pees" (get that please), "No, No Abby", "rado" (Colorado), "tucky" (Kentucky), and "weh doos" (wear shoes). You can tell by her last phrase that she loves wearing shoes and playing dress up. One day last week she had on two pairs of shorts, two shirts, a dress and another shirt on top of that. She is a very funny little girl and keeps us on our toes.


The wind was blowing the skirt of her dress


Playing with sidewalk chalk - She likes to color her skin and her clothes too


Checking out my masterpiece on the sidewalk


Riding Abby - Doesn't Abby look thrilled?


Hugging Abby - I'm not sure if thrilled would be Abby's word to describe Julianne's hugs


Going "nih-nih" (night night) on the sidewalk


Snacking with the girls - Shiloh, Julianne, Nella, and Mia