Exuberence

I think this is the one word that describes Julia best. She is so much but within it all she is full of gusto.

It starts at moment one. Every morning you here a thump quite often accompanied with singing or chatter followed by a heavier than you would expect set of footfalls until right in your sleeping face is Julia usually smiling big and filled with "Daddy, daddy..." or "Wellesley Pig didn't want to go to sleep last night because, um, well, she heard a noise and it keeped her awake." Take that and keep it running all day long, add too much volume and some maniacal laughter and that is the sound of Julia in the house. Oh, and that lasts until she is asleep.

The fascinating part is that she applies the same enthusiasm to everything thing she does. When she reads she dives completely in the book augmenting and personalizing the story as she goes and yelling to the world when she recognizes new words. When she eats food she truly enjoys - which changes from day to day - you hear it. She hums when the food is good and she focuses intently on that food. You see a determination and curiosity when she plays and dances that can be infectious. That's the fun side.

The bad side would make you believe you are living with Regan McNeil (the possessed girl in The Exorcist) or some highly energetic melodrama (take Downton Abbey add the hotheaded Italian stereotype). Its the most insane, surreal feeling to see Julia get upset about whatever. "NO DADDY!! **sniff**, **huff*, SCREAMING SOBS." "I DON'T WANT YOU TO PUT THE FORK ON THAT SIDE OF THE PLATE." **more SCREAMING SOBS and WAILS.**

Her play and storytelling falls right in. She runs and squeals with abandon. Her stories are convoluted and imaginative (unpronounceable names with weird and illegal relationships) while keeping one foot in reality (maintaining rules of conduct which sound a lot like the rules imposed on her).

I'm sure all of this will come in handy as she grows older but what will take her where she wants to go is an internal exuberance for connecting the dots and learning what you can see happening under the surface.