No!

Well, "No" is the new word... She says it all the time, except when she says "Elmo." It's emotionally draining to constantly be bombarded with "No" even when she doesn't actually mean "No" she's just saying it... It's also made me more aware of the times when we tell her "No" and I'm trying to think of more constructive ways to stop her from tumbling down the steps, or electrocuting herself by chewing on an electric cord... We will see what happens!

At day care, Miss S says they're calling Juliana the "Den Mother" because she makes sure that the other kids are covered with their blankets at nap time and pats them on their back. If a child is upset and crying, Juliana will get their pacifier and give it to them. Growing up a bit too quickly, huh?

A few weeks ago they started "water play" in the afternoon at day care. Juliana was thrilled with the sprinklers and Miss C said Juliana runs over and sits down on the sprinkler, rotating as it rotates, and not caring about water getting into her face! Miss R in the infant room says Juliana will come to their windowed door and press her face up against it making silly faces and looking in the room at the babies. Miss A said Juliana is "so smart!" because she started playing with the hose connecting to the sprinkler (I assume trying to connect or disconnect it).

Her top two molars have broken through the gum line, and she's been particularly crabby recently, so I think the bottom two are about to erupt as well. Lolli actually noticed the first top molar (on Juliana's left) had poked through while she kept her for a few days when we were at a wedding.

This is the outfit she picked out this morning. I especially like the black Mary Janes... They're a size larger than she's actually wearing, but she still seemed to get around pretty well in them! I took her tennis shoes to day care just in case... Told Miss A and Miss Ch that I didn't feel like fighting the fight of changing her shoes this morning...

 Just a few pictures of her silly antics and exploring her world. Here she climbed into the box and took a seat. She was quite proud of herself for this accomplishment!

 This was just too cute. We had come downstairs from diaper change, clothes change, getting ready in the morning and she picked up her elephant Elly that she got on her birthday from her Aunt Caitlin and was carrying Elly around the kitchen for a little while! Juliana has never really gravitated towards stuffed animals, but she is definitely attached to her pacifier (she only gets it at night, naptime, and in the car), and her blanket. Although after this day of carrying Elly around, I put Elly in her crib and two nights ago she cuddled with Elly while going to sleep, so maybe?

 She loves to play in the fridge, and this involves lots of rearranging. Apparently milk and bread are better in the hydrator than up on a shelf!

This picture was taken at Home Depot. She's become quite demanding and the shopping cart is no longer a novelty, so she entertained herself by pulling the drain covers out of the box and organizing them on the floor.

 Juliana has tried lots of new foods over the last few weeks. Here she is with her first Oreo, can you tell that she loves it?!

 One morning, Juliana was still hungry but didn't want the rest of her eggs so I was going to offer strawberry banana puree, but she kept complaining and fussing at me, refusing to eat off the spoon. So I put a little bit on the spoon and put the spoon on her tray, but she didn't want it that way either! So finally I got the suction cup bowl (which she knows how to get off the tray now), and she fed herself! She was so thrilled. And apparently all that day (and ever since) at day care, she had to feed herself Miss C said!

 Eating cherrios with milk for breakfast!

 Trying a snack of apple slices and peanut butter. The peanut butter was a HUGE hit. She would pick it up off the apple slices and eat it with her fingers. And then she wanted more peanut butter so I put a little bit on her spoon, and she sucked it right off! You can't see it in this picture and she wouldn't hold still long enough for me to get a picture but she has peanut butter in her eyebrow!

 For some of our yard work Brian rented a skid loader from work and Juliana was beyond thrilled to get to ride in it.

 Then, we said goodbye to Lolli from her visit and Juliana made sure the steering wheel turned and the lights were on.

 This Dorothy dress my Mom made for my cousin about 14 years ago? And they passed it along to us to borrow! Although my cousin wore it when she was 2, we put it on Juliana just for size! It was precious, and went right to the floor because it was so big, but it was too cute!

 Here's Juliana playing outside in her water table with Daddy. We got this rash guard suit at Costco and although it's a size 2, so big for her, it fits tightly so I think we can get away with using it for next summer as well! It's nice because it means less skin area to try and apply sunscreen to!

 Being silly and posing with Mommy wearing a Pittsburgh Pirates baseball cap!