Monday, August 28, 2006

12 month well-child visit

She's gotten bigger!

19 lbs and some change (Kristin says, "almost 20 lbs")
28 inches long

She's almost in the 30% for weight
10% for height
and 75% for head.

So, she's still a big headed baby. But all the cuter for it!

And the doctor said she can have all the cheese she wants. But we've been giving her too many formula bottles. Ooops, more water for now on!

Posted by Trista @ 3:14 PM :: (0) comments

She likes to freak her mama right out!

Sunday Afternoon, Our House

It was a busy day in The Speckled Frog household. Kristin was at work trying to get ready for her first full week of school, practicum, and work. I was home trying to clean out the basement to get ready for the delivery of a futon as well as to get the office/spare bedroom ready to be made into an office for Kristin. Julia was busy getting everything out that I was putting away -- almost as quickly as I was putting away!

I decided to leave Julia downstairs for a moment while I ran the recycling to the bin. When I got upstairs I saw that our friend, John, was delivering some more sod (he's tearing all the sod out of his back yard just as we're putting sod IN our back yard. Recycled sod, how can you beat that?) so I said hi to him for a moment and then told him that Julia was downstairs so I needed to run. When I went back in the kitchen door, I thought I could hear Julia talking a bit too clearly for her being all the way downstairs. Then I turned toward the very steep staircase just in time to see her appear at the very top step. She was laughing at her success (and probably the stupified look on my face!) I was terrified and relieved all in one fell swoop. The stairs are steep and there's a sharp turn at the top, and at the bottom is a large, cement pillar that supports the house. If she had fallen she could have gone all the way down and cracked her skull or broken her neck on that pillar.

Who taught her how to climb stairs? We didn't think she could do that yet.

Dear lord, now we need to teach her how to go down them...

Posted by Trista @ 9:58 AM :: (0) comments

Monday, August 21, 2006

Phew! The First Birthday Party is Over.


Birthday Girl
Originally uploaded by Temmerling.
What with Aunt Kathy, Grandma Edna, and Norma, Alejandra, and Jose visiting for the weekend, Julia was too excited to do much napping. She wanted to go, go, go! So we were worried that she'd have a meltdown at her party, but she did fine. She is a party animal!

There were over 40 people at Julia's party on Saturday. She is a very lucky girl to have so many people love her so much that they would give up a Saturday afternoon to watch her smear cake all over herself!

Julia has been feeding herself for months, so she didn't get too, too dirty with the cake. She's got good aim. That, and she was soo tired that she didn't have the energy to thow a lot of cake around. This was a messy as she got. Final Fistsful Which, while not a mess to sneer at, was nowhere near as messy as other 1 year olds I've seen.

After the cake we opened presents. Well, truthfully, there were so many presents that I began opening them while she was eating cake, just so people could see their presents opened and leave if they needed to. But after we got her cleaned off and dressed again, Julia joined in the present opening. She liked pulling off the ribbons best.
Playing with the ribbons

The party lasted about 4 hours, but finally the last guests (my parents) staggered home and we began wearily cleaning up. Julia, of course, slept through that part...
Sleeping like the dead

I'm glad we had the party, I'm glad that even though she was tired, Julia had a good time. But I'm also glad that we will never again have to throw a birthday party that big. From now on it'll be kids only (with their parents, of course).

For more Birthday Pictures, you can click here.

Posted by Trista @ 9:29 AM :: (1) comments

Friday, August 18, 2006

Happy Birthday, Bouncy Butt!

Dear Julia:

Today, as of later this afternoon, we will have had you in our arms for an entire year. I was going to say that we will have had you for an entire year, but truthfully you've been with us far longer than that. We carried you in our hearts for 6 months, and then Mommie carried you in her body until you were pulled, screaming, from that safe place and given to the far more tenuous (but no less fiercely loving) cradle of our arms.



Before you were born, we already knew so many things about you. We knew that you were going to be tiny. We knew that you had adorable little fat rolls on your thighs. We knew that not much phased you. We would watch you in your private spa, your hands behind your head, your ankles crossed, just hanging out in there. (You have no idea how your extreme relaxation gave fits to the nurses trying to make certain that you were ok in there). We knew that you had a temper, and that it was slow to rise and quick to burn off. All of these things we looked forward to with great anticipation and love.

But it was the things that we didn't know, the things that you have been revealing to us over this last year, that has proven to be such an amazing delight. Your sense of humor, your ability to find the humor in everything around you, the fact that your ability to make jokes and tease has expressed itself from your earliest moments. It is rare that we can't distract you from a temper or an upset by doing something you would consider funny -- and you consider so very many things funny! It seems to you that this world was put here primarily to amuse you, and you are mightily amused.

I remember holding you in my arms when you were a few weeks old. You were sleeping. I was reading. And suddenly I heard a rich, fat chuckle. I looked down at you and you were chuckling in your sleep -- a little smile on your face. That sound was the loveliest thing I had heard in my entire life. And Mommie and I are so lucky that we get to hear that laugh many, many times a day. You are joy incarnate. You are a giggle made flesh.






But you are more than that, too. For there is this deep soulfullness within you, this ability to pierce through illusions. There are moments when I look at you and I know that you are not fooled by my attempts at perfection. These moments when you let us see that you will never have the wool pulled over your eyes also fill me with joy, even as they terrify me. Joy because life can be so hard for people, girls, who stand out, who don't fit the frames people would like to hang on them. You're going to need every bit of wisdom and wileyness and perception you've got to make it through this world whole. And that is also why I'm terrified, as well. Not because you will be wiley and stubborn and strong, but because you will have to be so to survive intact.



Today you made your very first long-distance phone call to your Auntie Kathy. Unfortunately, we didn't know that you'd made it. But there you go. So independent. You know that a phone is for talking, for saying hi, and you're determined to talk, talk, talk to as many people as possible. A few months ago your little toy phone was enough to satisfy this craving of yours. But now nothing but the real phone will do. When Mommy or I talk on the phone you reach for it, call out hi! or other words. When we put the phone to your ear you sit in stunned silence. We've been allowing you to play with the real phone, but that may have to stop, now that you've managed to place a long distance call.

This letter was going to be a welcome to toddlerhood, but in truth you've been a toddler now for months. Your babyhood is slipping away before our eyes, with each emphatic "No!" that explodes from your lips. I would be lying if I said I wasn't sad. But I would also be lying if I sad that sad is the main thing I feel. Mostly, I feel excited. Each unfolding of yours is a delight. And though I realize that I may not be able to say that for much longer, I also know that no matter how frustrated I become with your behavior over the next few decades, I wouldn't have it any other way.



And now you know, as if you didn't before, what big saps your mommies are. Please don't use it against us.

1 year crawling

Happy Birthday, darling!
Mama

Posted by Trista @ 9:30 AM :: (8) comments

Wednesday, August 09, 2006

Today's post is brought to you by the letter 3


water baby detail
Originally uploaded by Temmerling.
Even though Julia wasn't tagged by Noah, I decided that as we get to the end of her first year of life it just might be interesting to see what she'd say to the questions on this meme. So there you go. I am breaking my long-held rule that I will never write as if I were speaking for Julia.

Oh well, it's only the once. And I really do think she'll enjoy reading this when she gets older...

3 Things That Scare Me
1) When Mama tries to play Monster with me and growls at me.
2) When I wake up in the middle of the night and no one is holding me.
3) Um, that’s it. I don’t scare easily at all. Even loud noises don’t bother me. Must have been all that sawing and hammering Grandpa and Mama were doing for such a long time!
3 People That Make Me Laugh
1) You.
2) Them.
3) Everyone I set my eyes on. Life is so amusing.
3 Things I Love
1) Balls.
2) Shutting doors.
3) My mamas.
Things I Hate
1) Waking up absolutely alone.
2) Falling asleep. Why why WHY do I have to take naps and sleep all night? There’s so many other things I could be filling my time with! So many other things to be explored. So many more kisses to give my mamas!
3) Wearing hats. Funny isn’t it, since my mamas make hats and I have a million of them?
3 Things I Don’t Understand
1) Why Oscar always gets up and moves away when I crawl over to him to touch his pretty fur. He doesn’t know that I pull hard; he’s never let me get hold once!
2) See #2 immediately above.
3) Why my mamas get so upset when I play with those bowls of water and little brown pellets. If they didn’t want me to play with them they shouldn’t have put them on the floor for me.
3 Things On My Desk/Table (or in my crib)
1) The pretty afghan that Auntie Lauri made for me.
2) My singing caterpillar.
3) A big rose made out of velvet
3 Things I’m Doing Right Now (I added more because she’s doing such cute things right now)
1) Crawling and pulling up on things.
2) Climbing on everything. I Must. Get. Up!
3) Singing with the radio.
4) Starting the music on my dinosaur or red car and then dancing.
5) Repeating every funny word I hear my mamas say over and over and over and then laughing.
6) Trying to figure out how to stand up on my own in the middle of the floor. I see my mamas do it all the time, but I just can’t quite figure out how they do it.
3 Things I Can Do
1) Play catch with other people.
2) Crawl all over the house without letting go of my ball. (Pad, pad, pad, THUNK. Pad, pad, pad, THUNK)
3) Surprise my mamas by telling them the new words I’m learning every day.
3 Ways to Describe My Personality
1) Easy going.
2) Quick to laughter.
3) Electrifying
3 Things I Can’t Do
1) Walk by myself.
2) Pet Oscar.
3) Climb up on the couch.
3 Things I Think You Should Listen To
1) My singing. I am so good!
2) Flutes.
3) My mamas’ heartbeats
3 Things I Think You Should Never Listen To
1) Anyone telling you no – unless you’re listening to how funny they sound.
2) Oscar and Oliver’s barking. They’re loud!
3) Any movie where people are talking quietly. If they were saying something important then they’d be saying it loud enough to hear it over my activity ball.
3 Absolute Favorite Foods
1) String Cheese
2) Nectarines
3) Chocolate ice cream
3 Things I’d Like to Learn
1) How to stand up without help.
2) How to climb anything.
3) How I can arrange my life so that I can be upside down as much as possible.
3 Beverages I Drink Regularly
1) Formula
2) Water
3) Grape flavored water (We juiced our grapes last year and canned the juice and will occasionally add some to water in a sippy cup at meals)

Babies I tag... I don't think any babies read this so I don't think I'll tag anyone!

Posted by Trista @ 3:15 PM :: (3) comments

Friday, August 04, 2006

She's a Cruiser!


Look at that posture!
Originally uploaded by Temmerling.
It's funny. Until I got involved in trying to conceive and started reading parenting magazines, the term "cruiser" meant something entirely different to me...

But, watch out, world! She's cruising! Nothing can stop her now! Err... except for a lack of furniture in her path. But no! For then she just drops to her knees and crawls, crawls, crawls, inexorably, to her destination. She is unstoppable. She MUST shut every. door. in the house! She must splash in the dog water! She must scatter dog food! She must throw her toys down the stairs! So much to do, so much territory to cover.

Posted by Trista @ 9:06 AM :: (0) comments

Tuesday, August 01, 2006

One year photos


1 year standing
Originally uploaded by Temmerling.
Ok, we're still a couple of weeks away, but we wanted pictures to put in the birthday invitations...

Here are Julia's official One Year Old pictures. The sitting was exhausting. She's decided that she doesn't WANT to sit still for the photographer! But they turned out so cute. These will probably be the last KK pictures until Christmas, so we bought a bunch.

1 year wicker chair

1 year crawling

1 year cutie pie

1 year laughing

1 year sitting

Posted by Trista @ 9:52 AM :: (1) comments

Growing up in leaps and bounds


playing with the baby bottle
Originally uploaded by Temmerling.
We're unclear if she was doing imaginary play, or if she was really hoping that something would come out of this baby bottle... hard to say what she was thinking, but it was sure cute!

Yesterday morning Julia woke up about 6. That was about a half hour before I needed to be up for work, so first I tried to see if she would snuggle with me. No go, she wanted down. So I put her on the living room floor and curled up to drowse on the loveseat. After a few minutes she had crawled to the loveseat and was trying to stand up. Our furniture is just a little too tall for her to pull herself up on, so I helped her stand up. And then she started trying to crawl up onto the loveseat with me. So I helped her up. And she pushed her way up through my arms so that she was laying against me with her head on my shoulder, gave a big sigh, and promptly fell asleep.

I guess she decided that she wanted to snuggle and drowse a little after all!

Posted by Trista @ 9:45 AM :: (0) comments

I'm behind on blogging


Grandpa kisses
Originally uploaded by Temmerling.
Which is sad because we're rapidly approaching Julia's one year birthday...

We had a big family photo shoot last Monday (July 24th) and here are some of the best pictures...

Katie is wondering what Julia is laughing at

new family portrait

Posted by Trista @ 9:33 AM :: (2) comments