Julia is 9 Months!

I just now realize that I didn't do a post about Julia when she was 8 months old... oh well, I got that info down in her book, at least. :) She is behaving just about the same as she did last month, though, so this post will have to cover both months.

The big news: Julia is belly-crawling! As of yesterday, she can scoot around the floor and get to pretty much anything she wants. Dangerous girl. Yesterday she pulled a puzzle book down from the coffee table and it missed her hand by an inch.

Her favorite things:
- Still loving her big sister! When she gets up from naps she is constantly looking for Ellie to emerge and smiles and kicks her legs with delight when she spots her.
- Anything that rattles! I have some homemade rattlers that are her favorites. I've put beans in spice jars, baby food containers, vanilla jars (one of the favorites), baking powder jar... all cleaned out, of course.
- Loves her daddy a LOT. Gives him huge smiles and will "talk" (ok, yell) to him whenever he's in the room.
- Has really gotten into swimming here lately. We have a little pool in our back yard and she loves it! Which reminds me, I need to post her first swim.
- Getting around! Julia loves to move move move. If you're holding her, she will just about wriggle out of your arms! She can make it farther than I'm accustomed to, in about 5 seconds. You put her on her belly on the floor and she scoots scoots scoots.
- She loves to be smiled at, tickled everywhere, singing songs, clap her hands, and be messy (see the previous post on painting pottery).
- Pat pat pat. Julia loves patting things... table tops...
- Clapping is also a new favorite and she enjoys the attention she gets from clapping (because we usually say "yay Julia!" and clap together)

Eating:
- Seems to favor veggies over fruits. Not a big fan of lentils, but loves sweet potatoes, green beans, potatoes, cauliflower, broccoli, acorn squash, butternut squash, and carrots. She's quite good at picking up puffs and chewing on baby mum mum. She eats the puffs insanely fast.
- Loves to breastfeed and has noticed that I just dropped her 4:00 feed (at 9.5 months).

Schedule:
6:00/6:30a Wakes up and hangs out in her crib until I come get her
7:00a Breastfeeds and then eats breakfast at the table with Ellie & I (and Dan when he's home)
9:30/10:00 Morning nap (at 8 months she would barely make it to 9:30 and by 9.5 months she had to make it to 10 because Ellie had swimming lessons at 9 and we got home at 10)
11:30/12:00 up from nap, breastfeeding and then eating lunch of veggie & fruit
2:00 both girls down for a nap (hooray)
3:30/4:00 up and breastfeeding (until 9.5 months when I dropped that feed because she was barely eating anyway)
5:15/5:30 Dinner time! Veggie & fruit
6:15/6:30 getting ready for bed and breastfeeding
7:00 in bed exhausted!

Julia Loves Painting

While Oma & Opa were in town, I mentioned that we went and painted pottery to celebrate Oma's birthday. Once we arrived, she selected a vase-ish type of vessel and decided to make butterfly hand prints of Julia and Ellie with thumb prints of Dan & I for the antennae. O&O also made little caterpillars with their thumbprints. Very cute design. This little clip is of Julia smearing paint all over the place and making a mess of her butterfly. Of course as Oma says "It's not what it looks like, it's all about making memories." Memories indeed!






And of course, like all parents, I seized this as the opportunity to get my 2009 Christmas plate done. Yes in May... only 5 months late.



Since this episode, I gave Julia an completely used up tube of lipstick bound for the garbage while I pushed she & Ellie in the jogging stroller (and yes I was running... just saying). I wasn't paying very close attention and discovered that she had ripped off the top, and was sticking her finger down in the tube and getting to the lipstick! I kid you not when I say this tube was used up, I had even dipped my fingers into the plastic part at the bottom to use the stuff up. But her fingers are obviously smaller than mine and managed to get some out. She was having a blast and became infuriated with me when I removed the lipstick from her clenched little hands.

Question: What was I thinking??

Answer: I wasn't.

I took Ellie with me to run several errands in the rain one day. We were having so much fun that I decided we should get cookies somewhere. She picked out the one you see pictured and while I was driving I let her unwrap it and couldn't get it away from her, luckily she didn't eat the entire thing. This one cuts herself off when she's full. :)

Ellie's First Ring

So we went to Gattitown with Uncle Erik one day and somehow we ended up with some tickets to use in the prize room. Ellie selected a mood ring that was adjustable but still too big. We went home and while Ellie was napping Dan cut it a bit so it would fit her tiny fingers. Well, wouldn't you know that the top fell off (the flower)! Hah. In the process of super-gluing it back on, he glued his fingers to the ring. And now Ellie doesn't even wear it any more, she just likes to look at it.

O what fun to have O&O

Oma & Opa came to visit the day after Ellie's birthday and were able to stay with us for a week! While they were here we did a whole bunch and a whole bunch of nothing. I hope they had as much fun as we did! Here's the run down:

Ellie's Birthday - you can see all we did in a previous post about her bday, but she was pretty excited to get to celebrate two days in a row.
Doodles - the yummy breakfast/lunch place here in town that Ellie likes calling "Noodles"
Bike Ride - we went out to see Opa and Dan finish their 50 mile bike ride on Saturday. Yep, you read that right.... 50 miles! They look pretty good for riding that far, don't they? As we were driving out to the vineyard finish line, we saw Dan and Opa on the road, which was quite exciting for all the girls in the car.
Oma's Birthday - We started the day by having breakfast at Cracker Barrel, then took Oma to paint pottery (and on the way almost got hit by a drunk driver going 70 mph, which still makes me sick thinking about it), ate a yummy dinner complete with party hats and strawberry shortcake.
Date night - Dan and I went out on a date to Pazzos and then to Joseph Beth (my all-time favorite bookstore ever ever ever). It was so nice that we realized we should do that all the time! We have a babysitter on the books for Friday night. :)
Erik's Graduation Dinner - we went to PF Changs to celebrate Uncle Erik graduating from Asbury Theological Seminary. He's a counselor! Anyone need some relational counseling just talk to him!

Purple Nightgown & Sharing a Bedroom

So we had been talking about putting Ellie and Julia in the same room for quite some time now. Well at least every since we decided we wanted to have two kiddos and especially since we found out Julia was a girl. What fun is that? Sisters sharing a room! Well, I suppose I think that's fun because I never had a sister and wouldn't have shared a room with my messy older brother to save the whales (sorry Luke!). Well, maybe to save a whale. Maybe. Anyway back to the original reason you're still reading... my kids, right? Particularity the nightgown that I'm taking a long time getting around to telling you about. Sorry, I must be feeling wordy tonight. Another word for that would be verbose (that's for you, Luke). Back to the post! My original goal was to make the nightgown as a birthday gift for Ellie. Since I didn't get around to finishing it before her party, I made it for her a week later - with some assistance from my mother-in-law and great mother-in-law on that neckband. It was presented to Ellie to reward her excellent cooperation in sharing her room with Julia. Seriously, Ellie made the transition without looking back (or uttering one single complaint) and we gave her the nightgown because we were so proud of her. She loves it!

A note about sharing rooms: Ellie really does love that Julia is in her room. I suppose I didn't realize how much Ellie would like sharing her room. There had been several occasions where Ellie woke up talking about monsters or spiders in her room and since she's had a bunkmate, this hasn't been an issue (not to say that one day it won't). Poor girl was probably scared to be in there by herself. As for Julia, she isn't really aware of Ellie's presence yet. But I'm worried about when she makes this discovery... she'll probably start talking to Ellie... Hopefully this won't happen very soon, but we'll see!

Blue Sparkly Shoes

A while back we took the day and went to Cincinnati just for the hey of it. On the way, we stopped at this Gap outlet that's one of those old-time real outlet stores. The kind where you find clothes that have been ripped, marked, or torn. Where you find bikini/pajama bottoms and no tops. And where you find blue sparkly shoes. Did you hear that? BLUE SPARKLY SHOES! Ellie fell in love with these jellies and Dan and I seized the moment and decided to use them as a prize. For what? you might ask... for sleeping in panties during nap time! Yep, you heard me. What? We routinely offer "positive reinforcement" in this household.

I'd like to say that she was sleeping in panties and diligently filling up her sticker chart. But it was taking her a while to fill up the chart (two weeks in all), so after her birthday party, just before putting her down for a nap, I told her that 3 year olds don't wear diapers while they nap. She looked at me and said "okay" and has worn panties at naptime every since. And of course I thought to myself "why can't everything be that easy?" But whatever. She got the shoes and that was all she wanted!

The Big 3

Ellie celebrated her 3rd birthday on May 10th. MY BABY IS THREE! I can't believe she's been in our lives for three years now... and like all the cliche's say, it goes by very quickly.

This year, Ellie had an extended birthday! Hey, doesn't everyone celebrate for a few days? Side note: we have friends who have "birthday weekend" and celebrate their special day Friday, Saturday, & Sunday! We sort-of did the same thing, just Monday, Tuesday, & some on Wednesday.

The week leading up to her birthday, Ellie would ask "Mommy, is today my birthday?" Naturally, she was anxious and quite excited to have her very own party, eat cake, and open presents. She had been asking for a purple party for a very long time, so I decided to combine two things she loves: Purple & Painting. Ellie's 3rd Birthday party was a Purple Paint Party! Another side note: my friend Heather had a fabulous idea to do a Purple Pony Party, and we almost did it, but Ellie told me she didn't want a pony party (I guess the pony-love was just a phase? As purple will probably also be...). Anyway! We had two of her little friends come over and go wild for a bit before painting. After the outdoor fun, they came back inside and each had an individual cake to "paint" and eat. Unwrapping presents followed, as well as a few tantrums from guests, and everyone went home after their sugar high had bottomed out and nap time was eminent. (I think each child probably had 4 or 5 suckers during the party along with a chunk of cake).

After putting Ellie & Julia down for their naps and surveying the party damage, I decided the birthday girl should pick a dining establishment for dinner (and I took a nap!). When we asked Ellie where she wanted to eat dinner and she picked Chick Fil A (who would have guessed that?) where she had a kids meal and ice cream. We went home and put them both to bed. What a day!

The next day Oma & Opa arrived after the girls woke up from their afternoon nap (and thankfully after I had enough time to clean the house and remove all of the sucker spit that was left behind by our party-goers... note to self: never let kids run around inside while chomping on suckers and slobbering everywhere. Are you grossed out? You should be.). Ellie was thrilled to have O&O visiting! They immediately got busy playing and playing and playing. We had dinner and Ellie got to celebrate with more cake - she decided to save her big cake for when O&O and Uncle Erik came. Then presents were opened and Ellie was delighted to have a purple dress-up set to add to her collection of girly things along with a new magazine from O&O. Aunt Carol even sent her some designs of her very own (screen printed like a pro, I might add!). Pop & Tudi sent up some play doh tools and a broom that was wildly popular. And very shortly after the present opening ceremony, bed time was declared and it was not as graciously as accepted as the presents. We waited until the next day to open and assemble a glider that Dan & I and Pop & Tudi gave to Ellie. It's been a huge hit and she mastered it in a few minutes.

Happy 3rd Birthday Ellie!

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Julia & Henry

We have a new member of the household and his name is Henry! Henry came to us by way of IKEA in Cincinnati. Ellie's favorite stuffed animal (Gus) also came from IKEA and Gus decided he needed a friend. I really think Gus was just tired of being chewed on by Julia when Ellie wasn't looking. So... when we were there a few weeks ago, we picked up this little bulldog for Julia. On the way home we all thought the name Henry suited him quite nicely. Julia is enamored with her very own stuffed animal and was quite an agreeable subject for these pictures. Welcome to the family Henry!

Yackady Yack... another update

I gonna be 3 on my birthday. I'm not 3 yet I'm 2. My birdday is in May. (she said this back in the beginning of April)

I want to go to Noodles. (Doodles is a breakfast/lunch place here in town)

I found a yiddle grape, let's put it in a baggie I not gonna eat it.

Mommy, I wuv you so much. (I hear this several times a day)

Mom, I got you a flower but it's not awake yet. (flower not yet open)

Daddy has a weed eater and it scares me a little. It squeezes my nose like this (she pinches her nose), I can't breathe very good. (I'm guessing she's smelling the gas)

Let's wait and see (says this when she wants something and I tell her no)

First Swim of the Summer!

And it was almost Julia's first swim... but since the water was chilly and the wind was blowing, I just let her sit and eat grass. Truthfully, I was more focused on Julia's new-found interest of grass chewing than the swimming... Ellie swam for about 30 seconds, then would hop out and visit Julia, then swim for another 45 seconds, and repeat the process again and again. Filling up the pool was about as mesmerizing for Ellie as the grass was for Julia. Swimming must only be fun if it's done in a big pool now? We'll soon find out; Ellie starts (very real) swimming lessons June 1 and has to be there every day at 9am for two weeks. By the time we finish she had better be beating Michael Phelps. I mean if I give her one of those wetsuits she should be able to, right?

Picnic on the carpet

It was a lovely day outside, but Ellie wanted to have a picnic inside "on the carpet" (verbatum from the E-meister). So we did! And when Daddy got home, he joined the par-tay.

Paper Playing

Does anyone else have an abundance of Lands End catalogs besides me? I don't know why they send me so darn many, but they do! And each time you order something from them, you get at least 3 more along with the order. Well, Julia thought this one was pretty neat (or "neat, neat, neat, fun" ooooold SNL, anyone?) so I let her have at it. She ripped for quite some time before I had to eventually remove it for fear of ink ingestion. Don't think good ole Lands End prints with soy ink just yet.

J 8 mo