Ahmmas and Ahmpa!!

(Title translation:  Grandmas and Grandpa)

Last week was a lot of fun because we had visitors!  As we haven’t seen folks in awhile I’m not sure that Julia knew what we were talking about when we kept telling her that her grandparents were coming.  But she caught on fast and was very happy to more people to play with!  First, Grandma Laurie came from Monday to Thursday.  She and Julia played games of memory, played in the sand box, and had egg hunts (plastic eggs, of course).

Julia was also playing around at lunch one day with her napkin and I got this picture:

I thought it was pretty cute because when Mom visited when Julia was about 5 months old she (my Mom, not Julia) was playing with the same napkin and putting it on Julia’s head as a kerchief:

Adorable… then and now!

Unfortunately Grandma Laurie had to leave on Thursday BUT Grandma Lesley and Grandpa Rick arrived on Friday. (There was quite a bit of explaining in the 24 hour gap over Grandmas leaving and arriving).  Julia was now in the swing of visitors and happily showed everyone her new big girl bed, potty accessories, and toys.  She also enjoyed introducing Grandma and Grandpa to Bob the Builder!  Grandma and Grandpa enjoyed introducing her to baseball!!

We have a few details regarding technique to work out but it was an enthusiastic beginning!

On Sunday morning Julia and I got up and made breakfast – sausage and homemade biscuits. Can you tell who liked the biscuit dough????

Unfortunately, Grandpa Rick and Grandma Les had to leave Sunday night and Julia was very sad to see them go.  But we are headed up to RI in a few weeks so no one will have to wait long for a reunion.  AND they left a lasting impression on the baseball front because the Nationals homeopener was on TV when Julia woke up from her nap this afternoon and she chose to watch the last three innings instead of Bob the Builder! Wow!  She might really be an athlete in the making!

Julia-ism: Snug

Frequent uses:

“Mommy snug please”

“One more snug”

Translation: to snuggle close (usually with Mommy)

The Wearing o’ the Green

Happy St. Patrick’s Day!  We celebrated with story time at the library which also included marching in a parade with instruments and making a shamrock crown. 

 

Then we came home for lunch and put our corned beef and cabbage into the pot to cook. After naptime we played outside in some really nice, warm weather and spent a long time looking at all of our seedlings that are starting to pop up.  Julia received a special surprise when she got a last birthday present in the mail – her first remote control car… with a BUNNY driver! It was a big hit!

We ended the day with our delicious dinner.  The corned beef came out great and I’m looking forward to sandwiches tomorrow.  Julia wasn’t so impressed with the corned beef but she did eat several spoonfuls of spicy brown mustard by itself!  So I guess I don’t need to limit the spice level in our food on her account! 

May the road rise to meet you,
May the wind be always at your back,
May the sun shine warm upon your face,
The rains fall soft upon your fields and,
Until we meet again,
May God hold you in the palm of His hand.

Happy St. Patrick’s Day!

Random Events

Here are a few random happenings from the past week.

On Thursday Julia and I started some seeds for our garden.  She was a big help, scooping the dirt into the container and planting the “tiny” seeds.

On Friday, Julia and I were pretending to be one of her new favorite TV characters, Bob the Builder.  Bob, being a builder, is usually wearing a hard hat.  This is our version:

Today, Andrew and Julia were practicing some yoga (an activity that I have found to be a great diversion from temper tantrums!) and I got this video of Julia doing tree pose:

And here’s a still shot of the yogis:

Namaste!

Erin Go Bragh

Julia has a very small amount of Irish in her and it shined through today.  We took her to the St. Patrick’s Day parade in Old Town and she had a fabulous time.  She loved watching all the people, the dogs (there is a dog show prior to the parade), and all the cars and music.  She was particularly impressed by the Pipe and Drum Corps and the Irish Dancers (these being the only factions she clapped for) and the miniature Shriner cars which she laughed out loud at (they were pretty fun!).  She hasn’t stopped talking about the “rade” since we got home so we may have to find a couple more St. Patty’s events to attend before the 17th!

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.