Josie is inching her way towards being a little girl too. There are moments that I look at her and she seems so old, and then she wakes up from her nap and reaches for me yelling "Mama" and she's my baby again.
Josie's favorite toys now are her rocking horse, the play kitchen, and her babies. Especially her babies. She holds them and rocks them all the time. She takes elaborate care when putting them to bed, covering them with a blanket and telling us to "shhhh". She even has to sleep with one at night. In the morning I'll hear her talking to her baby after she wakes up. She uses her play kitchen to make food for her baby and then they go for a ride on her rocking horse. "Ya ya!" [yee ha!] She must be acting out an old western movie that she's seen.
As for speaking, Josie is trying to say more words. She is still using the basic sounds ba, da, ma, na and pa, but she's mimicing the syllables she hears. Thank you is "na naaa". Diaper is "da pa". Look at me is "neeeeee!" She doesn't talk as much as Maddie did at this point, but Maddie didn't have to compete with anyone else talking all the time either. (The only time Maddie isn't talking now is when she's asleep.)
As I mentioned in Maddie's post, Josie loves to sit on the potty now too. She'll yell "pa eeeeee!" and run to the bathroom. Many times I've gotten there just in time to catch her on the stool trying to climb up on the toilet. She has come very close to falling in. People have told me that the second child is easier to potty train, so maybe we'll have a 2-for-1 deal and get both girls potty trained at the same time.
You should see Josie dance! Her moves blow Maddie's out of the water. She's perfected the "booty shake" and has moved on to some original ones involving one foot stomping, as well as the moonwalk (tell her to moonwalk and she'll walk backwards grinning at you the whole time).
If you're wondering why none of the pictures show Josie in her glasses, well... she broke them again. I finally called the doctor and asked for his advice on how to get her to keep them on. She had done so well at first, and now she won't wear them at all. She takes them off and tries to bend them, thus breaking the latest pair. He suggested we hold off until her next appointment in 2 weeks to see if her eyes have improved any. Then we can consider some other options.
We're slowly learning to handle Josie's allergies. We have seen a dramatic improvement in her skin as we watch her diet carefully. We've been prepared when we go out to make sure she has things to eat. Because of her milk and soy allergies, she's drinking rice milk. We're still looking for options for other dairy foods. She loves cheese but we can't seem to find any that doesn't have dairy or soy. Anyone ever heard of rice cheese? Me neither and I've looked. Anyway, she has been doing well until a few days ago when she drank Maddie's sippy cup full of milk. Days later, we're still dealing with trying to make her rash and itching go away. You'll probably notice in some of the most recent pictures.
No doubt about it, Josie is a Mommy's girl. As with Maddie, that could change but it seems like Bill and I each have our own kid at this point. Josie knows how to cry for dramatic effect (they learn so early, don't they?) and knows she can run to Mommy for a hug. I can tell her not to do something and she'll give me this big, mischevious, silly grin. Let Bill do the same and she breaks out in a frown and gigantic sobs. She slides down to the floor and lies face down not moving. After a while, she'll look up to see if anyone's watching. If not, she'll get up and act like nothing happened. If we are watching, the whole scene takes place again.
Like I mentioned earlier, Josie is becoming more of a little girl. Her hair is getting so long and it's full of little blonde ringlets. She's actually slimming down and losing some of her little belly. She and Maddie still wear the same size (except for length in pants) and she still weighs one pound more than Maddie. It works well for her, though, because she can hold her own in any wrestling match with her big sister.
The best part about both girls getting older is seeing them interact with one another. They love to play together (despite those moments where they're fighting over a toy) and always hold hands when they're walking in public. I'll find them sitting in the playroom, playing with the Dora characters and their house. Each will be making the dolls talk to one another, even Josie. The kid can't speak real words herself yet, but she's already making the dolls talk to Maddie.
Sadly, I do miss Josie's babyhood. I feel like it zoomed by because I was so caught up in taking care of both girls. Many of my friends are having babies now and --now that the girls can play alone without me-- I get to sit and hold the newborn babies and just take it all in. It makes me realize that I do want to do this again, to experience another birth and pregnancy. Definitely in at least a couple of years, perhaps when the girls are in school (knock on wood).
But then, who knows how Bill and I will feel then. I just know that, for the first time in nearly 3 years, I don't have a baby to hold anymore. It's an odd feeling. I actually have time to work on some side projects, but even that feels weird as I'm just beginning to realize what to do with myself. In the meantime I'll enjoy everyone else's babies (hear that, Michael and Kami?)
