Julianna-isms (the 7 1/2 edition)

1. The dawning of imaginative play, round 1. The other day, she came huffing and puffing across the floor on her tummy, announcing, “Mommy, I am boat!”

2. The dawning of imaginative play, round 2. The other day, she came up to me with the mischief gleam in her eye. “Mommy, I shark!” she said, and started “chewing” on my knee.

3. Last night, Julianna was snuggling with Christian on the couch watching TV. After a while she reached underneath her as if she was pulling something out of her rear end. “Here, Daddy,” she said, and pulled out the NFP manual. “Here, Daddy,” she said again, and pulled out the binder of teachers’ notes. (Hm. It was funnier in my head.)

4. Yesterday Christian took the three older kids to a Royals game, leaving Michael with me. All day, he said, she kept asking, “Can we go see Michael?”

5. Mannerism #1: she always says, “I forgot my _____.” Only usually it means Mommy/daddy, YOU forgot…. As in, “Mommy! I forgot my oatmeal!” Which she said to me this morning as I began typing this post, having thrown a bowl of oatmeal in the microwave and not noticed when it dinged. Or Wednesday night, when we were going to an ice cream social and then to church for choir and Julianna’s “church school.” We got on the highway going the opposite direction from our Wednesday routine. Julianna wailed, “Mommy! I forgot my church!”

 

6. Mannerism #2: “my boys.” As in, “Where are my boys?” (meaning Alex and Nicholas, and occasionally Michael.) Killingly adorable.

7. Fingernail polish. She’s crazy about it. Now, fingernail polish gives me the heebie-jeebies. I can’t stand the feel of it. Like lipstick. I can’t (well, won’t) wear either one. Of course, on Mother’s Day weekend I took Julianna out to have nails done and I had to do mine first, because she wasn’t ready to let a stranger mess with her. Now, here’s the thing. Two of my fancy red nails had peeled off by bedtime that day. Julianna’s? She still had every bit of color three weeks later. When she was a baby and her PT put kinesiotape on her, Gerti would say Julianna had “sticky skin.” Apparently that goes for fingernails, too. (Actually, I have a theory about this. It is based upon a Bible verse. Julianna’s fingernail polish stays on because she “neither toils nor spins.” Ahem.)

 

 

8. The hide-my-face. Whenever she comes to you staggering from side to side because she has her face dropped parallel to the floor with her hands over her eyes and her elbows stuck out, you know she wants something. Usually a movie. Occasionally a hug.

9. The I’m so sorry. Julianna will apologize for everything, especially when she’s been scolded, but other times, too. We grit our teeth. We want to say, “That’s sweet that you’re sorry, but you don’t need to apologize. Just do what you’re told!”

And just to wrap it up: as I type this morning, Julianna and Michael have found the iPad and are sitting on the couch watching Daniel Tiger (without permission, I might add. Battles worth fighting, and all that.) Julianna says to Michael: “Do you want to start at beginning? Say yes! Mah-koh, say yes!”

That’s my girl. Sigh.