Sleep Tight

Monday morning 4:45am: THUMP

We’ve been having morning sleep struggles for a few weeks now.  Julia seems to have decided that between 3:30 and 4:30 is a good time to wake-up.  Andrew and I have a differing opinion.  But we (mostly Andrew) have been getting up with her because she’s been sick and teething and we thought it was a phase that would quickly pass as she’s usually a pretty good sleeper.  But it hasn’t passed.  So this week we decided it was time to be tough.  Thus, the THUMP. 

Julia decided to get out of her crib… on her own… There were tears but no bumps or bruises.  Thankfully.  She stated that she “hopped bed Mommy.”  Yes, Julia you did indeed, literally, hop out of bed!

We hoped that it might have been a fluke but on Tuesday when Andrew heard her cry the first time at 4:30 he rushed in because he didn’t want a repeat performance.  Then Wednesday she woke up pretty quietly and didn’t make her normal fuss.  Andrew heard a small “thump thump” and then we heard her voice much closer than it should have been and when he walked into the hallway she was walking into Daddy’s office…

Thus:

the toddler bed.

Julia was pretty excited about it yesterday but turned it down at naptime in favor of her usual spot, Mommy’s bed.  Then last night she was pretty keyed up and had a difficult time falling sleep.  But after some songs and stories and back rubbing and several (okay, 12) times of getting out of bed and then tucked back in by Mom she finally fell asleep… and stayed asleep.  Until 4:30 when she quietly came in, went to Andrew’s side of the bed, and softly said “hi”.  That’s a step in the right direction from being startled awake by screaming so we’ll take it and keep working on it.

Two!!!

Last Wednesday Julia turned 2!  We had a full day of celebrating starting with a pancake breakfast:

And then opening a special present from Grandma Sue Sue – a snake/caterpillar made out of pom-poms (Julia’s favorite “toy”):

She got dressed in a pretty birthday outfit which was completed with the birthday crown that her teachers and friends had made for her at daycare:

We ended the day with Julia’s favorite dinner – steak and edamame – and a virtual birthday party.  Grandpa Rick and Grandma Lesley helped sing Happy Birthday over Skype before Julia dug into her cupcake.  She had helped me make the cupcakes on Tuesday and couldn’t wait to have one.

After cupcakes there were more presents from Grandma Laurie and Grandpa Boo and Aunts and Uncles and of course, Mom and Dad.  We gave her a tricycle that she has actually gotten to use outside (rather than inside like these pictures) a couple of times in the last few days as our weather has been beautiful.

At 2 Julia is a very happy little kid.  She is talking a good deal and has started stringing together 3 and 4 word sentences.  She is a little shy around new people and cautious of new things but once she’s comfortable she has a great time.  She is very active, always preferring to run rather than walk to where she is going, and has been practicing her jumping.  As evidenced in the previous post she loves swimming; she also loves being outside and going down slides.  She has started trying to use the potty and while we are not actively pushing her to potty train she consistently uses it 3 or 4 times a day which is a promising sign as far as we are concerned.  She goes through the typical toddler phases of eating/non-eating but still loves vegetables (particularly peas, edamame, cukes, and raw carrots) and fruits (especially berries of any kind and grapefruit!).  She has also started to develop a sweet tooth and loves M&Ms and jelly beans.  She also has taken a liking to Altoids mints and eats at least one a day – the spicier the kind the better!  She is still allergic to eggs, an allergy which appears to be getting worse instead of better, and while it requires being constantly mindful of what she is putting in her mouth we have adjusted and it’s not as daunting as it was at first.  Overall Julia is a wonderful, fun-loving kid and we feel very blessed to have her in our lives.

Birthday Celebrations Begin

Julia turns TWO on Wednesday!!!  I can’t believe it!  We decided to start the celebration a little early and last Friday headed to Massanutten Ski Resort for the weekend.  While Massanutten is a ski resort we went for a different reason – the indoor waterpark!  Julia loves water and swimming and we thought this would be right up her alley… we were right!

We began the weekend with a visit to the Children’s Museum in Harrisonburg, VA.  Here Julia got to milk a cow:

 

Ride a horse:

and sell some ice cream:

From there we headed to the resort and had a quiet night in the condo.  Julia settled in well and apparently milking the cow made her want more milk than usual:

Saturday morning we made out way to the waterpark and spent the day swimming and splashing.

The place was pretty neat and there were a few kiddie areas where Julia could splash, go down slides, and bounce in swings

But what she liked the most was going in the BIG pool.  She made that desire very clear by frequently repeating “BIG pool, BIG pool, BIG pool” along with accompanying hand gestures as seen here:

So we spent plenty of time in the BIG pool too!

Dinner Saturday night was at one of restaurants at the resort.  We think that Julia enjoyed the dinner (we know she enjoyed the ice cream - see my previous post) but apparently she was a little tired of spending time with mom and dad.  This was our table and you’ll notice someone is missing….

She decided to eat here instead:

At least none of the waitresses tripped over her!

The swimming fun continued when we got back to room because we had an enormous tub in our bathroom.  In fact, Julia called it the “pool” all weekend.  So of course, we couldn’t pass up the chance to take a tubby!

We ended the weekend with one last swim at one of the regular pools.  Julia had a great time jumping in and swimming with Dad:

All in all it was a wet and wonderful weekend.  And we still have cupcakes and more celebrating to look forward to on Wednesday!

Ice Cream is…

DELICIOUS!!!

Dancing and Snow in the Sink

Here’s some entertainment for the evening: Julia is “dancing” to a music show on tv but she’s too tired (or too comfortable, not sure which) to get off the couch.

And here is her Dad’s version of being too tired (or too comfortable and warm) to play outside:

Everyone is happy!