Tales from the Crib: Julia Needs Kiss

Julia, you are 16 weeks old now! And you sure do have a lot to say on the subject.

You'll talk to anyone who will listen!

Preston:

Pops:

Your Dear Parents:

You just have an awful lot to say for yourself, young lady! We get the general idea, but we don't fully know what you're talking about.

It's a shame too, because I bet you'd have a great story to tell about your latest adventure in growing up. A few weeks ago...wow has it already been weeks?...you spent your first nap and night in your crib!

We decided to try it again, and institute it as a more regular type thing, now that you're officially in the can-be-spoiled-and-pick-up-bad-habits-age-and-no-offense-but-we-don't-want-you-to-sleep-in-bed-with-us-forever phase. So, we're two nights in, and it's a little rough on everyone.

When you start crying in the middle of the night, we're at the point now where you're not hungry. You're just crying because you're awake. So we either let you cry it out and go back to bed (which works pretty well) or we come comfort you.

Aidan copes by sometimes waking up and trying to crawl in bed with us.

Or we find him with his blanket, hands and pillow up over his ears.

Now, for the most part, you're sleeping great! We're talking like maybe one or two crying bits a night, so we couldn't be more pleased with how you're doing in your own crib in your own (shared) room!

And someone else was pleased this morning too...which made someone else very pleased!

This morning at around 7:30 am, your Mom heard a bit of crying. Then some Aidan talking. Then some Julia giggles.

She ran into yours and Aidan's room and found Aidan in your crib, right next to you, giving you a kiss. You were giggling and laughing and talking to him. Generally excited to see him!

Everyone was very happy with this situation, except for me and your Mom!

Of course, we trust that Aidan would never intentionally hurt you, but he's only (almost) 3, and can't really be trusted to provide infant care. That reminds me...are you still an infant? Or are you now officially a baby? I'll have to look into this later. Plus, how did he even manage to climb into your crib...must have been some serious acrobatics and climbing and risk-taking to get in there...so who knows how he landed safely without hurting you. But, it's clear that he did it well, and that you weren't hurt.

Your Mom lifted him out of the crib. And Aidan told her why he had decided to get in the crib with you in the first place. Three simple words:

"Julia Needs Kiss."

And he knew he was the man for the job.

Now, that line is very close to my favorite part of the story, but my absolute favorite part is your reaction to the whole thing.

According to your Mom, who witnessed the whole thing, you were happy as a clam to have your brother in the crib with you. You were giggling and smiling and just all-around happy to see him.

Just imagine the story, though, if we could only understand your language. What a story that would be!

Needless to say, Week 16 was the week you began to sleep in your shared room. In your crib. With your brother (in his own bed). Week 16 is also the week that we rearranged your shared room to try to discourage climbing and kissing.

Week 16 is off to a good start. I can't wait to hear what you have to say today!

Big Weekend for Julia- 15 weeks and growing

Last weekend you may have been 14 weeks or you may have been 15 weeks. I think it was 15. I've kinda lost count. But that's only because there's so much more to keep track of now, like all of your accomplishments.

You're 15 weeks old, and you had a HUGE weekend for awesomeness.


All of a sudden, you're almost rolling over all by yourself! You can get to your hip, but just can't get it to tip over. (almost there!)

You're smiling, positively glowing with happiness.

You're Laughing...like seriously Laughing!

You're Holding Head Up Better than Ever!

But, you're not all grown up yet. You still have time to cuddle and curl up on your Mom and Me for a good long nap. Face-in...

Or Face-out: 

Or on-ward...

You're a beautiful dreamer, that's for sure. You're also a strong gripper. You're grasping things so well now, including my hand!

So, you're really getting a hold on us, and you're really getting a handle on big girl activities. For instance, you napped and spent the night in your big-girl crib for the first time!

And, you've started taking your baths with some company!

This next one isn't so awesome, but it was a first: you got sick for the first time. We went to the doctor and found out that you- at week 15- almost way 14 pounds ! (13 lbs, 15 ounces).

We also found out that you were fooling all of us- you weren't sick at all! Maybe you just weren't feeling good. But, no medicines, no ear infection, no nothing. So, by that point you were all smiles again, and back to your regular 15-week routine of smiling, eating, playing and sleeping.

Life's good when you're a gorgeous 15 week old princess.

And we're so proud of you and in love with you...even if we can't totally remember how many weeks old you are!

Cribbage!

Just in time to celebrate your 36th week, your crib finally arrived at Buy Buy Baby! Your Mom couldn't wait to go get it. So, after the class on Saturday, we rounded up Mimi, Nannah and Baba and Baba's pick up truck (Pops was out of town) and headed up to the store to get your crib and mattress!

But, your Mom had to wait a WHOLE day to put the crib together (due to pre-existing plans). But, alas, on Sunday night, after the Super Bowl, your Mom and I got busted out our Allen wrenches and put your crib together.

Expecting this process to be as painful as they show it to be in the movies, I was all ready to pull my hair out, get frustrated at poorly written instructions and spackle over whatever mistakes I made.

But, this crib was surprisingly easy to put together! In fact, here's how to do it in 6 easy steps:

Step 1: Get a giant box and put it in the nursery.

Step 2: Open said giant box and remove contents

Step 3: Scratch your head

Step 4: Attach Mobile.

Step 5: Move Camera to take bad picture!

Step 6: Add your parents and a giraffe to said bad picture

And now you're all set! Your crib is built, the sheets are on the mattress (as is the waterproof pad) and all we need now is... you!

Blanket Brigade

You have a growing army of people making you hand-crafted blankets and quilts.

I'm not sure if these people think it is extra cold in our house or something, but they certainly never voice any thermal discomfort while visiting! Maybe babies just need blankets like peanut butter needs jelly.

So, when you come out, you're going to have bunches of blankets and slews of hand-sewn stuff!

We're not too sure of your design preferences right now; do you have your Mom's womb all feng shui? And we don't even know your favorite colors; in fact, it's probably really dark in there so you most likely haven't seen any colors at all. I'll try holding a flashlight to your Mom's bellybutton today so you can see some colors.

Even though you probably don't have any preference on colors or design, we've got your back anyway.

We talked Mimi out of using the "Every-color" yarn to make her blanket. And the ones she ended up with are waaaay better, and don't even slightly resemble clown vomit!

Bozo May have lost his Lunch.

Nannah Joon is making you an extra cool blanket with a literary theme. But not like "Anna Karenina" literary; so don't worry about not being into the Russian masters quite yet.

And, I don't use the word "cute" too often. (In fact, I hate it when people call my man-mobile "cute.") But, your Aunt Sham has some really cute fabric on it that has a whole bunch of insects playing instruments (no, not like the Beatles, but you're getting pretty clever!). We're not sure what she's making with said fabric, but things are looking promising for you in the blanketing department!

The Bug Band Fabric?

You're going to love what all your loved ones have in store for you. And if you're too young to contemplate a complex emotion like love, at least you'll probably drool all over the blankets!

On a side note, I hope you like socks. Your Mom has been on a huge sock-animal kick lately and has made you a monkey and a giraffe.

Two of your Mom's Creations, Living Life to the Fullest.

Granted, nobody has anything left to wear on their feet, but at least your crib will be well stocked with foot-shaped friends!

With all the talented people in our family, though, I wouldn't be surprised if even more cool DIY projects are looming!