You love this toy - when you spin the red wheel, it plays music and you love to rock forward and back to it. Plus, you've learned how to make the music play all by yourself - smarty pants!Hello my beautiful ray of sunshine! It has definitely been too long since I last wrote - but I've just been so busy and preoccupied these days. Some of it boring grown-up stuff, but mostly just busy trying to keep up with you!
You reached some major milestones last week - the most impressive of which is you are crawling! Everywhere, and fast! On the Sunday before Labor day, we all went over to Chandra and Aiden's house to eat dinner and hang out. While we were there, you all of a sudden decided you could belly crawl (maybe you were trying to keep up with Aiden?). I caught a video of it on my phone - we were sooooo proud!! Well, that wasn't the end of it. About two days later I noticed you were occasionally going a few "steps" on your hands and knees, then you'd plop back down onto your belly and scoot along. I guess then something clicked in your sweet little head because by the very next day (Wednesday, September 7th) you were crawling like a champ! All over the place! So guess what mommy and daddy did this past weekend? BABYPROOFED! :) Yep, we got that gate up just in time. Sockets all covered up and all clutter gone! And an unexpected result of all this new found mobility? I am an obsessive vacuum-er now! Never thought I'd see the day....
See? Here you sit on a freshly vacuumed floor!Okay, so that was a great milestone, but you also met a not so great one. Your very first cold. :( Yes, we tried sooooo hard to keep you from catching it, but Aunt Beth had it, then Uncle J, then Daddy, then Mommy, then you, then Grandma. I think it was unavoidable, and only a matter of time. Luckily you only had some sneezes and sniffles that lasted about two days, but it was still two days too long. You were so pitiful and it just about broke our hearts to see you like that. You were a sport though, and were back on the go in full force in no time. I know there are many more colds, sick tummies, scrapes and bumps to come in the future, and I'll just tell you now that I would take each and every one of them for you if I could! We will do our very best to protect you, our most precious and cherished girl, but these are the experiences that will come as you explore the world - and we so want you to explore it! :)
Here's a quick list of other things you can do: crawl (of course); pull up to standing and cruise along any surface you can get to; play pat-a-cake on command, or we can just say "clap", or you'll just mimic us clapping; we'll say "How big is the baby? Soooo big!" and you stretch your arms way out; wave bye-bye or hi (with the classic backwards wave - I love it!); you know what these words mean: "fan", "picture", "mommy" and "daddy", "Eddie, Dylan, doggy", "bottle", "kiss mommy", "can I have some?"; you can blow raspberries; and it reeeeallly sounds like you can say "hi", "hi daddy", or "hi Eddie"- still not sure if you're really saying it or not, but it sure sounds cute! Oh and you are completely obsessed with balloons. You point and start babbling very loudly and excitedly, it's so funny! You definitely know the word "balloon" and we almost always get you one when we go to Publix, otherwise you just about throw a fit! Haha! You are excruciatingly cute and endlessly entertaining...life is just so much fun with you around!
Here you are "cruising" and trying to get your hands on any and everything!And the last (but biggest and BEST) news is......you are going to have a little cousin!!!! A girl cousin! Auntie Beth is pregnant and just found out that it's 85% likely to be a little girl! Of course, we've all known for a while now about her baby, but I didn't want to write about it too soon. I wanted to make sure she had announced it to everyone first before I did, but now we can shout it out. I am so happy for her and Uncle J!! And for you too, because you'll get to grow up with her - she'll be just as close to you as if she were your sister. The baby will be called Charlotte Patricia and is due to arrive around February 12th (or a week or so afterward if she takes after the girls in our family, haha!). Auntie Beth's tummy is growing bigger and bigger as little Charlotte grows, and she looks beautiful and healthy and happy! I am starting the planning for her baby shower which we'll have in early December. It's gonna be a great party and I can't wait!
I'm also starting to plan another splendid party for a sweet little girl who'll be turning one year old soon..... :) I can't believe it's already been almost a year since you came into my life and made the world infinitely more beautiful. I have loved every single solitary second of you, my darling Juliette. Every. Single. Second.
xoxo,
Mommy
P.S. We got a new car a couple of weeks ago, a 2010 black Mazda CX7 - I love it! It's a small SUV that is roomy enough for all my work stuff and your stuff, but still sporty and cute and fun to drive! :) We had to say goodbye to the Saturn. It was 11 years old and had been a good little car, but was time to be retired. I was a little sad because it was my first brand new car and my Grampa (Mimi's dad) helped me to get it when I was still in school and had no money. He was so sweet to help me out like that, and letting the Saturn go just reminded me of how much he did for me and how much I miss him. Someday when you're bigger, I'll tell you all about him and Grammy (Mimi's mom) and my dad too. They were all wonderful people who would have just loved and loved and loved you! Goodnight Julibean, I love you!
