While Julia Was Sleeping ... EVERYWHERE?!?!

First of all, I love the movie "While You Were Sleeping" which stars recent Oscar winner Sandra Bullock. YEAH, Sandra!!! : )

That is partly why I was excited to create this post title to describe Julia's busy sleeping behavior. This girl is busy day AND night! Compared to where we put her down for her daytime naps and to bed in the evening, she is in completely different positions and places in the crib. It's a MINI crib, also - there's only so much room to move around!

Some people are pro-family bed - that's cool for them. I can not do it. Sometimes I move a lot during my sleep, too. Julia & I would knock into each other constantly!

She is SO cute when she's asleep - she's cute awake, too! : )

15 Months & Pushing the Envelope

Julia is 15 months old. What does that mean? She's growing and getting smarter. She's fine tuning her skills and becoming more aware of the world and herself.

You always hear stories about parents having eyes in the back of their heads. I think Julia has eyes in the back of her head b/c she doesn't seem to miss ANYthing. Part of it is the completeness of her senses. Neither Tara nor I hear or see as well as we used to, Julia is still new and incredibly sharp. She sees things out of the corners of her eyes, she hears the slightest noise from across the house. Its a little frustrating when you are trying to get her food ready before she realizes its time to eat and she hears the refrigerator open.

She's been doing so much that its hard to talk about what's different this month. She's getting better at climbing the stairs but she doesn't understand the going backwards down the stairs. Her babbling has gone to a new level with more word-like sounds, a stronger repertoire of sounds, and, of course, more words. She has recently figured out how to climb onto things and into cabinets. She likes to be chased by people and Johnders.

BREAKING NEWS: The day before yesterday she grabbed my finger and walked me to the refrigerator for a snack.

She is a master mimic. She loves imitating her Uncle Joel as well as dogs. It really is an onslaught of activity with her.

On the bad side: She is teething again and thus quite fussy. She is more specific about her wants and gets that much more agitated when we don't get it right. Mealtime can be a CUSS (if you saw "Fantastic Mr. Fox" you know what I mean)!

It continues to be a wonder and a joy to watch her grow and develop. I think I sound like a broken record about that but she continually amazes.

Velcro Baby

This is Julia's newest title/nickname. I don't know what happened, but suddenly this is what Julia becomes when we leave her! Usually it happens at the church nursery, occasionally at the Y nursery. Everyone reassures us that it is normal, part of typical development, but it is heart-wrenching to walk away from your wailing child after you've peeled her off your leg/lap/whatever she can grab!

Initially I was surprised and didn't connect her behavior with separation anxiety - I thought it had happened already and she seemed to do OK. I didn't realize it happens later, too. When we return to pick her up, the nursery workers tell us that she only cried for a few minutes thankfully. I think I felt bad longer! : ) Also, sometimes she'd cry when we returned like she had forgotten while she played, but then she remembers we were gone and really missed us.

Of course she misses us ... but it's so interesting to think what is going on for her. Just like when she was an infant, crying still is a major way to communicate. Julia seems to "talk" ALL THE TIME and I forget that she really cannot tell us many of her feelings as readily as I think she should.

Ahh, the wish for words ... yet other parents tell us we'll wish for the silent/non-verbal days! : )

Keeping the Feast

This is the name of a great book by Paula Butturini. It is non-fiction story about Paula's experience through her husband's journey of depression. I finished the book in early March and didn't write this post until April so I'm not remembering many details. However, it takes place in many countries, mostly in Italy. It involves wonderful descriptions of food and the connections to all kinds of memories, particularly childhood and family. The descriptions of how Paula lives with a depressed person really resonated with me as I recall living with PPD. It is HARD stuff! I've probably written this before, but I remember someone describing it as mild PPD and I think OMG how does someone live with major PPD! I believe it was mild, but it was difficult so I know how challenging it is for individuals who are struggling with depression every day for YEARS!

I am grateful for people who share their story as it helps others understand and cope.

Reading is Fundamental (and so is singing)

Thank you Dolly Parton.

Like so many kids in Tennessee Julia gets a book a month from the wonderful Imagination Library. Overall, I have been pleased - not enough board books but other than that its an amazing program. I've about a correlation between the size of home libraries and an individual's success further down the road. Well, I think we are seeing Julia's future.

Julia loves this book and she knows it by name...our name, "ABC Book". She starts her version of the ABC song as soon as she touches the book.  Her version of the song sounds a bit like the spanish alphabet and goes like "aahhh baaaayyyy deeeedaaa" before it sort of trails off into a hum. Seriously?!? She's been singing some version of the ABC song for a couple of months and it is in a large part due to this particular book, a Leap Frog music table and the fact that her dad cannot remember many words from any other kids song...

She's a wondefully engaged child and I am glad to be along for the ride.