i love this babygirl.

even when she's up at midnight because she's getting some new bottom teeth & fighting off an ear infection & i'm exhausted & to keep her entertained i let her turn on the supersonic toothbrush {ben's to be exact} and we make little videos like this one:




i love her jabber, and her puffy undereye-up-too-late circles that she inherited from me.  and i love that she wanted to watch the video of herself no less than 20 times after we filmed it, and then out of nowhere laid her head down on my shoulder and finally went to sleep.

oh, and have i mentioned that she thinks she's totally grown up?  climbing all over everything {my first real climber, soooo fun!  oy.}

and feeds herself?  blows my mind.

june is more like me than in just the looks department....i've realized recently that she's a homebody and an introvert like i am.  she likes her space, with anyone except ben and i.  with us she is amazing, so sweet and cuddly.  but when we went on the family vacation to utah for ben's mom's wedding, she was acting nuts.

here i was, telling everyone, "oh yes, she's the sweetest little girl.  so calm and gentle..."

cut to her, whenever anyone would even come up next to her and look like they might touch her, she let out an ear-piercing shriek.  and as much as i love her, i couldn't hold her non-stop, but putting her down would result in the same ear-piercing shriek.  my eardrums grew weary very quickly.  she kind of was a monster that weekend, you know....that kid {dun dun dunnnnnn}.

as we were driving home, ben and i were talking about it:

maybe she's getting sick?
maybe she's hit her terrible 2's prematurely because she's such a prodigy?
maybe she was just saving up all of her demon-like qualities for when there were more witnesses?

but then, we walked through the doors of our home at almost 2 a.m. and the second her little feet hit the tile floor, she turned back into herself.  no kidding, she was laughing, and jabbering again, and happy and content.  she was no longer clingy or whiny or scream...y.

and the funny thing was, i felt exactly as she did.  i love being out, but i love being home more.

and i've noticed that with her, when we're out too long, or around too many kids or strangers, the clinging and shrieking begin again.  luckily, i'm exactly the same way, so i get it.  i don't know if this is how i was a baby, but it's how i am now, re-energizing when i am alone and quiet instead of surrounded by others.  i can take my space and then re-enter the fun, but i need some downtime.  and i can't imagine being a baby and feeling like this, having no control over the situation, you know?  so it's just about finding a way to make sure her needs are being met in this busy life of ours.

oh i love this little june, she's teaching me again more about me just like my other kids have.  and to think, when i became a mother, all i considered were the things i was going to be teaching them...