Baby boofs and fishes..

Julia loves helping feed the fish. If it was up to her, they would get fed multiple times a day.

The other day we needed more fish food. I thought Julia would like the pet store, so I took her with me. She LOVED it. It was not one of the big, major pet store chains. This was a small store that mainly had fish and small animals, but did have a few puppies and kittens. Two whole walls are just fish tanks. Julia kept walking along all the fish tanks pointing. She thought they were so neat. We also got to see the baby boofs (puppies). She thought they were pretty cool too. She them had to check out the reptile room and all the bunnies, birds and kittens at the front of the store. We probably spend 20-30 minutes in the store (when it only took 2 minutes to pick up the fish food), with her just checking out all the animals. At one point a guy walked right by us carrying a big bully-type dog. I though Julia would freak out with a big dog coming that close, but she was GREAT!!

I think she enjoyed this pet store more than she did the Newport Aquarium we took her too. I guess it has been almost a year since we took her there, a lot has changed since then. I think another trip there is in order!

The toddler's helper and "The Trio"

Last night when I went to pick Julia up from daycare she came running up to me and said "I pooped". So I wanted to change her before we left. At daycare, after they get their diaper changed, they have to wash their hands. As I was helping Julia wash her hands, this little girl came up and gave me the soap to use on Julia's hands. She then asked if she could give Julia a hug before I put her coat on. I said sure. They gave each other a big hug and it was very cute. Then this little girl (who is older than Julia) asked if she could help zip up Julia's coat. I told her to go right ahead. She zipped up Julia's coat and helped put on her hat. I them told Julia to tell her "thank you". Julia thanked her and wanted to give her a hug and kiss. She took the hug, but was not too sure about the kiss since Julia kisses on the lips.

I did not know what this little girl's name was. I see her all the time, but she is actually in the older toddler's class (called the Big Bears), where Julia is in the younger toddler's class (called the Baby Bears). These two classes share the same areas and are often playing together.

So this morning I was asking Julia's main caregiver what this little girl's name and how she helped last night. The caregiver said, "Oh, that is Kalynn, she is a little mommy". I was telling her the only kids Julia really talks about are Ayla and Brooke. The caregiver laughed and said "oh yes, The Trio". "The Trio?" I asked, "so they must play together a lot?". The caregiver chuckled again and said "oh yeah, Ayla, Brooke and Julia; the little Trio".

Sounds like Julia has some buddies at daycare. I am really glad. I was worried that she might be too shy and stick to herself. It is good to know she has friends she likes to play with. But I really have to chuckle that they are nicknamed "The Trio". That is just too cute and funny!!!

Bugs

We seriously think Julia is going to be an Entomologist when she grows up. She LOVES bugs, which is funny considering she is so scared of everything else.

She is just fascinated by bugs. Looking at them, picking them up, taking about them, etc... She even calls all bruises, cuts, freckles, moles, etc. "bug", as in bug bite. She has even gotten pinched (enough to draw blood) by some beetle with pincher claws when she picked it up at daycare outside. Every time we see a bug, we have to stop and examine it.

Today she had to wear her "bug" shirt, even though it was short sleeved. It was a t-shirt with lady bugs on it. She made sure everyone at daycare knew she had bugs on her shirt!!

Who know such a scared-y cat would LOVE bugs?!?!!

"My buddy"

Gavin is our youngest cat. He is a white long-haired cat who is deaf. He also apparently has a VERY high pain threshold. I don't know if it is because he is deaf or what, but Gavin is a perpetual kitten. He is always getting into something. He can be a real pain. BUT.......

He has more than earned his keep with Julia. Julia loves Gavin and Gavin loves her. Julia will beat on him, pull his hair, lay completely on top on him, and just generally be rough with him.(We don't allow these behaviors, but you know how toddlers are.) Gavin will just lay there taking the abuse and actually PURR through it!!!!

The other day while Julia was loving up on Gavin, I asked her if Gavin was her buddy. She replied "My buddy", while patting him. So now she will go up to Gavin, give him some loving and say "my buddy".

They are best buds! Well, until Gavin plays with one of her toys then he is a "bad kitty" according to her.

Kisses for Elmo

Julia and Elmo are still inseparable!

She has never shown an interest in dolls before, but wow, she is with Elmo. I had to buy a small pack of preemie diapers for Elmo, because she thinks Elmo needs a diaper on and needs to be changed often; complete with wiping him with a baby wipe.

Now, we have to give Elmo kisses all the time. Bedtime is the worse. She want me to rock her for a few minutes before bed. During that time I will have kissed Elmo MANY times!!! She also is always giving Elmo kisses. I think she might kiss Elmo more than she kisses us!!

I think I might work too much

Since my family does Christmas on Christmas Eve, I thought I might take a vacation day that day so we are not rushing around. (I get Dec 25 and 26 off)

I looked up how much vacation time I current have just too make sure I was not running low. I found out not only do I have a BUNCH of vacation time, but I am actually getting close to the point that I have so much that I might start losing it!! (We are only allowed to carry over a certain amount each year).

I think maybe I work too much and don't take enough vacation time!

Since I had all this time and we are having people over Christmas morning, I decided to just take the entire Christmas week off!! This way I can get my house clean!

*Maybe be are just too broke to go on vacation and that is why I never take any*

Ewwww, what a way to start the morning.

Most mornings Julia likes to undress herself in her crib before I get to her. This includes taking off her diaper. I have been really lucky that she does not poop overnight, but I knew it was only a matter of time.

Sunday morning I hear (on the monitor) Julia wake up about 7:30am. She is quietly playing in her crib, so I try to get a couple more minutes of sleep. A little while later she starts screaming. I go down to get her and see why she is screaming.

She had taken off her pj's and had started on her diaper, only there was poop in it. She somehow managed to get poop on both hands and on her face. Ewwwwwww!!!!! She was so upset over this. So I get her up and start cleaning her up and have Jerrod start running a bath for her. Her and Jerrod play in the tub while I go clean up the mess. BUT by some twist of luck, there was very little poo ANYWHERE!! There was a little on the bars of the crib where she was holding on, but that was it!! I was expecting to have to strip the bedding and wash down the entire crib. I have heard stories of kids "painting" walls and such with poo. Amazingly Elmo and the Blankie BOTH also survived without anything on them.

By 8:30am everyone was all clean and finally eating breakfast for the day.

Piano with Daddy

Jerrod is pretty good at playing the piano. He and Julia were making music together the other night.

Bounce!!

A couple weeks ago when over at my parent's, Julia and 2 of her cousins got on the trampoline. (I am not a big fan of trampolines, but I was standing right there, my sister was sitting on the trampoline with them, and Julia was bouncing around on her butt, not actually jumping. So she was safe.)

Julia thought the trampoline was great fun!!

Bouncing on her butt!


Julia and her cousin, Darren (who is 10 weeks younger) bouncing together.


Having fun with 2 of her cousins. (They don't look like brothers, but they are!)

Brrrrrr....

It has been really cold the last few days. I really need to get a winter coat. Right now I am still wearing a light jacket!! I have had my old winter coat for the last 3 years and it is really starting to look bad. I just I might just have to dig it out until I find a new one.

I found one I like, but it does not have a hood. I am wondering if I can deal without one? It is also a little more expensive than I was planning on. But if it last me 3 years also, I guess I would have gotten my money out of it. One last concern I have with it is that it is a wool blend, I can just imagine it would be a magnet for cat hair!!!

Julia is all set on winter coats. She has a couple and looks so cute in them. I have ordered hats and mittens to match, but I am still waiting for them. So in the mean time, I bought a cheap set of hat and mittens at Meijer's until the matching ones arrive. This is the first year she has worn mittens. Last year at this time she was still in the infant seat with the lambswool cover, so no mitten's needed. She is starting to get used to them, but we still struggle to get her thumb in the thumb hole.

Her chair

Jerrod's parents got a new couch last week, we got their old couch and matching chair since it matches our living room so well and was still in pretty good shape. The chair was the one Debbie always sat in and her and Julia always played in. Now Julia feels that it is HER chair!!

Nobody else is allowed to sit in it, not even the cats! She yells and hollers at anyone (or any cat) that does. So we have to put the feet support up for her and she just sits and plays in it. Just like she did when it was at MiMi's house.

Still scared

Julia is still freaks out over silly things. Debbie bought Julia with pink parka-type winter coat, complete with a fake fur-trimmed hood. We got it out yesterday for Julia to wear since it was so cold out. She FREAKED OUT over it. Complete with screaming and big tears streaming down her cheeks. We finally forced her into it. After a few minutes she was fine with it. I think it was the fur on the hood that freaked her out. (And she looks completely adorable in it!!)

Also last night she was running to her room and spotted on of our cats in the hallway and it scared her. She started screaming and turned around and ran to the complete other side of the house to hide. She has lived with these cats all her life and normally loves them. Airplanes in the sky also really scare her, among the hundreds of other things.

Her development screening at her daycare 2 months ago also said that she was extremely fearful. I was hoping it was just a stage she would grow out of, but it does not look like it. She has been this way pretty much her entire life. Her 2 year check up is coming up in 5-6 weeks. I am going to mention it to her pedi. Maybe there is something, or some program, that can help her. It just does not seem right for her to be this scared.

Future pianist

Jerrod played the piano for YEARS, and I have always wanted to. One year for my birthday Jerrod bought me a piano. It had actually been his great-aunts. I think Julia is like her parents and is going to be a future pianist.




Julia loves playing the piano so much that I am not even allowed to sit on the bench with her anymore. She wants the ENTIRE piano to herself.

Black eye

Poor Julia....

Daycare called about noon yesterday and said Julia would have a black eye when I picked her up and they just wanted to warn me.

I guess Julia was trying to climb up the slide while another kid was coming down it. Julia ended up with a foot in the eye. It was not as bad as I was expecting. She has a cut on her upper eyelid, a red area below her eye, the entire eye is slightly swollen, and yes, it is turning into a black eye.

It looked about the same this morning. The cut looked a little better, though. Still all red and slightly swollen. It had not turned into a true black eye yet.

Then when I was combing her hair this morning, I noticed another bruise right at her hairline in the middle of her forehead. I bet that is where the other foot made contact. I did not notice it last night, so it must have appeared overnight.

Daycare said Julia was a real trooper about it. She got over it really quickly and was back to playing in no time. She is one tough kid!

BUT, this does nix the family photo I was planning on doing next week. I wanted to do it over a month ago, but Julia fell at daycare and ended up with this awful, ugly bruise on her cheek that is just now finally going away. I might have to just have a photo taken anyway. There is always going to be some bruise or cut.

Elmo

Julia very rarely watches TV. She might see Sesame Street on Friday's when the IL's watch her. But somehow she has become enamored with Elmo. She would point him out and shout his name anytime she saw him. Julia also has this big Elmo that SIL got her last summer that lives at the IL's house. This Elmo was as big as she was last summer. It scared her then. Now all of a sudden, she LOVES this Elmo.

Sunday morning MIL bought Julia a smaller Elmo that can stay at our house. Well, this Elmo has not left her side since then!! She carries it around, she sleeps with it, she puts a diaper on it, she wraps it up in a blanket, etc.. Tonight, she even decided that Elmo needed to pee on the potty so she put her potty seat on the toilet, put Elmo on it, and then told me that Elmo needed a MnM for sitting on the potty (Julia gets a MnM for sitting on the potty and trying to go), I gave her the MnM and she proceeded to put it in his mouth.

I did manage to keep Elmo in the car when it came time to drop her off at daycare this morning.

Julia has NEVER shown an interest in baby dolls before this. So it is so weird to she her treating it like a real person, like her baby! It is funny that she became so attached to something so fast!

Getting old

I don't consider 30 old, but apparently my body does. My joints have really been bothering me lately. It is mainly my hands, wrists, shoulders and hips. My hips have always hurt me, but the other joints are a fairly new thing in the last year. It almost feels like I am getting the beginnings of arthritis.

Ugh, it sucks to be old!!

The van

Here are some pictures of my new van.



It has an unusual console. Jerrod really loves the computer and all the info it will give you. (the computer is the big black square, the van was off in this picture.)


I love the fact that it sits so high up. I no longer have to bend over and break my back getting Julia in and out of her carseat. Julia also loves how high it sits because she can see so mouch more now!

Trick or Treat pictures, FINALLY!

Finally got my home computer fixed so I finally was able to download the pictures off of my camera.

I think Julia had fun ToTing.

The kitty with her personalized ToT pumpkin!


We don't stand still long....


"YEAH, MnM's, my favorite!"


With all of her cousins.

Cats need read to also.

Julia LOVES books and we read her multiple books each night. We probably read her favorite book 3-4 times each (I read it, than she wants Jerrod to read it, then has me read it again, etc) each night too.

One night this week I had just finished reading her a book when she took the book, walked over to where the cats were sitting, and sat down between them and she started reading them the book. We would occasionally look at us and say "Kitty, book", letting us know she was reading the cats the book.

I guess she felt the cats needed read to also.

Climbing and class picture

Our steps to the upstairs (where the computer loft and our bedroom is), are really steep and tall. They are also hardwood. It would hurt really bad if Julia fell down them.

Once Julia showed interest in climbing them, we bought an X-pen to wrap around the bottom of the steps (the bottom 3-4 steps are open so a regular baby gate would not work. You can kinda see the set-up in this picture:

This has worked great until last night!

Jerrod went upstairs to work on his computer, I was in the living room cleaning up Julia's mess. We both hear what sounds like Julia climbing the steps. We both run over to look, and sure enough Julia is halfway up the steps already! How she do that??? So after she got upstairs and played a little in the computer loft, I carried her back down the steps and outside the gate and said "Show Mommy how you did that.". She immediately climbed on the toybox and flopped over the gate! She looked at me with such a proud look on her face!

I guess the gate can come down now, it won't be doing any good now that Julia knows how to get over it. Julia is actually really good at climbing stairs and I have no problem letting her do it on other steps that are not so steep. Our steps are just so steep that when she goes down them, if she is not paying attention or tries to go to fast, she slips. That would be a pretty painful fall for her!!


In other news, I received Julia's first ever class picture yesterday. The daycare had someone come in last month to take pictures. Julia's turned out great and we got them about 2 weeks ago. Yesterday when I went to pick Julia up, there was an 8x10 picture in her cubby of her entire "Baby Bears" class (what they call the young toddlers). All 10 of them plus the 2 teachers/caregivers. I hung the picture on the fridge and Julia spent 15 minutes last night telling Jerrod and I the names of everyone in her class and the names of her teachers. It was so cute!

Must buy yellow clothes

Julia just about went to daycare today in just a diaper because REFUSED to wear anything that was not yellow. (Yellow has become her favorite color and obsession!) Unfortunately, Julia no longer has any yellow clothes. I would pull out an outfit and ask her "How about this?" and she would reply "NO.... Yea-yow". This went on for a number of minutes until I knew she was just not going to be happy.

So after a lot of whining from Julia and begging and being "mean mommy" from me, I finally got Julia dressed for daycare.

Now I am on the hunt for yellow clothes. Unfortunately, yellow is more of a spring color, not a winter color, so it might be a bit of a struggle.

Who knew she would feel so strongly about a color so young?!!

Kisses make it all better...

I think this is so cute and sweet.

Julia, being a typical toddler, has her share of spills, bumps and bruises. Most are very minor and barely cause tears on Julia's part.

In the last couple of weeks we have discovered that Mommy and Daddy kisses have magical powers to stop the owie from hurting.

So now when she gets a bump and starts whining/crying, I ask her "Do you want Mommy to kiss it and make it better?". She replies with a half crying "Yea" and points the hurting part of her body to me for the kiss. After the kiss she stops crying and goes back to what she is doing like nothing ever happened. Daddy has the same power to make the owie go away with just a kiss.

I love this so much. I really hope these magical powers don't go away for a long time!

Started Christmas shopping

I started Christmas shopping last night. I think I have it figured out in my head about what I am going to get most everyone. I will be doing most of it on-line, so that makes it even easier. I also have Julia's and Jerrod's birthdays to buy for (Jerrod's is 11/28 and Julia's is 12/28). I already know what I am getting Jerrod, I am just putting off buying it until closer to his birthday.

I really hope to be almost completely finished in the next couple of weeks.

Growing and Changing

Julia certainly is growing and changing.

When Julia was a little over a year old and we decided to put her in a daycare, she was extremely shy. She would cry and scream when I dropped her off everyday. She had a hard time being comforted by the daycare workers, because to Julia they were strangers and strangers scared her. Even outside daycare she would only really allow me, Jerrod, Jerrod's parents and occasionally my mother hold her. If anyone else tried, she would scream from fright. She could not stand being around more than a couple people at a time.

Now, less than a year later things have really changed. She is still really shy around new situations and lots of people, but it is like she is a different child. She eagerly goes to the daycare workers and cannot wait to play (although she is just as eager to see me when I pick her up). She is constantly giving the daycare workers hugs and lovings. She still plays a lot by herself, but she has made friends and talks about them often (She is always talking about Brooke and Ayla, two of her friends at daycare).

Julia is also getting better at entertaining herself. It used to be that if she was wake, I had to be right next to her. She did not wait me to leave her sight. It went even farther than just me being next to her, I had to be actively engaging her at all times. I could not get anything done while she was awake. Well she is finally starting to play by herself some. I can now take a quick trip to the bathroom or just sit on the couch for a few minutes while she plays on her own in the living room.

Last night we were driving home from daycare I hear Julia playing. She was playing Peek-A-Boo by herself. I would hear her put her hands over her eyes and say "Where Julia go?". She would then remover her hands and say "Peek-a-boo, there she is!". It was just too funny to hear!!

Another poop story

Who knew I would be doing post after post about Julia's bathroom habits!!!??? Years from now she is going to be so embarrassed when she reads these.

This the the following conversation Julia and I had last evening:

Julia - *face scrunches up and gets a little red*
Me - "Julia, are you pooping?"
Julia - grunts out a strained "Yea", her face gets even redder and pained looking
Me - "Is it hurting?"
Julia - almost crying now "Yesss"
Me - "Well push it out then"
*Julia's face suddenly relaxes and returns to it's normal color*
Me - "Finished?"
Julia - almost sighing "Yeaaaaaa"
*I almost bust a gut laughing*
Me - "Let's go change you then."
*Julia goes running off to her room to be changed*

I really think Julia is her father's daughter in more ways than we know!!

Oh, my family thought it was hilarious that Julia will take off her wet diaper in her crib on the mornings I don't get to her minutes after she wakes up. Sure, it's all funny and cute until she pees again then I am the one stuck changing all the crib bedding! Do you know how HARD it is to put a fitted sheet on a crib mattress?

At least she is honest!

Julia woke up from her nap one day this weekend and was still dry. So I asked her if she wanted to sit on the potty. (I try to put her on the potty if she wakes up dry because we will occasionally get her to use the potty that way) She told me she did not want to sit on the potty, so I just let it go. She wanted to play in her crib for a bit yet. About 2 minutes later Julia gets this strange look on her face, I ask her if she is going pee. She looks me right in the face and cheerfully goes "YEP". The little stinker!

Last night we were at my parents house. The kids were playing and the adults were sitting in the living room. Julia walks in front of everyone, pats her butt and proclaims "I pooped!". Sure enough she had and she ran to go get her diaper bag.

Hopefully soon she will be able to tell us these things BEFORE she actually goes in her diaper!