June's Top 10

1

This girl spends most of her time on her feet lately.

While the majority of her family is excited about June's early walking milestone, 

her Mom is working through the grieving process.

2

June likes her big sis and will subject herself to Mia's every whim.  This one was "Quick, let's hide under the sofa, be really quiet, and see what Mom does."  June obeyed, and Mom reacted accordingly when she couldn't find the girls after (what seemed like) a really long time.  

June finally blew their cover.  

They emerged with the lovely surprises that 

this not-so-thorough housekeeper has hibernating under her sofa.

3

June's favorite new pastime: cruising in the Dad-powered Ikea cart.

4

Mastering straw technique:

5

June got to participate in some painting this month because Mom realized that five minutes of sensory development is worth 20 minutes of clean-up...

...and SO worth blue lipstick trials. The paint is non-toxic b.t.w.

 6

June spends most of her waking hours on this little exercise trampoline.

She makes a beeline for it as soon as she is free from high-chair or crib. 

Contrary to the appearance of these photos, Mia only likes the trampoline when the camera is out, because 

1. June cannot possibly get a solitary moment of attention that is not shared and 

2. the trampoline serves as the official "time out corner" when Mia needs to release some energy. 

 7

June will often be found making one of these three expressions: 

This one is her "laughing" face (although she has never actually produced a traditional laugh). 

It is accompanied by quick nasal inhalations.

8

June had her first  experience at the annual indoor water park trip with Gma K.

She felt put-out over the age restrictions on the hot tub 

and tried to dive bomb into it the moment Mom was off her guard.

8.5
Sweet little fish

9

David and I came up with a series of captions for this photo, 

but couldn't decide on one in particular, so this one will have a reader's choice caption.  

It does, however, need to include some sort of demanding corporate discussion from 

executive (June) to her subordinate.

10

We were lucky to have caught June's first three official steps on film.  

This was taken at the beginning of the month, and she is now (at 11.5 mos old) taking about ten at a time.

Defining skills two weeks later:

Sappy

Adoption has made me sappy.  

When I was watching this video, Mia asked, "Why are you sad, Mommy?"  

Not sad in the least.  Just so grateful.  We love our brave birthmoms. 

Mia's Top Ten

1

Mia spent at least a week reveling in the physics of this straw (she called it a "string").  

She would explain, 

"The drink goes up, then to this side, then over here, then over here, etc.!"

2

This dance-fest at the GAP should have been used for marketing.  

3

 Jasmine is always working hard to maintain the "fun aunt" title.

4

Sweaty loves for Dad just moments after his 24-hour treadmill run.  She couldn't figure out why everyone was cheering (some sobbing), and thus adjusted her own emotions accordingly.

5

Sisterly love:

6

Mia is a climber.  If I am sitting on a chair, or floor, or wherever, and she is not otherwise occupied, she will have shimmied herself up to my shoulders.  

I am often fighting the urge to "shake her off," and have to remind myself to embrace these quirky stages!

Here she has made herself comfy while Dad folds the clothes:   

7 

8

Dad has a hard time relaxing during his time off.  In order to truly seize each day of his winter break (or just about), he would hike our family up to the summit of our back-yard mountain, and have us (baby June, too) recklessly sliding down it's face on our plastic dollar store sleds.  It was worth the daily hike for a solid 

8 minute daily ride. 

9

9.5

This experience illustrated the meaning behind "Once There Was a Snowman" for Mia.  She was so pleased with this person she had built, and worried about leaving him out in the cold when it was time to come inside.  She kept peeking out the window to see what he was doing.  The next day, when his face had melted off, caused Mia some emotional trauma.  

9 & 3/4

Our proud new Sunbeam.  

She gets a kick out of Primary and as we are teachers for the class stationed behind hers, 

we get a front-row seat.

10

Ice-skating with caution:

10.5

Backseat Diva: 

This little bit that I caught on camera (while driving, ahem) is only small sampling of what actually happens.

I was trying to record while watching the road, so the video is on its side (and I'm not tech-savvy enough to fix it).  Tilt your head, or monitor, for full effect.

Christmastime, 2012

Trimming the tree!  

This year, June was too young to reach the ornaments, and Mia was old enough to lose interest in tree destruction, so it was intact the entire month!

Matchy-matchy snowman shirts with pom-pom snowballs from crafty Gma K:

Polar Express day with Gma R: train crafts, jingle bells, and frothy hot chocolate with fun straws.

Festive Sunday stuff:

Architectural Digest (Gingerbread Edition):

By the time these arrived to their intended display location, the gumdrop boxwood hedge was missing...

Mia had Santa hat fever this year.  She wanted to wear this thing everywhere.  It didn't jive well with nice hairdos, so we did a lot of coif improvising this month.

Our always chilly and not-so-glamorous boat ride to the "North Pole."  

June's expression is a result of the ultra-layering. 

This year, the boat left with Gma K on it and the rest of us still on the shore...  

A nice boat captain turned the boat around to pick up the stranded passengers.  

Mall Santa visit sans lap photo:

 $30 for a picture package?  No thanks.

Our sweet Great Gma R carries on the British tradition of Cherries Jubilee every Christmas Eve at her house.  The grandbabies were in awe over the flaming ice cream:

All is calm and bright at 1:00 am, Christmas Eve:

Our documented Christmas morning debut is rather revealing about Mom's control issues, 

but for the sake of authenticity, here it is 

(I swear, they had a free-for-all when the camera was put away):

"Yippee," thought June, "A sippy cup and some organic fruit snacks."

At the R family celebration, the cousins had more fun crawling around in Gpa's present 

(snowmobile sled) than playing with their own!

Gma K made matching flannel nightgowns (Mia's prefered pajama category) for the girls: 

More Santa hat shenanigans with Uncle Ethan:

With a 3 week school break for Dad, glorious holiday merriment (particularly the food), and heightened awareness of the purpose for it all, Christmas certainly is the most wonderful time of the year!