Juni 17 months

Paul just commented how amazing it is that Juni can talk so much without saying a word. She is 17 months old and she vocalizes all day long but she really only creates about 4 sensible words. She says Daddy for sure and for at least a month her one and only word was shoes. She's very concerned with shoes. We were trying to leave one day and I said "Juni, can you find my shoes?" and she did!! She brought both of them to me. I was shocked. She said ball for the first time yesterday and she can say hi (sort of). Her other sure word is Lucy. We have been watching Jeanette's dog for almost two weeks and Juni loves to give Lucy her food and eat Lucy's food out of Lucy's dog bowl. In fact there isn't much Juni won't eat as long as she can find it on the floor, in a trash can or some other gross place. I know she is not the first child to suck on a used cigarette butt, (the horror), and it's not uncommon to find rocks and dirt in her mouth. If she can sit down in the dirt and put it in her hair and eat it, she certainly will. She puts anything and everything into her mouth, except at mealtimes. Feeding her is a challenge, not only because she drops her food on the floor for Lucy, but because she has an uncanny ability to mutilate any food item into the smallest stickiest morsels, spread them everywhere and not end up eating a thing! She likes cheese sticks and hot dogs the best. Ugh. She loves her milk. She loves candy and if anyone in the house is eating candy its like she can smell it in the air and she is at their feet begging. Clever girl. She hates to be fed and will always grab the fork or spoon from me to eat if I try to help her. she also loves to eat erasers off of pencils. I swear there is nothing she likes more. She can find a pencil anywhere and just starts gnawing. She has been doing it her whole life. It's so habitual I would call it one of her favorite things in the world.
Joren is very protective of his room and his stuff. He organizes and lays out all his belongings very precisely which makes Juni's presence in his room a recipe for a seriously volatile situation! Juni seems to know how much he hates her moving his stuff around so she tries to do it more. It drives him crazy! Joren has this little stuffed chair I covered for Teig when he was a baby that he has claimed for his own. Juni loves it and daily will go in Jorens room and take the things off it that he has carefully placed there and sit in it. Joren just loses it!
Juni loves her brothers! She banged her head repeatedly on the headboard this morning to make us laugh. She is super good natured. I have to wake her up from her naps all the time to go to swimming or soccer or Tae quan do or arts camp and she always just smiles and goes along. What a trooper! She is always up for having fun. She smiles all the time, unless of course she's giving you her famous stink eye. She has a pout face that can melt anyone. The boys sometimes try to say mean things to her to get her to give them the pout face because it's so cute. I've been putting her hair in pigtails for a few weeks and I'm not kidding; she's too cute for words. She's so lucky to be a baby, she gets to wear sundresses just about every day. She loves to swim and at the pool she is a constant danger to herself because she is so adventurous. No fear! She's recently stopped pulling everything out of the cupboards, but she is still a whirlwind. I just walk behind her trying to keep up with the giant messes she is capable of constantly making. I know this exploration stage does not last that long and I am committed to laugh through it. That's the only way to survive! :)