Summer Pictures

Update before Juliet turns 1!

It’s been an while since I wrote an update on the girls!  Jules will be a year old tomorrow!  And Bella will be 3 in less than a month!    Time flies!

Jules is a bundle of fun!  She is really working on her motor skills.  She can walk while holding on to a walking toy or furniture.  She can go from a sit to a stand without holding on to anything.  She can stand without holding on and will bounce up and down.  But, she will not walk while holding on to my fingers and she will not take a step without holding on.  She just lunges forward into my arms when I try to persuade her to take a step.  She’ll be walking in no time!  She also loves to climb.  She will climb any available staircase, over obstacles like big pillows and and she can climb onto Bella’s bed. 

She loves to play Anthony’s guitar and she will stop what she is doing and play guitar with him as soon as she hears him play.  She seems to really enjoy music. 

She will say “uh oh” and says a lot of “mamama” and “dadada” but she still uses them rather interchangeably.  She waves “bye bye” and signs “milk.”

She has 8 teeth but I think she’s working on some more!  She has gotten better with sleeping….. usually 7:15 to 6:45ish.  Some night she wakes up… some nights she doesn’t.

She is allergic to eggs, but otherwise she loves to eat everything else…. especially things that she can feed herself!  Pretty much anything we eat, we cut up for her and she can eat it too.

I’ve heard that 3s can be more difficult that 2s and from what I’ve seen the last few weeks from Bella, I’m thinking that the 3s may be more challenging than I’ve anticipated!  She is really testing us to see how much she can get away with recently.  She has been harder to put to bed, more difficult to feed, and not very kind when she doesn’t get her way!  There has been a lot of crying in our house and it’s not coming from Juliet! 

Bella started gymnastics on Fridays.  It’s a Parent & Tots class and she seems to really enjoy it.  It’s not very structured, but she gets to try a lot of different things like balance beams, bars, trampolines, trapezes, etc. 

Bella’s language has really taken off.  She talks ALL THE TIME.  She asks constant questions and always wants to know what is happening next and what the plan for the day is.  Every phrase she hears she pulls into her own vocabulary.  She has been saying things like:  “Goodness gracious!”  “Oh my goodness”  “Holy cow!” “I’m ready to rock and roll!”  “You got it, dude!”  Today at gymnastics, she fell into the ball pit and said “ayudame!” (help me!)… and she also says “sube” (go up/climb)… and “Ariscate” (to the rescue!) …. those ones are courtesy of Dora!  She also has been a mix of very affectionate (“I love you soooo much!”) and mean (“I’m never going to talk to you ever again!”). 

Even though Bella gives Anthony and I a hard time, she is a really good big sister.  She is always trying to calm Juliet down when she is upset and she loves to go with me to Juliet’s room when she wakes up from her nap or first thing in the morning to make Jules laugh and help her get dressed. 

Bella loves to go to daycare and she tells me everyday how much she loves her friends at daycare and her daycare provider, Jenny.  

That's all I can think of for now!

Easter!

Early April

Juliet at 9 months

Juliet is a happy little 9 month old for sure.  She has the biggest smile.  

She has 4 teeth that are pretty well in…  You can see just a little bit of white showing on both sides of her front two teeth where she is getting 2 more in.  

She has been eating puffs and mum-mums with her fingers and we are starting to expand to some more finger foods.

We have finally gotten to 12 hour nights!  It started around 8.5 months, although she doesn't do quite as well when she is teething…  We thought this day would never come.

Juliet does a very effective army crawl, but she doesn't crawl when up on her knees.  She does get up on her knees and rock back and forth.  She does a few little movements up there, but then always goes down to her belly if she really wants to get somewhere.  She is very proficient at getting from her belly or back to seated position.  She pulls up to her knees, but hasn't gotten up to her feet yet.  If you stand her up, she will play standing up, but hasn't figured out how to get back down yet.

She loves watching her big sister do anything.  Juliet loves to be chased and tickled.  She likes music and watching her daddy play guitar… and she loves playing her little piano.  She has started to mimic us if we say "Dadada" she will say it back…. same with "mamama" but she hasn't attached meaning to it yet.

She still takes 2 good naps a day.  

At the doctor yesterday, she weighed 20 lbs and was 29 inches tall - which was exactly what Bella was at 9 months too.  She had to get a lead test where they prick her finger and take a good bit of blood.  She didn't make one sound the whole time!  She just looked confused as to why the lady was squeezing her finger…

A busy day in mummy town

We had such a great day at the Port Discovery Children's Museum in Baltimore.  Bella had so much fun exploring.  Even though she was too small for many things, there was still a bunch that she could do.  There was even a really nice area called Tot Trails for Jules to explore.  Both girls were really good while we were there, but Bella didn't get a proper nap in and was super cranky when we got home.  We tried to go for a walk, but she cried because she didn't want to.  And then when we came back home, she cried because she wanted to go for a walk.  And then she wanted her jacket off but once I got it off, she screamed because she wanted it back on.  She was just mad at the world this afternoon!  She's in bed now reading some books and, hopefully, will be asleep soon…

Bella walking on some waves

A child sized diner for cooking and serving

A weird room to explore

Jules in Tot Trails

Over 3 floors of climbing apparatus… 

More climbing...

Jules on my back in the ergo carrier

Jules asleep on my back in the ergo carrier

Bella working on he masterpiece

Bella's drawing of daddy…. 

Some days I wish we had one of these in the house….

A few minutes in the the drive home… unfortunately Jules was crying and woke her up not too long after… 

When I was getting her ready for bed tonight, I said, "Wow, we had such a busy day today." and Bella said "Yeah, a busy day in mummy town."  I was trying to think where I've heard that phrase before… and I said, "Bella, is that in one of your books."  And she said "yeah, I show you." and she pulled out this book, and opened it to the right page, and handed it to me.  We have at least 12 of these halloween books, but she knew exactly which book and which page that phrase was on… That is a girl that loves her books.