Amazing Julia- 15 1/2 months old

Julia,

It's very hard to keep up with you these days! It doesn't seem that long ago that we were celebrating your first steps...but granted that was in August, and you've now been walking for over 6 months! Every time you leap forward- sometimes literally- it seems like you master your new steps immediately and they seem just like another tool in your belt. You're a natural. And, naturally, you've been growing by leaps and bounds since your first birthday.

I can't even begin to enumerate all the amazing things you do, because you do so many amazing things that it's hard to keep count! It's hard to not take some of these steps for granted because you just keep piling them on.

You climb. Whenever and wherever you can.

It started innocently enough with the slide.

And then assisted with some stairs.

 
But before Thanksgiving, and before we knew it, you were climbing up to the kitchen table.

 And then the bathroom sink. 

 

And the couch, and stairs unassisted, and whatever else you could find:

You have a sense of humor!

 

 

 You talk: it started out with just Mama. But soon after you started saying "bubba" for Aidan and "gaga" for Dada. You love saying "Mimi" and "Yaya" and "Baba" and "Ba" ("pops" is a bit hard to say).

You started saying "ay-oooo" - which is hard to write, but it's very clearly- intonation wise and in usage- "thank you."

You say "Yo yo" for Joseph...and yogurt.

You say "bow wow" for dogs. But lately, you've gotten even better at saying "Do-jeee" (which is either "Toby" or "doggy." But, you also just call them "boys."

You LOVE "wah wah" (water)...love drinking it...love playing in it. Love everything about it.


You have your own distinct word for "Banana" and "watermelon." Though, I can't even begin to try type up how you say them.

You LOVE babies too. You hold dolls of all kind- some baby dolls, some spider-men, some shreks- and rock them and sing "baybee....baybee...baybee."

You also love living babies too. Every other child who's not Aidan is pretty much "baybee" to you. Asher is "baby." Brady...maybe you're saying "baydee"...but it's a close race.

And, recently, you started saying "Cheese!"

(you've been saying it for the food, but recently extrapolated it to other meanings)

 

 And recently, you masted "Aidan"...and are putting it to good use. You wake up from naps calling his name, wanting to play. And you can also tell him what to do by name as well!

You also recently mastered my name: "Dah dee." You say it so properly that it just sometimes breaks my heart. One morning I was getting ready to go to work and I heard you asking her where I was: "mama.... daddy?"

I came out of the bathroom and you saw me: "DADDY!!!!" You wanted me to hold you, so I did and we cuddled for a few minutes. When it was time for me to go, I gave you back to Mommy, which is normally 100% a-okay. But this time, you cried: "Daddy...Daddy!"

I did go to work, and missed you so much, as I always do. But, as I always do as well, I came home to hear you talk to your "daddy" even more!

You're so so active!

You run!

You wrestle!


You joke!

 

You reach, and bounce, and stack, and eat as good as any of the big kids!

 

You sing!



You are smart:

 You love animals (stuffed and real):

 

 And...you love, love, love.

 

 

 

And we all love you. You are growing so much, dear Julia, and we couldn't be more proud to be part of your life every day.

Sliding, Goofing, Laughing Jules

Julia,

As we get closer and closer to your fist birthday, it seems you keep growing by leaps and bounds. Not so much taller...and not too much more hair...and we've been stuck at 7 teeth for quite some time now. But you're still growing...and a lot of it can only be defined as 'spunk.'

You laugh in the face of danger...

And then do it again...

You entertain yourself by making funny noises...

And you make Mommy, Daddy and Aidan laugh with your serious/smiley/serious/smiley game you love to play!

See? Pretty spunky for an almost one-year old, right?

!! 11 Months Old !!

Julia, I can't believe you are only 11 months old. It seems like you've been part of this family forever. You are an integral member of this family and none of us would be the same with out you. I can't believe it hasn't even been a year yet since you made your entrance to this world. You've already done so much, changed so many lives, grown so much physically and and emotionally. And yet, I can blink and still remember the day you arrived and how the world seemed to come to a pause while we cradled your tiny little self and marveled at your long little toes.

No matter how I frame it in my mind, you have already left an indelible mark on this family. And I'm so excited to see how you will grow from here!

You are now 11 month old. You're tussling and playing with the biggest boy you know (and holding your own).

You don't take your newfound steps lightly.

You walk here:

You walk there:

You walk everywhere!

And you're getting very good too...and quite confident!

But walking isn't your only 'trick.'

You have  a great sense of humor: playing games with us (like the eyebrow game), imitating us chewing, pretending to put something in your mouth, playing with the dogs and tickling your brother.

 

 

You also have improved your kissing skills. Most of the times now when we ask for kisses, we get one of these beauties:

You are rapidly trying and learning new words to say too. You know "mine" (thanks Aidan) and will 'run away' with a toy saying "mine" when you're brother's in pursuit. You take a little toy car and run it over your head saying "zzzzzooooooooo."

You even have been working on your animal sounds, and surprised us out of the blue when we were reading "Dear Zoo." The lion appeared and you "roared!" You know that snakes "sssssss", dogs "woo woo woo", and monkeys go "ooh ah."

You even have picked up the words to a great song.

 

 

You remain one of the happiest little girls I've ever met. But you are so much more too! You are  get sad or lonely or upset.  You're pensive and thoughtful and smart.

You are Julia...you are OUR Julia and we love you to a million pieces. Whether I believe it or not that you're 11 months old, I am always in disbelief how awesome you are, and how beautifully you are growing up.

Month 10: Teeth, Talking and Walking!

Julia, "Da da da da da" was the call from your bedroom this morning. I was on my way out the door for work, but I dropped my briefcase (okay...my lunchbox) and went upstairs to bring you downstairs and change your diaper. What I found was a beautiful, smiling, standing little girl who was so happy to see her "Da da da."

You pointed at lots of different things and told me what they were, in your own way. And we chatted all the way down the stairs and into the bedroom. You were surprised to see your brother and mother still in bed (sometimes I'm surprised to wake up and see your brother in bed with us too!). Your sheer happiness at seeing your family is so refreshing and lovely.

I changed your diaper and gave you to your "Ma ma ma ma ma" so she could feed you breakfast.

You're well into your 10th month of life now, and it's been hard to keep up with you. You've been growing and changing so rapidly that it's hard to fathom.

It seems just like yesterday that you figured out how to crawl. You're now a master faster crawler.

But now, you've grown to be able to do and say so much!

Before we went on vacation to Galveston again at the beginning of this month, your 'vocabulary' really started to grow.

You say "ma ma ma ma ma" to your Mommy and "da da da da da" to your daddy.

You say "bmmf" to your baby dolls or other babies. (It's your word for 'baby'). If we pick you up in the morning and you don't have your baby doll in your hands (which is rare), you'll point and say "bmmf" until we grab it for you.

You also recently started to say "bah" for "ball." Every toy ball, super bouncy ball, marble, balloon, they're all "bah" to you!

Through the month you also learned to talk about "bir", aka "birds!" You see them on the beach, you see them in the tree, you see them on a t-shirt. It's all for the "birs" for you!

Of course, all this talking is accompanied now by lot more of pointing. You use your index finger as an extension of your voice, telling us what you want, and where you want to go and what you see. 

Just before your 10 month-I-versary, you also started developing an even more acute sense of humor, complete with a really awesome, hearty laugh: "Ha ha ha!"

 

This is sort of your "I'm mischievous" laugh, perfect for such occasions as messing with your mama.

But, you also have such an infections "I'm really cracking up, here!" laugh! Whenever you're laughing, we are all enthralled.



Much to our amazement, you also started communicating non-verbally using sign language too! We always use the four or five signs we know to talk to you (and to your brother at this age), and the other day, we were feeding you and you bounced your fingers together to say 'more!' Wow!



Now, you may have noticed in the first video that you're walking pretty well. Well, you aint seen nothing yet. You've been pulling to standing for quite some time, with tremendous levels of success.

Sometimes you have help.

You've been walking while holding onto a finger or two for a while now too. Back when we went to the beach the first time this summer, your Mom predicted that you'd be walking for real by the time we went back in early August.

And, low and behold, we get to the beach, and guess what you figured out, much to everyone's surprise!



Everyone was so thrilled, including yours truly. My biggest fear was that I would miss your first steps; but here we were, on family vacation, and you decide to take your first strolls!



You may have been the most excited of all!

You're walking on your two legs now! And you're also able to chew on your two front teeth! In Month 10 your two front chompers came in (and a third one up top too!) But they're very elusive and refused to have photographs take of them for the longest time. That is, until, your 10 month photo shoot!

So, we caught your teeth, and caught many sides of your personality too!

 

As we returned to normal life from the beach, you continued to  practice your new tricks, work on your old ones too and just enjoy life!

You continued reaching new heights...

And taking bigger steps...

With all these big new steps, and words, it's been very hard to keep up with you. But luckily, you still want to hold our hands (or our fingers) and make sure we keep up with you.

But every day, among all this excitement, you still love to cuddle and give kisses and climb all over us (and your brother (and your dogs)). Just yesterday afternoon, you woke up in the middle of your nap and couldn't go back to sleep. I rocked you back asleep and laid you down, and you woke back up. I tried again, and you woke up again. So, since your mother and brother were out together, and I had no where else I'd rather be, I laid down on your bedroom floor on a pile of pillows with you on my chest, and together we slept just like on the day you were born.


The faster you are growing up and taking these giant leaps, the more excited I get...but also the nicer it is when we can have some quiet father/daughter time together. No matter how big and awesome you get, you will always be my little girl. I'm so proud of you, and I can't wait to be here for your next amazing step!