sleepover

Today's Quiet Time was especially quiet... and that left me suspicious so I peeked in. What was going on? A sleepover, of course!

pajama dance party

Tonight's pre-bedtime activity: pajama dance party. We tuned the TV to a channel with some quality dance music and boogie-woogie-woogied until collapse. Fun times!

toy time

Julia is starting to focus more on things that are about arms length away so I got out the toy bar that attaches to the bouncy seat and the corresponding toys this morning to help spice things up.
When Madeline came home from school (yes, M is in pajamas in the middle of the day -- it was PJ day at school!), she began picking out toys that she thought Julia would like. Madeline showed each one to Julia and described it in great detail as she attached each toy to the bar. What a great helper!

miracle

About once or twice a week, Madeline succumbs to a nap during her afternoon Quiet Time. When I peeked in to check on her today (because silence during Quiet Time always requires parental verification), I saw that she had loaded up her bed with all her animal friends. I guess everyone was tuckered out today.

And for the first time since we've been a family of four, both girls napped at the same time!
Julia passed out in the swing while I was checking on Madeline.


What did I do with this rare time all to myself? I unpacked moving boxes that are still stacked high in the garage! Oh well.

baldy

We think Julia's hair has stopped falling out, so this is the baseline photo for all future hair comparisons. Still cute, even without much hair!

jealous

At least someone is getting some good sleep around here...

dancing machine

I'm finding it difficult to photograph Julia without resorting to the use of flash photography. This girl is constantly dancing -- kicking her legs, flailing her arms. She's a blur of baby motion!

julia at one month

Our new pediatrician doesn't schedule one month well baby check-ups, so we don't have any official measurements to share about Julia at this milestone. Here are our observations:

She loves to sleep during the day and not so much at night. Right now she's only sleeping about 3 hrs at a time. We're hoping that soon we'll get her schedule flipped so that we can all get some sleep at night!

Julia is a NOISY sleeper! We've had to get used to lots of grunts and groans and mumbles coming through the monitor in the middle of the night.

She is slow to wake up, just like her mom.

Her Soothie pacifiers are her best friends, but she still hasn't quite figured out how to keep them in her mouth as long as she would like. This is especially problematic when she is sleepy and needs to soothe on the pacifier, so one of us usually has to help hold it in her mouth (sometimes 15 minutes or more!) until she falls asleep.

Julia prefers the Moby wrap to the ring sling when we're carrying her around.

Madeline was a very efficient eater, taking about 15-20 minutes for the entire eat/burp/spit-up/back to sleep routine. We didn't know how good we had it back then, but now we do! Julia takes about an hour to get through the cycle.

Julia knows our voices and settles down when we talk to her, even for Madeline.

We've started seeing a couple of smiles here and there -- they just melt your heart!

Overall, Julia is a content little girl who is pretty slow to fuss and quick to settle down. We're looking forward to learning more about her personality over the coming months!

hair story

Julia is starting to sport the "George Costanza" look that Madeline popularized way back when she was a month old. Just like with Madeline, Julia's hair on the top of her head is all falling out but the sides and the back are staying put. When Madeline's hair grew back, it was a mohawk. Wonder if Julia's will do the same?

fresh air

I think we were all getting a little stir crazy from being cooped up inside these last few weeks. A little walk was just the pick-me-up we needed!

checking out the neighborhood pond

bathtime 2.1

Julia's umbilical cord has finally gone and her belly button has healed, so she got to take a "real" bath for the first time today in the baby tub. She initially cried when she felt the water, but then decided that lounging in the sling was pretty comfortable.

Madeline was quite the bathtime helper: she picked out which washcloths to use, she helped me wash Julia's hair, she put lotion on Julia's arms and tummy, and she appointed herself lead patrol on the spit-up watch. (There were no spit-ups during the bath, she was happy to report).

And after the washing, drying, lotioning and general commotion was all over, a nap ensued.

back to work

We've been lucky to be able to spend these first couple of weeks of Julia's life all together as a family of four. Today, though, Josh heads back to work and it will be just us girls at home. Let the madness begin!