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!

Snow Day!!

We got a few inches during our “thundersnow” last night (a very strange phenomenon I must say!) and had fun playing in the snow today.

 

January Tidbits

It has been a little while since we posted anything.  We’ve had a busy few weeks around here.  Not really anything in particular, just getting back into activities and normal routines after the holidays.  Here a few snapshots and videos of what we’ve been up to.

First, we had a wonderful trip to Florida over the Christmas week.  We visited Grandpa Herb and Grandma Sue-Sue and Uncle Jeff and Aunt Helki were there to celebrate too.  It was pretty chilly for most of the time but we did make it to the beach on the last day and Julia and I even splashed around in the water.  Andrew was being a little wimpy and wouldn’t go near the water even though it was a balmy 54 degrees!!  So thank you to Aunt Helki for getting her feet wet to take this picture! (Actually she was even brave enough to go for a swim!)

Since we’ve been home it has been pretty cold in DC.  We haven’t gotten too much snow (although that may change tomorrow) but I did get Julia out in her sled on one day where we got an inch and a half or so.  Unfortunately, I did not get any pictures because I was by myself and had left the camera inside but Julia had a really fun time being pulled around the backyard and going down a couple of the smaller hills on the side of our house.  She really wanted to go down the big hill in the back but I wasn’t prepared to go to the hospital that day!  I did get a picture of Julia all bundled up in this warm sweater which was made by a friend of my Grandma Eileen’s for my sister and I when we were toddlers.  Apparently it never fit us but it fits Julia; it’s even a little big.

Andrew and Julia have been working on her counting and she can now count from 1-9 (sometimes 10) by herself or with very little prompting.  We were practicing the other day as she played “stop” and “go” around the living room and took this video.

And just for fun here is one last video of Julia playing with Bunny at the dinner table after we had finished eating.  We usually go around the table and ask if everyone is finished and say “I’m finished” and make the sign for done; recently Bunny has gotten into the act as well.

Merry Christmas!

We have not had exactly the Christmas we planned on, as we are still in VA rather than FL!  But we had a nice day and were able to enjoy the gifts that Santa brought and even get some re-organizing done around the house.  Here are a few glimpses of our day; we’ll give a more complete report after we return from vacation (which will hopefully start tomorrow!).

Visiting with friends on Christmas Eve

Andrew’s hat for up north!

Milk, cookie and candy for Santa, carrot for the reindeer, and cheese for Santa Mouse

Christmas Morning!! Santa CAME!!!

  Ready for the sun!

Bunny wearing Julia’s new slippers!  I think he was jealous!

   Julia’s new kitchen!

Julia playing hide and seek with her new toy!

Playing the piano!

We hope everyone had a very Merry Christmas and we’ll be back in touch next year!!

Current Events

So we’ve had a few interesting moments in the last couple of days.  First, Julia was VERY upset on Monday when I came home with my toenails painted.  She was almost in tears and insisted that I put my socks back on!  But Tuesday morning she came around and wanted me to paint her toenails.  So I did! I was amazed she sat still the whole time (probably only 10 minutes but that’s a record around here) and cooperated very well.  We don’t have any pictures but it was very cute.

Next, there was a couple of hours of worry that Julia had a urinary tract infection.  This was after she stood in the middle of living room yelling and clutching her bottom.  When I checked her diaper it was obvious she had just peed so of course, we automatically assumed the worst and began worrying that she has a UTI.  A quick internet search determined that this requires a trip to the doctor where they will gather a urine sample via catheter… SOOOO, not being very eager to experience THAT, we took her clothes off and waited for the next peeing episode while trying to get her to drink a bunch of water.  Thankfully, she did not seem in pain the next time (or since) and we believe she just had a little rash which got irritated.  But it was an exciting hour or so while we sat around Julia on her potty in the middle of living room trying to keep her entertained and get her to pee.

Then we had a little mishap with Scootles our zhu zhu pet …. it got stuck in Julia’s hair.  Apparently, she thought she would try putting it on her head and when she turned him on her hair got wound around one of the wheels.  I actually had to cut him out.

On a more positive note, Julia has been saying lots and lots of words.  She tries to repeat pretty much everything that we say and has surprised both of us with her vocabulary in the last few days.  A big achievement for her is using please and thank you, both of which she has been starting to say more consistently in the appropriate context.

Julia has also been getting more and more physically adventurous and independent.  She is climbing more and trying to jump and has been going off on her own more.  Like going upstairs by herself to find Andrew or I or to get a toy or book she wants.  She has also started playing with some different toys, racing cars around the house, playing with her little people figures and animals, and running around the house playing chase and hide-and-seek with mom and dad.  She has also discovered the sit-and-spin that I got at a thrift store awhile ago and is trying to master it.  She also likes to be silly, pretending to fall off to get us to laugh like she does here:

Let it Snow

At this time last year we had about 2 feet of snow on the ground.  This year it looked like it might be a green Christmas but last Thursday we got about 2 inches of snow!  Julia had a bad cold all week and we spent most of the time in the house but Thursday we went out catch snowflakes on our tongues and shovel the driveway.  It was a huge relief to get outside for a little bit and Julia had a great time watching our neighbors sled down their hill. 

Julia is trying to decide whether she should walk on the white stuff!

 

She decided to help me shovel by “mowing” the snow!

Bunny had to make a snow angel too!

We had to try out the snowy slide!

Good Job!

And, of course, she had to have her first hot chocolate – Yum!