These Are A Few Of My Favorite Things

Juna, you are thirty-four months old this month of April,
you are, as ever, your fiercely independent self
and your often repeated statements are,
"Look mama, I did it my self!" and "No, I want to do it MYSELF!"
I have moved all of your clothes where you can get them
and you pick them out and dress yourself,
you have even mastered the big buttons on your favorite jacket,
the straps on your shoes, and getting on your backpack,
although if it were up to you, you would wear pajamas ALL the time,
which you also pick out and put on yourself every night.

You also like to do a myriad of other things, all by yourself,
ride your bike, that grandpa gave you for Christmas,
only about three weeks of frustration before you were riding like a pro,
during the winter you rode it whenever you went from room to room,
and now that it is warm and you have your helmet, you go, go, go.

You always want to try new "big girl" activities and skills,
like spreading butter on you toast and cutting with the butter knife,
cracking eggs, using scissors and glue to make collages,
and putting on stamps to mail your art cards to your friends,

You are also a great helper, you like to clean the house, your favorite duties include:
washing, stacking and drying dishes, cleaning windows,
and folding laundry, which you do with the utmost care,
you love to help with cooking, we make cookies, oatmeal, deviled eggs
and many other things that involve measuring cups and spoons.

You are a cat-sitter, a post office handler, a cleaner-upper,
a car seat buckler, 
and you are meticulous about taking care of your babies and animals,
wrapping them up, diapering, putting them to bed and feeding them.

You love to host tea parties,build with blocks and run your train,
explore the outdoors with Iris, run and kick balls, swim at the pool,
tramps around downtown with your mama and daddy...