Shtap!

This picture is from a few weeks ago, we've both had haircuts since! :)

Oh, this sweet little lady of mine! Her language skills are growing like wildfire, and some of the things that come out of her mouth just amaze me (and crack me up!) 

My absolute favorite thing she says is "shtap" or stop, in English. We play a little game where I ask her for a kiss and then blow a raspberry on her lips instead of kissing her; she'll wrinkle up her little nose and tell me to "shtap", and it's THE cutest thing. 

She also goes back and forth between calling her sister "sissy" and Sidney, which comes out sounding more like Cindy (I got used to that in Pre-K, no one could say Sidney but everyone could say Cindy!) - she still calls her brother "Jaxie", but I've also taught her to call him "buddy" (she says it Encino Man style! I love it!) 

We're working on identifying animals and the noises they make - she's got cow, dog, cat, bird, pig, and "Jack" down for sure. The rest are kind of unintelligible at this point, but we're working on it! I feel like I spent so much time just talk, talk, talking to Sidney - she could speak big words and sentences very early on. With Rhealen, I've fallen prey to that typical "second child syndrome", and she gets less and less of me (especially since Jaxon came into the picture!)

But still, I'm dedicated to educating her and letting her learn by example - we read and play and do all of the things that are normal and fun and "typical", even though my guilty heart knows we don't get to do it enough. Luckily for RJ, she's got a great big sister to help her when momma can't. Lately, the girls have loved each other and played so well together. It just warms my heart to see them together, their own little private girls club - they had their first ever spontaneous tea party the other day! 

I feel like I'm going to spend my life making things up to my middle child, my sweet Rhealen Jo. I just hope she knows how special she is, how much I love her little crazy self, and how I hope it's a long time before she learns how to enunciate correctly. I hope she never stops with the "shtap"... or at least not anytime soon!