Tag Archives: Growing Up

66 months

So, Juno is five and a half.

To get here has been a pretty crazy ride, especially this year. She and I both had iso birthdays. Instead of the outdoor BBQ at the local park for her, we had a small party over Zoom so her extended family could sing her happy birthday. I think it went okay but it’s hard to tell with a five year old.

She liked the cupcakes I made so I’ll take that as a win.

(I made six, they were all individually coloured with pink icing as per her request. There were unicorn cupcake patty tins and unicorn cake decorations. I discovered I really need to get a cupcake tin for baking because mine sprawled. They went out instead of up!)

While we haven’t minded not paying childcare fees, it’s been a tough few months. I feel like I haven’t really measured up as a parent when it comes to meeting Juno’s needs. I think I’ve discovered I’m not a “natural” parent, it doesn’t come easily to me. I’m constantly stumped for ideas to keep her entertained so I quickly give in to her demands to watch TV. I was so glad when it was announced childcare was being reopened for all children because at least that way she would be in the company of other kids again and not in front of the TV.

However, I don’t think anyone was equipped to deal with what we’ve been through this year so we’re definitely not alone in the child watching too much TV stakes.

Anyhoo…. Juno is enrolled at our local primary school for next year. Thankfully it’s got a decent reputation because we totally phased on this and it was well past the official enrolment period before we actually did anything. Ooops. But it’s not like we’ve ever done this before. And the rules say the school must enrol her because it’s the closest to us so we’re all good. Again, it hasn’t been a normal year. At all.

We’re lucky though. We’ve avoided getting sick thus far, Juno is a happy kid who’s growing up so fast. Much to be thankful for.

Yeah, when this happens the photo session is most definitely over.

Blink and you miss it.

Miss J is 18 months old. 18 months!!! When did that happen?

It’s been a wild ride. Everyone talks about how hard it is when you have a newborn but I’ve decided that’s a crock. It’s hard regardless, it’s just different. Every stage in development has its challenges and just when you think you’ve got it under control, something new pops up.

Juno is curious, bright-eyed and loves getting into everything. She’s definitely mastered walking and has recently starting climbing the stairs on her own (which is nice because she’s getting heavy!). She’s also very into books at the moment and loves being read to. Which makes me a little proud – another book worm in the family 🙂 The only problem is that she also loves turning the pages and often won’t wait for the person reading.

We only have two clear words – no and up – which is a slight concern. So the next logical step is for Juno to have a hearing test. She talks all the time but it’s all babbling (which does sound quite lovely because it’s very musical). Not panicking, just wanting to find out if anything is up. I figure the earlier an issue is discovered, the better the chances are of it being fixable. However, she communicates very clearly – especially when she says no and pushes whatever she doesn’t want away with her hand. I guess I would be a good deal more concerned if there was no non-verbal communication.

So… at 18 months, Juno:
* weighs – 12.25kg
* height is – 81.5cm
* head circumference is – 50.5cm
* currently sporting a black eye from banging her head on a shelf.

She’s gained two kilos in six months, grown 6cm and her head is so far off the chart it’s ridiculous. One day she’ll grow into her head. LOL

65 weeks

Look at my little cutie patootie 🙂 So grown up now. Juno is 15 months old today.

I guess the biggest thing that’s happened in the last three months is that we’ve finished breastfeeding. I’m still not sure how I feel about this. On the one hand I’m kinda relieved because it means she’s not as dependent on me. On the other hand, I’m sad because it’s the end of something that was shared by just us. I’m still surprised that we made it to 14 months after the bad start we had. I would’ve never predicted all those months ago that we’d last as long as we did. But now Juno doesn’t need me like that any more and I guess that’s a little sad.

If nothing else, being a parent is a lesson in firsts and lasts.

She’s still not walking independently but she’s a champion at cruising the furniture. We still have the box from her stroller because she loves pushing it around – both on her feet and kneeling – even though I bought her a little toddle truck from Ikea. (She uses that too so it wasn’t a total waste of money.)

The way Juno plays has changed too. She explores her toys and is learning what she can do with them. She loves her Duplo spaceship and is slowly working out how the pieces fit together and that she can make things. It’s super cute when she decides to put all the pieces back in their box but I think that’s because she loves tipping them all out once she’s done. But she does seem to like helping with the putting away of things – something we’ll most definitely be encouraging her to keep doing.

No words yet either but she talks all the time. It’s just that we can’t understand what she’s saying. I’m sure she’ll talk when she’s good and ready to. She seems to makes big jumps in development rather then a more gradual approach. It’ll be whatever it’ll be and there’s not much we can do about it except keep talking to her and encouraging her.

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