11 Months

Julia had a great 11th month- and so did we! Julia is crawling all over the place, pulling up on everything, climbing stairs, zooming around in her walker, patting Murphy as much as possible, starting to sleep through the night again (we had a rough few weeks (for us) with Julia waking multiple times a night), eating a variety of foods, drinking out of a soppy cup, and being a total sweetheart, as usual. 

This moth Julia is:

- still nursing 5x a day, with breakfast, lunch, and dinner 

- started back at daycare 

- not yet walking, but crawling all over the place and walking along furniture 

- babbling a lot

- drinking water from a sippy cup (took a bit to learn how to use it)

- wearing size 9 month and 12 month clothes

- size 6-12 month shoes (her tiny chubby feet look SO cute in sandals)

- putting her shapes through the correct holes in her toy, and

- brushing her hair with her comb and brush

We are so enjoying every minute we spend with our sweet baby! 

Julia,

As you can see, your monthly pictures are getting harder and harder to take. Luckily, we only have one more left. Speaking of which, I can hardly believe that you are going to be one year old in a few weeks. I mailed your birthday invitations out today, so I guess you will continue getting older whether I'm ready or not. When I look back at pictures of you from a few months ago, it seems like just yesterday. Time is going by way too quickly! 

Every day I am amazed by new things you have learned and can do- you are such a smarty! You've also turned in to a bit of a performer and comedian. When we laugh at something you do or give you a lot of praise for something, you want to do it again and again. 

You're still my best little buddy and I can't even remember what we did before you. You've made our lives so much richer!

Love you always,

Mommy

Happy first Father's Day!

We celebrated Jeff's first Father's Day this weekend (even though he had to work on Sunday/Father's Day!). We're so lucky to have him!

Jeff is the greatest dad to Julia (and Murphy!) and he loves being a daddy!

10 Months

Seems like I just wrote one of these monthly posts, but the calendar doesn't lie and our baby is one month older already!

Julia's tenth month had a few firsts- scooting around/army crawling, pulling up on people when they are on the floor with her, a few top teeth popping through (Julia is ready to eat a steak now!), getting in the pool, feeding herself a popsicle, sitting up from laying down, not screaming immediately when a new person holds her, drinking out of a sippy cup, and terrorizing Murphy with his toys.

Even though Julia is not yet an expert crawler, she still manages to get around and also get in to a lot of things that she shouldn't. She definitely keeps us on our toes. Julia also puts every. single. thing. she comes across straight in to her mouth. She keeps us on our toes, that's for sure.

Julia weighs around 18 pounds; wears mostly 9 month sized clothes; and, wears 3-6 month sized shoes- tiny feet!

Julia is still eating anything (and everything) that we put in front of her. She seems to really love blueberries, watermelon, cantaloupe, scrambled eggs, chicken, and desserts.

Dear 10 month old Julia, 

You are still sweet as can be and we cannot imagine a life without you. To see you learn and grow every day is such a blessing. You are such a happy, laid-back baby, so spending my days with you is always a joy. 

Recently, you and I flew down to Dallas to see Grandma, Grandpa, and Michael and our flight was delayed nearly five hours- you remained in much better spirits than the majority of the adults flying with us. Not mention that most of our fellow travelers could not get over how good, cute, and happy you were. So, thanks for making me look good, baby girl!

You like to make sure someone is watching you whenever you're doing anything (you look up to make eye contact and then give the biggest smile before getting back to what you were doing), especially if it's something you think deserves some cheer leading. Even if you don't get cheers, that doesn't stop you from clapping for yourself. Seriously, the cutest. 

Love you, sweet girl!

Mommy

Water baby!

First time to go to the pool! Enjoying the nice (cold!) water with daddy! 

With our buddy Carmen!

The next day, with mommy! 

It's so nice having the neighborhood pool right up the street!

But not as nice as just going in the backyard at Gigi's and Grandpa's!

I tried giving Julia a taste of my Popsicle and she took it for herself. I had no idea she was capable of feeding herself on of those! Such a big girl.

A day in the life at 9 months

Here's a glimpse in to a typical day of Julia's life around 9 and a half months:

7:00am Good morning!! Daddy gets Julia out of bed and spends a few minutes with her changing her diaper and cuddling before it's time to nurse.

8:00am The milk has settled and it's time to eat some finger food breakfast. This morning Julia enjoyed Cheerios, mandarin orange slices, and a scrambled egg. She may just be a small baby, but she sure can eat!

8:45-10:00am After breakfast, we play for a few minutes before Julia goes down for a nap. Once she wakes up about 10, it's time to nurse again (3rd breakfast!). 

11:00am Time to run errands!

Trying out the new baby carrier while doing a little shopping. 

After getting home, Julia nursed again at 1:00pm and I had some lunch. This is my view while eating- two beggars eyeing my every bite until they got some. 

2:00pm-ish More playtime! We just got this swing a few weeks ago from Grandma and have already gotten a lot of use out of it. This girl loves swinging. And Murphy likes us to be outside with him to play chuck it. 

After another nap (~2:45-3:330ish) and nursing at 4:00pm, Julia decided she needed to help me get a little work done. We haven't found anything else that gets Julia moving quite like trying to get to the laptop. Nothing more fun than banging on those keys- she doesn't care if I'm in the middle of working on something or not. 

We ate dinner around 6:00pm, Julia had some sweet potato, salmon, Greek yogurt, and rice. After that it was bath time with Daddy, nursing around 7:00pm and asleep shortly after. 

A full day of smiles and hanging out with my favorite girl. It will be interesting to see what our days are like in the future!

9 Months

9 months! 3/4 of a year!

Julia likes: rolling around on the floor (still not crawling, can't quite figure out how to lift her butt off the ground), eating, being held, people watching, books, and watching Murphy.

Julia dislikes: getting in to her car seat, not being able to roll while getting a diaper change, being tired, and not getting enough (to her) attention at all times.

Favorite foods: really Julia will eat any and everything; she seems to really like cheerios, blueberries, avocado, scrambled eggs, applesauce, apple slices, strawberries, green beans, and anything else that we're eating. Also, still nursing five times a day.

New tricks: Julia is a rolling machine and turns in circles all the time to get where she wants/what she wants, says "Mama," but unfortunately, I don't think she correlates it to her actual mothership, waving, clapping, standing while holding on to things, and getting some curls on the back of her head (not a trick, per se, but new and cute!).

Sleep: Still 7:30p-7a usually. Sometimes Julia wakes up around midnight and is wide awake. I think one night Jeff was up with her for two or three hours. We're trying to figure out how to not let that become a habit/put herself back to sleep. Julia also naps 3 times a day, usually about 30 or 40 minutes each nap.

It seems like Julia is learning new things all the time. Of course, any time I ask her to perform for an audience she acts like she does not understand English at all, making me look like a baby bragging liar. It's still nice having Julia relatively immobile. I know once she can crawl she will be all over the place! We spent Mothers' Day at the lake this year and Julia had her first boat ride. She was definitely a fan, and looked so cute in her sunglasses! We will have to get a boat for this lake baby (and her parents)...

At the doctor's office, Julia weighed in at 17.5 pounds. They didn't write her height down, and we don't remember what the nurse said, but Julia's doctor said she was the perfect weight for her height.

Dear Julia, 

I can't even think about you having a birthday party later this summer. No way my tiny baby could be turning one so soon! 

Your laugh is the world's greatest sound and I could listen to it all day. Spending my days with you is my favorite thing- I feel so lucky that we have this time together! You are so sweet and the ultimate mommy's girl. You have become even more of an eating machine this week. I'm always surprised by how much food you can put away- and Murphy loves all the food that doesn't quite make it into your mouth. 

Your daddy and I think we are the luckiest to be your parents!

Love, 
Mama (we'll pretend that you know what you're talking about with your babbles)

My First Mother's Day!

YI had a great time on my first Mother's Day. Every day with Julia is special, but it was nice handing her off for every dirty diaper on Mother's Day! Ok, usually Jeff takes over diaper changing whenever he's home, but still, I made it a point to not change a dirty diaper all day! 

We all got up at the usual 7am, and after feeding Julia we got ready for church. After church, we went to Greers Ferry Lake with Grandma Barb, Uncle Tony, Aunt Courtney and Oscar to Courtney's parents' boat and camper. Julia enjoyed being outside with a bubble machine and going out on a boat for the first time. After grilling out we headed back home in time for a little playing, giggling, bath time, and going to bed. A very fun day! 

On a Roll

IAlternate title: Stuck.

Julia is on a roll. Once we lay her down on the ground, she takes off rolling all over the room. She is getting closer to crawling, but not quite there yet. She can scoot herself backwards and can turn herself around- I'm still surprised when I put her down and a minute later her head is in the opposite direction and she's on the other side of the room. The majority of the time, Julia rolls herself under a piece of furniture... the coffee table, the glider in her room, the changing table, etc... and gets stuck. It's pretty funny, but not to her.

So, even though I'm not ready to have a mobile Julia, looks like the time is coming and we better get in gear to baby-proof the house!

Julia says, "Rolling! Can't stop, won't stop!" 

As you can imagine, this makes changing her diaper even more fun!

Baby's First Easter

Julia got three Easter baskets this year full of wonderful goodies... and gross malted milk balls (it's tradition!). 

New ended up leaving church early since Julia was not cooperating, but overall, we had a great day and Julia looked so adorable in her flowery Easter dress!

8 Months

This past month has truly flown by! Julia is so sweet and simply the light of our lives. Julia is an eating machine. She seems to like everything we have tried giving her. In a typical day she will have greek yogurt or applesauce and sometimes she will have that with a mum mum (crispy rice thing that is similar to Styrofoam... but I think it is supposed to help babies figure out how to feed themselves) or scrambled eggs that I've made for myself for breakfast, some puffs (another crispy finger food for babies) or cheerios for a snack, and either a pureed vegetable or bites off our plate for dinner (usually both!). Sleep this past month has been hit or miss. I'll go ahead and blame that on teething or something... Speaking of teething, Julia still just has the one tooth, but she has been acting like she might have another tooth break through soon (or else, she has just been in a really bad mood). Julia reaches for us when she wants to be picked up, which we find adorable. Julia is still addicted to her mom and so so clingy. Being alone in a room (even surrounded by her wonderful toys) is just out of the question right now!

Julia is around 17 pounds. No idea how long she is- we go for a well baby checkup next month, so we will know then. Julia also had a freckle appear this past month on the side of her nose- so cute!

Dear Julia, 

You are my best little buddy- we pretty much do everything together. What ever did I do without you? It's hard to imagine... 

You are a curious little baby- everything you can get your hands on goes in your mouth, you love feeling different textures, you like to inspect things, and you enjoy taking in your surroundings (especially people watching/staring). You haven't met a food you didn't like- hopefully you stay open to different foods and don't become too picky (it's okay if you don't like mustard, olives, pickles, or nuts in your desserts, because... ew!). You haven't shown too much interest in becoming mobile just yet- why would you when you can be carried from place to place?? That's just fine with me right now since I know I'll have to be cleaning our floors three times a day once you're on the move to make sure you don't eat anything you shouldn't. 

You continue to amaze us every day and every night after I put you to bed, I can't wait to see you the next morning!

I love you, sweet baby. 

Mommy

P.S. Please sleep all night tonight- your daddy gets up with you during the night and he needs his beauty rest!