Our Cover, Your Kid

Written by Paige Feikert

Our Cover, Your Kid

Written by Paige Feikert

Winner: Kemper Grace Mills

Looks can be deceiving when it comes to 18-month-old Kemper Grace Mills.

“Looks-wise she gives you ‘oh she’s so cute,’ but she’s tough and fearless,” said Courtney Mills, Kemper Grace’s mother. “She’s just as tough as her 3-year-old brother.”

While the toddler is surrounded in Wichita by mostly boys — her older brother, Quentin, her seven uncles in their mid- to late-twenties, and many of the neighbor kids — Kemper Grace fits right in. She is fearless — hopping onto scooters and riding through the cul-de-sac and rough-housing with her uncles — her mother says Kemper Grace might just follow in her footsteps as a tomboy.

“I grew up really as a tomboy, a sporty girl, and I played soccer in college, and I was never into the cutesy girl stuff, but it is so fun, it really draws you in, but [Kemper Grace] couldn’t care less,” Mills said. “The funny thing is that, out of the bunch, she’s the one that looks really sweet, but she is tough as nails.”

But Kemper Grace is also an animal lover, or rather, a lover of all soft, fluffy, cute things. Her love started with stuffed animals and has since grown to all animals. When she visits the zoo, she is looking for one thing — baby animals. She loves them so much that Kemper Grace prays for baby elephants from the zoo every night before bed.

“She’s really into babies, and the zoo got four baby elephants and they have a baby monkey and a baby buffalo,” Mills said. “She’ll look at a really fuzzy animal that you shouldn’t pet, like a snow leopard, and she’ll say ‘I pet, I pet.’ ”

In fact, one of Kemper Grace’s most beloved possessions is her Jellycat bunny. She loves this particular stuffed bunny so much that the Mills’ house now has five Jellycat bunnies. Kemper Grace also loves her maternal grandparents’ dog, Bear, who she follows around everywhere he goes, laying on him and petting him and ultimately bringing dog hair with her when she goes back home.

Kemper Grace loves spending time with family — her Mimi and Papa on her mom’s side and her Chewy and Baka on her dad’s side — the names stemming from the Croatian word for grandmother, “baka,” and the complementary name, “Chewy,” as a nod to the Star Wars character, Chewbacca.

Kemper Grace’s dad, Jacob, is one of four boys. After the Mills found out their first child was a boy, the family became superstitious, but Kemper Grace put an end to the long line of boys in the Mills family.

“We had this myth going around like we could only have boys, and when we found out what we were having with our second child, we fooled everyone and said it was a boy,” Mills said. “When we finally told them we were having a girl, they were so surprised.”

Kemper Grace adds the perfect mix to the Mills family — tough, sassy and sweet. Her brother, Quentin, regularly dotes on her. The two will switch from the usual sibling bickering to Quentin loving on Kemper Grace in an instant.

“He says dozens of times a day, ‘I love you, I love you, Kemper Grace,’ and five seconds later they’re fighting, but he loves on her a lot,” Mills said. “They are truly friends and enemies all at the same time, but it’s cute, they have each other and they love each other, and it’s so sweet.”

First Runner-Up: Jewel Cole

It’s hard not to smile and laugh when three-year-old Jewel Cole is around.

“He’s popular when he comes in the classroom — he turns the classroom up, he turns the whole school up, really,” said Terrell Cole, Jewel’s father. “He gets the cool kid awards all the time at school.”

Bringing joy to others is exactly what Jewel likes doing, whether it’s ensuring all of his soccer and basketball teammates are included or greeting a stranger at the grocery store — Jewel is happy when he’s making other people happy.

“Jewel is very charismatic. He’s very kind; he enjoys making people laugh,” said his mother, Raneisha Hunter.

Jewel also brings comfort and care to the people in his life — his parents, his three older sisters, his three dogs, classmates, teammates in his three favorite sports — soccer, basketball and football — and of course so many others who are lucky to meet Jewel.

“He’s the one who asks, ‘Are you doing okay? Are you crying? Do you need a hug?’ He’s very attentive to his own emotional needs and just aware of everyone around him,” Hunter said.

Jewel has spent time in and out of the hospital and continues to cope with asthma, but it doesn’t slow him down. Jewel continues to participate in activities and is growing tremendously in his education. He’s a constant reminder to his parents that anything is possible.

“Jewel has really allowed me personally to remember to dream.” Hunter said. “I see how brave he is and courageous and how nice he is to other people, and it’s taught me how to dream again and step back out there.”

Finalists!

Fiorella Herrera-Perez

Age: 1

Parents: Miguel and Ashleigh Herrera-Perez

Favorite Snack: Shredded cheese

Favorite Hobby: Playing with her toy cows and “Moooo,” and she loves her books

Favorite Show: “Ms. Rachel” and “Plim Plim” (one is English and the other is Spanish — she is learning both languages)

Favorite Song: “Itsy Bitsy Spider”

Favorite Family Activity: Snuggling

Fun Facts: “Fiorella is so incredibly smart, she can say words in both Spanish and English, and she knows how to communicate a couple of things in sign language as well. She is the sweetest girl and loves to snuggle, but she has just the right amount of sass to keep us laughing. Fiorella was a NICU baby, her favorite animal is a cow and she thinks it’s so funny to be tickled.”

Iverson Williams

Age: 3

Parents: Addison Buck and Reggie Williams

Favorite Foods: Chicken, fries and barbeque

Favorite Hobby: Playing football, basketball and T-ball

Favorite Song: Lil Regg “Motto Mix” — he loves watching his dad on YouTube

Favorite Family Activity: Racing his cars on one of his racetracks and driving his convertible red Corvette

Fun Facts: “Iverson is a collector through and through. His ever-growing fleet of Matchbox cars and his lineup of football and basketball sculptures would impress even the most seasoned enthusiasts. Iverson can name every player, recall their teams and rattle off the name and model of each car with the confidence of a mini sports analyst and auto expert combined. Off-field (and off-shelf), Iverson channels his favorite professional athletes by mimicking their iconic touchdown dances. Whether it’s during dinner or in the middle of a crowded store, he never misses a chance to delight an audience.”