So, where to start. Josephine. She is something. She is strong-willed, loving, silly, weirdly aggressive, and growing up way too fast. Her sentences consist of at least four words and she can clearly verbalize what she wants in either a normal tone of voice or by screaming as she is more likely to do. She loves dogs but is scared to death when they get too close. She is also still in the throes of "stranger danger" and has been for a very long time. While she exudes confidence the minute she thinks we're abandoning her she becomes a mess. We have noticed a small change in that it takes about five minutes for her to get over it rather than 50 so that's promising.
Josephine will only do what Josephine wants to do though, with a little bargaining, she generally comes around. Time-outs are a daily threat for her and she's beginning to realize that there are times when mommy means business. Naturally, I understand this is also a stage of toddlerhood but she has a little more emphasis behind her stubbornness than Alex ever did.
She loves her big sister. Anything Alex does Jo does. She wants to be next to her at all times and often, after she wakes from her nap, the first thing she wants to know is where her sissy is. They do get along very well, though have their fair share of fights as any couple would. This afternoon, for example, Jo was particularly upset about something only she knows and I asked Alex to fetch Jo from where I had left her on the side of the house. Less than a minute later they come around the corner, hand in hand, Jo with slight tears in her eyes but overall happy again. That is all I can ask for as they grow; I wish this helping and caring relationship continues through the rest of their lives.
Josephine is silly. Much sillier than Alex. I tend to think of Alex as my "old soul." She's more serious than most three-year-olds and her silly behavior sometimes comes across as forced. Jo, on the other hand, she commands an audience for her antics and makes sure all are paying attention. She eats doughnuts with her feet (something I allowed because we were at the beginning of a ten hour car ride), does interpretive dancing to any song, likes to make silly faces, sings along to songs, and overall loves to be the center of attention.
She is also strangely aggressive and often gets a wild eyed look as she's strangling me or wiping my face or "braiding" my hair. Seriously. I think she's out to get me and the look that crosses her face, as it changes from a loving little girl to possessed toddler, tells me as much.
Josephine is also a lot more girly than Alex. She likes baby dolls, dressing-up, stuffed animals, and clothes and shoes. She actually likes for me to do her hair, often asking that I braid it which is impossible yet I pretend as if I've done so...not sure how long I'll be able to pull that off. She also recognizes Gap packages and quickly starts undressing in order to try on the new clothes.
In all it would be a lonely life without Josephine. It would also be a quieter life but that's not such a big deal. She's the perfect match for her big sissy and the perfect ending to our family.
 |
| Our little goofball |
