Recent Videos

This video captures some of her excitement when it is time for a bath, as well as her giggles/night-night wishes before bed.

After listening to squeals and repetitive yelling coming from the bathroom while Julia was taking a bath one night, I finally text messaged Kyle to ask what she was saying over and over. Then I went up with the video camera.

This one shows Julia interacting with Acie and Abbie.

Recent Photos

Here are some recent photos of Julia:

Trying on Pop's hat when they were in town for a quick visit several weeks ago.

Playing at the park

Her first time to drink from a water fountain.

Julia: 17 Months

Julia is 17 months old! She is doing and saying new things each day, which has been fun and exciting to watch.

Some things we want to remember about her at this age:

• She loves Chapstick! She knows where to find it and is so pleased when she has one to hold, take the cap on and off, and put on her lips and surrounding mouth area. It is sometimes difficult to trick her into giving it back, so we try to hide them from her. Her word for it is "daddist".
• She has always gone to bed easily at night, but over the past few months it has become something she asks to do, and enjoys telling us "night night!" She often comes to me saying, "night night" and pointing to or walking to the stairs and says "airs" so I'll take her up. If I agree and she knows she's going to bed, she gets giddy and begins blowing kisses and shouting, "night night".
• She is beginning to pretend play. We often see her putting dolls/toys "to bed" (laying them down and covering them up with something) and telling them "night night".
• She still works on her puzzles a lot, and sometimes for fun (or maybe out of boredom) she purposely attempts to put a piece in the wrong way and says, "no", shaking her head no. She then says, "nurn-nit" as she turns it the right way.
• For the first time since she was born, she now sleeps with a blanket at night and she loves having it on her - so much so that I feel bad for depriving her of one all this time (since she has been old enough for one). When we put her to bed, she says "rover" as soon as she hits the mattress because she wants to roll over before we put her blanket on her. She then grabs however many lovie blankets are in her crib and asks for "one more", referring to the big blanket. Then she says, "night night" one last time. So sweet!
• We almost always understand her words, but she has begun to add hand motions when she says certain things to help communicate. For example, when she wants to eat or drink, or brush her teeth, she will point to her mouth after she says the word that she wants us to hear. Or if she wants her face wiped after a meal she says, "vace" and wipes her hand across her face. It helps, since some of her words sound similar.
• She walks around saying, "B - R - B - R" over and over again. They are her favorite letters.
  
• She has learned to say, "cheese!" when she sees a camera.
• Each day she puts more words together. Some examples include:

"boben door" (open door)

"hi dogs"

"bye dogs"

"daddy here"

"hare here!" (we're here!)

"almose here" (almost here)

"hah chair" (high chair)

"more ___"

"___ p'ease"

"vee-vee ov" (tv off)

"dirty bopper" (dirty diaper)

• Some other cute words: "bee-babbies" (blueberries), "neeze" (sneeze), "diss" (kiss), "babbis-ball" (basketball)

Ski Trip

We just returned from a fun ski trip in Vail, CO. Kyle attended a conference, so not only did we have a fun ski vacation but he also got some of his required continuing education credits.

Ready to hit the slopes!

Beautiful scenery, but obviously there hadn't been any snow in a while since the trees are bare.

On the second day, it snowed 6 inches during the time we were on the slopes. Not great conditions for skiing, but we were glad to have some fresh powder.

Riding the lifts was miserable at times since there were 40+ mi/hr winds, snow, and 17-20 degree temps. Brrr!! We thought this picture looked like a chair lift to heaven.

The snow stopped just in time for our last run down the mountain. Vail Village is in valley in the background.

The view from our condo.

Day 3 - beautiful weather and great ski conditions.

On the last run on our 3rd day of skiing, Melanie twisted her knee and couldn't ski the 4th day so we just took it easy. We enjoyed walking through the shops in Vail Village and went to see a movie.

Driving back to the Denver airport.

Many thanks to Mamaw and Papaw for taking such good care of Julia for the 6 days we were away. We had a wonderful trip and were thankful for the opportunity to ski, have time to ourselves, and take a vacation from parenting duties. Julia did really well and had a fun time with them.

Julia: 16 Months

Here are some things we want to remember about Julia at 16 months:

• She has her first 3 molars now, which brings her total number of teeth to 11.
• She has begun to put 2 words together. For example: A few times now when Daddy leaves the room she says, "Daddy, go. Daddy, go." over and over again. She has also asked for more milk by saying, "Mew (milk), more. Mew, more. Mew, more."
• She wants things when she wants them or when it is her idea, otherwise she will adamantly say NO or push it away.
  
• She is resisting the potty - hopefully just a phase. She rarely agrees to be taken to the potty without a fight, but enticement helps.
• She is getting very fast and confident with walking and attempts running.
• Raisins are a new favorite snack. She will eat handfuls and still ask for more.
• We're noticing that she listens and understands when we wouldn't think she would - like when we're talking in the front seat of the car. Like a parrot, she'll often repeat something she hears us say, even if we're in the other room. And the other day when we were in the car with Gigi and Pop, Pop asked about her mittens and whether we should leave them on for the car ride. Julia immediately took them off without being asked or prompted.

Rockin' in the New Year

We had a fun time playing Rock Band with our friends on New Years Eve. Here are some pics.

Christmas 2009

Part I

We went to my parents' house for the first half of our trip. We relaxed, celebrated my birthday, and opened presents Christmas morning before heading to Beaumont for the second half of our time with family.

Big chairs are fun!

Reading with the Cat in the Hat

Trying on her Santa hat

Our family pic

The group for my birthday dinner at Macaroni Grill

Part II

We spent a couple of days in Beaumont with Kyle's parents and were able to have the whole group together on the 26th.

We enjoyed trying out Pop's new toy, a Polaris Ranger, and rode around in the neighborhood.

Aunt Kimberly made sugar cookies and icing for the kids to decorate. Julia seemed a little confused by it, and Madison and Shane preferred to just dip their cookies in the icing instead of decorating them first.

Relaxing in the bean bag