Julia Sekina: A snapshot at 18 months

Julia,

I can't believe you've only been here for 18 months. None of us can recall life without you- nor would we want to. 

You are an amazing young lady: a burst of sunshine, love, wit, strength, creativity, determination, smarts and- of course- beauty.

It is amazing being part of your life: watching you make connections, helping you grow, being so surprised when you've grown and learned without our help. 

You are funny- and have a wicked sense of humor. You know when you are about to do something mischievous and get this incredible look in your eye. 

You are fearless and brave, but smartly so. You hate to fall down, so you are very careful in your bravery. 

You are independent: If you're hungry, you just go to the pantry, and get what you want. Luckily, it's usually raisins...or pirates booty (aka "boobee") or cereal (aka "seeral").

You talk all the time. Last night you were playing with a toy cat, just saying "meow meow meow meow." Sometimes you even pretend to be a cat. You also have adopted one of Aidan's stuffed cats, which is your beloved "kikitty."

You love your family, including your dear old dad ("Daddy"), your "Mommy", your "Aideen"/"Bruder", and your cousins, whose names you're still learning. But you definitely have words for Addison and Autumn. And you LOVE to just go through the list of all the people you know.

You're very interested in kids younger than you, including your good friend Asher. Everyone is "baby." In fact, sometimes you are "Baby." The baby next door? She's "baby" too. You spent the better part of 20 minutes one day trying to climb the fence saying "Hi Baby! Hi Baby! Bye Baby!"

You are silly:

But, you're also silly smart. When Aidan's not guiding you to color all over your face for no reason, you are usually just applying marker to your face. You started doing this after watching Mommy get ready in the morning. The foundation makeup looks awfully close to the flesh-colored marker. So, why not be like Mama?

You're super advanced too: 18 months old and already you've already started to "go" on the potty. You tell us when you need to go! About a week ago you had gone pee pee on the potty 3 times and poo poo once. Now those numbers are so high that we've lost count. There was, of course, a bit of confusion. At the beginning, you went pee pee on our deck outside and raised your hands in the air triumphantly and said "HOORAY!" But now, when you get chocolate (aka "I-doh") for going on the potty, you really are starting to get it!

Your favorite foods include Jelly Beans, which we discovered on Easter morning as you devoured all the eggs left for you!

Cereal is always in style.

Watermelon ("wamelon") is a perennial favorite.

You are focused. When you want something, you do NOT let it go: "Nemo. Nemo. nemo. Nemo. Shreh. shreh. Shreh? Shreh? Go goo gleep?"

Oh, did I mention that you speak in full sentences? Too? "Hi, Mommy!" "Aidan cry." "Daddy work." "Aidan school." 

And, you're finally learning to say your own name. Right now it sounds like "ooolia", although, sometimes you still call yourself "baby," which is no longer the case.

You love to run, and swing, and go on wagon rides. You love to clean up (so much so that you'll make a mess just to immediately clean it up again). You love your best friend, your brother. 

You are tall at 32.5 inches (75%) and skinny at 23.2 pounds (25.5%). But these are just numbers.

You are 18 months old and you are just plain amazing.

My two cents on your senses, and your cent

Aidan,

Lately, your empathy has bubbled up to the surface in incredible strides.

For instance, after accidentally swallowing a penny, which rightly freaked me out, you came up to me unprovoked and said "Daddy, I'm sorry I swallowed the penny."

Whenever we go eat at "Red Baby Tacos" and you see the Drama Masks in the Casa Linda shopping center, you ask, "Why are you sad, Marshmallow?"

You sat quietly in the shower, and your mother asked you "What are you thinking about, Aidan?" You're response? "Closure."

The other day you brought out your doctor's bag and said "Daddy, you are sick." (I wasn't, but I'm always ready to pretend).

"I am. Please help me doctor."

Your response? "I'm a boy, not a doctor!"

When your mother has a headache, you play with her hair and say "It's alright. I got you."

 When Julia's crying, you start crying, saying that her crying is making you sad. One day, Julia stabbed me in the head with her toothbrush. I sternly rebuked this action: "NO HITTING!" Julia's smile crumbled into tears. Soon enough though, she got over it. But you were more upset than her: "Why is she crying? Don't make her cry!"

Even once, Julia bit you...hard...hard enough to leave a mark and make you cry. Your Mom said "NO BITING!" Making Julia cry. You, through your tears, sobbed "Don't...yell...at...Julia!"

Now don't fret, you're not all philosophy and empathy. You're goofy, silly, rambunctious, a bit defiant, proud, clever, creative, and fun too! But this empathy...it's incredible, insightful, -sometimes funny- and beautiful.

That's just my two cents on your sensibility...and your cent...which has now hopefully passed. But your senses won't. They're part of you, and a growing part at that.