Hi!

Julia is following in her sister's footsteps when it comes to being social. Just recently, she has started saying, "Hi!" and waving to people. In the grocery store, at the pool, going for a walk, at the gym, and so on. Most people return the greeting. If they don't, Julia is perplexed. I mean, come on. How can you resist a smiling 13-month-old baby, enthusiastically saying, "Hi!" while waving and smiling?

Cruising

After last week's physical therapy session, the light in the gross motor skill part of Julia's head has come on. Everything seems to have clicked for her.

Julia can not only pull herself to standing at the couch and coffee table, but she can also pull to stand at flat surfaces like the sliding glass door or the fridge. Along with the pulling up, Julia is going gang-busters with cruising. For those of you needing a refresher in baby movement lingo, cruising is walking sideways while holding onto something (such as a couch) for support.

Even though it's a lot of work to make sure Julia is safe while exploring, we're very happy that she has all these new abilities.

Product Placement

This evening, Julia snuck into the pantry and grabbed a can of Coke Zero. Not only does she know how to hold the can and try to drink from it, but she also knows how to model a product for the camera. Perfect shot, Jules!

Mommy's Little Helper

Evelyn has been really helpful lately when it comes to caring for Julia. She feeds Julia her baby food, gives her toys to play with, washes her in the bath tub, pushes the stroller, gives her snacks, etc.

Today's helpfulness was very ambitious: cutting up Julia's banana for supper. Evelyn was eager to use her safe-cutter knife, so she quickly volunteered to help with dinner preparations. Evelyn did all the work herself - she peeled the banana, she cut a little less than half off for Julia, and then she cut that part of the banana into small pieces for Julia. Evelyn was so proud of herself for a job well-done.

Evelyn's Words

I suppose it's only fair to write about Evelyn's vocabulary, after yesterday's post. Evelyn has always spoken clearly. However! There are two words that Evelyn does not say correctly, and it just cracks us up.

refrigerator = re-fridge-re-a-tor
breakfast = bref-kast

Even when we say the words incorrectly back to her, she doesn't catch it.

Julia's Conversations

Julia has had a lot on her mind lately. She gets particularly talkative when she is in her high chair or on the changing table. At mealtimes, she frequently signs bird and squirrel. There may or may not be a bird or squirrel on the deck when she signs these words, but we chat about those animals nonetheless.

Changing-table conversations are more like her showing off all the baby signs Julia knows. She makes the signs, and then waits for Troy or me to say the words she's signing. As of today, the words she can sign are bird, squirrel, bath, milk, eat, telephone, night-night (go to bed/sleep), diaper, all done, more, sock, lotion, and Cheerio.

Julia does more than baby sign - some of her vocalizations sound a lot like real words. There are some words she doesn't baby-sign since she can say them. "Woof woof" means dog, and she says this whenever she sees a dog. "Kitty" and "Daddy" are pretty clear - strangers even recognize when she says these words. "Thank you" and "book" are pretty recognizable, too.

Tooth Number Four!

Everyone knows what all the fussing has been about lately - Julia's fourth tooth was coming in. Julia has especially been a mess at the gym the past week and a half. If I don't get paged while still working out, I would get paged as I headed to the child care room at the end of my workout. Julia cried at swimming lessons last Saturday, too. All this because . . . her top left tooth was coming in. Now that the tooth has finally broke through, Julia is back to her normal, bubbly, happy self.