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How can my little girl be big enough to button her shirt all by herself?

The Cow PJs

We haven't had the hottest summer in Pittsburgh, but I also wouldn't call it cold. Starting early in the summer, Juliana insisted that she needed to wear warm pjs at night - mommy, I need to wear long pants, long-sleeves, fleece pjs. When we boxed up her winter clothes, we left 2 fleece pj sets and some lighter weight long-pant/sleeve options in her drawer. Occasionally she would wear one of the other options, but she asked for the cow pjs every night for weeks. One night when they were in the laundry she demanded - mommy, how many days it is going to take for you to do my laundry...I need my cow jammies!! And when she is wearing them on a weekend morning, she is in no hurry to get dressed.

I tried getting her to wear some of the very cute summer pjs I had purchased for her and some even had pants. But most nights those wouldn't do. In early August, I quit trying. I took the 4T pjs from her closet that I had bought on clearance for this fall and added those to the nightly rotation. And I bought some additional sets which had to be worn as soon as Juliana found out about them. The flowered pjs in the picture below - it was 90 degrees the day she wore those for the first time. The night our power was out and it was super hot and humid - she was wearing the cow pjs that night.

The cow pjs are a 3T and the pants are getting short. When she got out of the bathtub this evening she spotted the basket of folded, clean clothes in her room and asked for them. It will be time to say good-bye to them soon, but not tonight.

First Day of School

The first day of preschool was yesterday. Juliana was so excited! I bought the dress several weeks ago and she has been waiting impatiently to wear it - pink and purple of course. I let her pick out the backpack - after I vetoed Hannah Montana - and she selected Barbie because it is pink and has pictures of jewelry. She put the backpack by the door before bed last night and she walked around the house in the morning wearing her backpack for about 10 minutes before it was time to go.

Last year all of the 3 and 4-yr olds were in one room; this year the preschool is divided into separate classrooms for the 2 ages. Juliana's teacher from last year is in the 4-yr room this year and Juliana was very excited to get back to Miss Moran. We were happy to have her back with Miss Moran to make drop-off in the morning easier.

The New Bike

When Scott and I were out for our anniversary, we went to dinner and did some shopping. Our last stop was Target (are you thinking, seriously Target on your anniversary date...just remember I don't get to leave the house without children very often, so this shopping time was a luxury). Juliana had outgrown her tricycle and I had been thinking about buying a bike, so it wasn't completely an impulse when we passed the bikes and I announced that we were buying one...plus it is purple and pink.

We decided that she should earn the bike. Scott found a stack of 8 carnival tickets and we agreed that she would earn a ticket when she was mostly good that day (perfectly good and the bike would still be in the box). The first day we told her about the tickets and that there would be a surprise when she collected all 8. She was so good and very excited to collect her 1st ticket. The next day she was soooo bad and therefore no ticket; and she told me she would rather be bad than have a ticket...she would just get her 2nd ticket the next day. Each day she got a ticket she would tell me how many she had and how many she needed to add up to 8. When she earned her last ticket I told her that her surprise was a bike.

Juliana - A bike!!! Is it a Dora bike?

Me: No, even better, it's purple and pink.

Juliana: Is it a purple and pink Dora bike?

Thursday after school her bike was assembled and waiting. She counted her 8 tickets out and hopped on her bike. She is still getting the hang of peddling and driving straight at the same time. She has her fist bike related scraped knee from an over-steering fall.

Enjoying Summer

Juliana spent some time out of the sandbox on Saturday to swim. This is her 3rd summer using the sprinkle pool and she still loves it. (Photo credit: G-Daddy Photography)

And Sometimes She Helps Out

One evening last week, I was about to give the boys a bath and Juliana announced that she wanted to help. I wondered if she would actually be a help, but decided it was a good idea to involve her. She ran to get the bathtub and bring it into the kitchen and then went to get the changing pad and put it up on the kitchen counter. The bathtub has a sling that completely supports the boys so they are very secure.

We started with Wyatt and she carefully washed his arms and legs with the washcloth - I told her I would wash his face and head. When we were done washing Wyatt she rubbed the lotion on and helped me dress him.

Then it was time for Ruslan's bath, she took a break to model the lion towel and then wore it througn part of the bath. She did a good job of washing Ruslan except that she did want to wash his face as well (you can see his surprise in the picture with his arms flying about). By then time he was washed, she was done helping and had run off to play. But she actually was a big help. I hope this is the beginning of her being more helpful rather than the norm of just making a mess...

Juliana and Ruslan

Now that the boys are more interactive, Juliana enjoys playing with them. She gets so excited when she smiles at one of them and they smile back. Ruslan is much quicker to smile and laugh than Wyatt (he has to stare at you for a few minutes first) and Juliana loves that when she sticks her tongue, he does the same in return. On this morning he had just eaten so he was very happy. Juliana had just come downstairs and when she hopped up next to him, she was greeted with a huge smile. The two of them smiled, laughed and stuck their tongues out until Juliana got bored (it takes Ruslan a long time to get bored of this game).