Friday, November 30, 2007

Tubthumping


All is right with the world once again, because Mom's home from her trip to D.C. It was only one night, but still, I missed her (or at least, I was happy to have her home). On top of that, Dad had to stay at work late the same night, so I spent extra time with Babcia and Dido, who put me to sleep last night (and did a good job - I slept for 10 1/2 hours straight).

The Christmas tree that sprouted in our sun room wasn't the only big change in the house. The pack 'n play, which the tree displaced, has been temporarily relocated to the basement, but my swing has been packed up and shipped out to the garage (I still have a few more pounds before I outgrow it, but I don't really like it that much anymore, so I have a feeling it's gone for good). And on the third floor, the pink papasan seat that I had been so anxious to wriggle out of these past couple weeks, is also gone. In its place, they've put an inflatable bath tub for me to sit in and play with my toys so they can keep an eye on me while they're in the shower.


You could also call it an inflatable toilet, since I tend to dirty my diaper whenever I spend time in there. So far I'm enjoying myself, but I bet in a few weeks I'm going to learn that it's fairly simple to escape when you set your mind to it. Then we'll have to see what they come up with. It's like an ongoing chess match between me and them.

Wednesday, November 28, 2007

Ask Julia: 11/28/07


Not that I've caught you up on my holiday weekend, let's dive into the Ask Julia questions that piled up over Thanksgiving. Aunt Rebecca sent along several:

You told us how much you weighed, but you didn't put it into perspective for us. How tall are you and what percentile do you fall into the height and weight charts? What size clothes are you wearing now?
I'm 28 inches, but I don't know nothin' 'bout no percentiles. We haven't asked where I fall on the chart, and the doctor hasn't volunteered that info. I'm sure I fall on the high end, though. One thing I can say is that I've finally fallen off pace with Dad and Uncle Ryan. Grandma had passed along their height/weight stats during their respective first years, and while I was on pace with them for awhile, I'm now a pound or two off of what they each were at 6 months. Which is a relief.

Size-wise, however, I've busted out of my 9-month clothes and am now wearing 12-month clothes. And since Mom's friends donated lots of clothes, I've got quite a large wardrobe to pick from!

What did you enjoy the most about your first Thanksgiving?
I didn't enjoy still being sick, but I loved all the attention. There were eight smiling faces catering to my every need that day...who wouldn't love that?

Did you watch any football? If you did, which games, and who did you root for?
I did catch a bit of Dad's New York Jets playing, if you can call it that. They ended up losing to the Cowboys 34-3. I'll still root for them, but this is a season best forgotten. In other words, it's perfect for someone who possesses almost no short term memory, like myself!

When are you planning to go meet Santa Claus and sit on his lap?
No close encounters with Santa for me this year, though I've already crossed paths with him a few times. Mom and Dad are worried that I might get a bit freaked out by the jolly old guy. So I'll admire him from afar, especially if his elves have one of those nifty computer screens that display the digital photos.

Have you made a Christmas list yet, and if you have, what is the first thing you put on your list?
All I want for Christmas is my two front teeth. Or any teeth for that matter...this teething thing is no fun!

Is Angelina pregnant? I figure since you know so much for such a little girl, you might know that as well.
Dad says I'm no longer allowed to comment on topics that overlap with his work, so I have to pass on this one. (It's kind of like separation of church and state, though don't ask me which is which in this scenario.)

Have you been practicing walking in Aunt Jessica's heels on Thanksgiving too?
I took a break from walking in her heels, because Mom brought so many baby shoes for me that I had plenty of footwear to keep myself occupied.

Rumors abound that George Steinbrenner has been consulting with you over the makeup of the 2008 Yankees. Should they wear lip gloss or not? Just kidding. Who would you recommend that George offer a contract to (of someone who is not currently on the team)?
Not sure where all the hostility is coming from, but try directing it at your Texas teams who didn't make the MLB playoffs. I'm not sure about specific players, though we need some bullpen help and could use another starter (I hear the team might trade for Minnesota ace Johan Santana, but that would mean bidding farewell to Melky Cabrera, one of my favorites).


My Aunt Paula also piped in with these queries:

How did you enjoy your first Thanksgiving? Did you get to taste any turkey? How did you enjoy visiting with your grandparents, aunt and uncle?
She wrote this before I posted about my Thanksgiving weekend, so I won't go into all that again. But alas, there was no turkey for me (better luck next year). Although I'm sure my parents wished they could have given me some tryptophan to put me to sleep during those couple nights that I was wide awake in the wee small hours of the morning.

Have you made out your Christmas list yet?
Nothing is on my list this year. I figured I would give them one year off, because I'll be asking for tons of stuff every Christmas from here on in!

I was just putting the finishing touches on this post when my Aunt Jess, orthodontist-to-be, sent in these questions:

Thank you for congratulating me on the blog! What will you be asking Santa for? Maybe a toy because it doesn't seem like you have enough of them!
I might only be a six-month-old, but I know sarcasm when I see it! Actually, it seems like Christmas came early, because Mom and Dad have started opening the "6 months and up" toys that they've been sitting on for a couple months now. So now I've got a whole new batch of toys to play with (that doesn't stop me for whining out of boredom, however!).

Maybe some shoes? You came to Cherry Hill for the weekend when your parents went to Chicago with seven pairs of shoes and you still wanted to wear mine!
True, but that was before my cousin Ava lent me all of her shoes, so now I have more shoes than I could hope for (though I'm beginning to understand that you can never have enough shoes!). Actually, my new favorite thing to do is snack on my shoes, so maybe asking for more of them isn't such a bad idea...


Thanks for all the questions! Now how about sending me some more?

Brace yourselves

Let's hear it for my Aunt Jess, who just found out today that she was accepted into University of Connecticut's Orthodontics program! She had put them at the top of her list that she submitted to the matching program (you have to go to whichever program you're matched with), so she's thrilled. It's also a happy day for Mom and Dad, because they're officially off the hook for having to fund my braces and retainers. So hooray for all of us!

Tuesday, November 27, 2007

Oh Christmas tree, oh Christmas tree


For the past few weeks, Dad had been telling me that I was in for a lot of excitement when the Christmas season rolled around. Over the weekend, I finally got to see what all the fuss was about. After we got back from Grandma and Grandpa's, Babcia and Dido took me for a long walk, and when I got back home, I was stunned to find a huge tree filled with lights sitting right where my pack 'n play and swing used to be. It was quite dazzling, and it got even better a few hours later when I saw it again and it was filled with shiny ornaments. It looked so pretty! So did the rest of the house, which Mom decorated for the holiday. How festive!


Sunday, Mom and Dad plopped me down in front of the tree for a photo shoot. Soon enough, though, I got distracted by all those pretty ornaments.


I wonder what else the Christmas season has in store for me?

Monday, November 26, 2007

Thanksgiving fever

Maybe I'm allergic to the holidays or something. If you recall, I came down with a fever on Halloween night. Then I got another one the night before Thanksgiving (I blame the flu shot and other various boosters I got that morning at the doctor's). It peaked at 103, and my Dad, who had planned on driving us down to Grandma and Grandpa's after my first feeding Thursday morning, quickly realized that if I was going to be getting up every hour or so, there's no way he would be alert enough to drive if we waited until morning. So we all piled into the car around midnight on Wednesday and headed down. Mom and Dad said it wasn't as eventful as last year's trip down for Thanksgiving, when they hit a deer, but it was a memorable first Thanksgiving nonetheless.

My fever was gone by Thursday, but I was off my game all day and slept much of the day (including most of Thanksgiving dinner). But come Friday, I was my usual cheery self, and basking in all the extra attention. There was so much to do. First, I perused all the Black Friday advertisements.


Then I let Grandma put something silly on my head.


After that, I think Grandma got confused when Mom told her that I eat apples now, because this is what she gave me. Where's the jar and spoon, Grandma? (Just kidding, she gave it to me to keep my teething gums occupied.)


Major kudos go to Grandpa, who was a master all weekend at getting me down for naps, something that's harder than one would think (just ask Dad!). Grandma's pretty good at it too. Before I knew it, it was Saturday morning and time for me to go back home.

Little did I know that even more excitement awaited me that weekend...

Sunday, November 25, 2007

The joy of six


Hello again, all! I hope you all had a very happy Thanksgiving. There's so much to talk about over the next few days—including how I spent Turkey Day, the surprises waiting for me when I came home and tons of Ask Julia questions—but let's tackle the biggest news right now: I'm six months old today! Can you believe it? (Mom and Dad sure can't!) It's been an eventful half-year to say the least. Dad claims that he and Mom decorated the whole house this weekend to celebrate, but I think they actually did all that for Christmas. You can fool a three-month-old Dad, but not a six-month-old!

And while I'm six months, I can pass for much older. No, I don't mean that I could pass for a year or maybe even a couple months older than that. As my parents found out today, given the right outfit I can pass for a 80-year-old Ukrainian peasant!



There will be much more to come over the next couple days, so check back again soon.

Wednesday, November 21, 2007

Twenty-something



If you had 20 lbs. 11 oz. in the pool, you're a winner! That's what I weighed in at when I had my six-month checkup this morning. And I'm also 28 inches tall. The doctor also cleared up several of our questions, so let's do a pediatrician-inspired lightning round of Ask Julia:

Why aren't you rolling over yet?
Um, did you see how much I weigh? Bigger babies like me tend not to be as mobile, so the whole rolling over thing might not happen for awhile.

Why do you keep smacking yourself in the head?
Turns out this is a common practice in teething babies. It soothes me somehow.

Speaking of teething, when's that going to happen?
Any day now, apparently. The doctor pointed out two bumps on my lower gum, which are teeth that are close to breaking free.

When you can move on to Stage 2 foods?
Just as soon as those teeth come in.

I got another round of shots, including a flu shot (grrrr), which put me out of commission for much of the afternoon. I also have a bit of a fever after all of that activity, so tonight might be touch and go. Hopefully I'll be in good shape tomorrow for Thanksgiving.



First thing tomorrow, I'm heading down to Grandma and Grandpa's for Turkey Day. I'm looking forward to seeing them, Aunt Jessica and Uncle Ryan (as well as Babcia and Dido, who will also be coming down). My first Thanksgiving should be swell, as I have a lot to be thankful for: being born; my loving parents; the best nannies in the world, both full-time (that's you, Babcia and Dido!) and part-time (Grandma and Grandpa); and all of you blog readers, who have given me such love and support (and gifts!) these past six months. Of course, I'd be even more thankful if you'd send some Ask Julia questions for me to answer when I return home.

Happy Thanksgiving to all, and to all a good night!

Tuesday, November 20, 2007

Weighing my options



Don't let this smile fool you. I'm a little nervous, because in a few hours, I'll be visiting the doctor for the first time in two months. I don't want to get more shots, but I have a feeling that a few will be coming my way. Meanwhile, Mom and Dad are anxious to find out how big I've gotten. Will the scale read 20 lbs.? 21? Do I hear 22?



I'm not sure what number to expect. I still eat quite a lot, but in the last couple weeks, I've started learning when to say when. I push my bottle away quite regularly, declaring my feeding to be finished even though there is still an ounce or two left in the bottle. I guess I'm just devoting more and more of my stomach space to fruits and veggies, leaving less room for formula.

Now that the holiday season is almost upon us, I've been hearing alot about the hot toys for Christmas, but the stories have got it all wrong. You can keep your Wiis and your Webkins, because when I visited Grandma and Grandpa last weekend, I discovered the perfect toy: an empty cream cheese container.



That's not the only new toy I've picked up. Mom bought me a play remote control, and Grandma give me a toy cell phone, so now I can be just like Dad!



Well, I'd better rest up for my doctor's appointment. Wish me luck!

Monday, November 19, 2007

A flurry of activity



I know, I know, I'm long overdue for an update. But everytime I sat down to write one up, there was another distraction. Like yesterday, my parents wanted to me to look outside and watch my first snow flurries. My reaction was eh, though I did perk up a bit later that day when we went outside and I could actually feel them on my face. This morning, however, was a different story entirely. I looked outside and there was snow everywhere, and more of it falling in big, fat flakes! Now that was impressive, and worthy of a squeal.

Then yesterday afternoon, Mom whisked me off the mall with Babcia and Dido. She tried to show me Santa Claus, but I was more interested in the computer monitor they were using to display the digital photos they took of Santa. That's what I want for Christmas! (The monitor, not the photo with Santa.)




So at long last, it's time to recount my time alone with Dad for much of last week. He took off from work for a few days, which meant he watched me full-time and gave Babcia and Dido a breather. He certainly amped up my playtime—I can always count on him to fly me around the house, throw me up in the air and even (don't tell Mom) turn me upside down on occasion— but there are a few things that he needs to work on. First and foremost, he somehow managed to screw up my oatmeal (all he had to do with mix the oatmeal with some formula; it's not brain surgery!). Also, he's no good at getting me down for naps when I'm obviously tired and cranky (Telltale sign #1: I rub my eyes. Telltale sign #2: I start whining and crying).

Otherwise, though, we had ourselves a wonderful time. We had some nice heart-to-heart talks, like this one:



And we even rolled one of my balls back and forth. Well, we tried to, at least:



Don't worry, I did throw the occasional fit and managed to came up with a couple other mischievous wrinkles. For the past two months, I've been patiently sitting in my pink papasan seat each morning while Dad takes a shower. Well, enough is enough and I'm getting bored, so now I spend all my time trying to lean forward and wriggle my way out of there.



He'd better come up with a new plan, because I'm going to figure out how to get out of here one of these days!

By the way, you're probably wondering about the outcome of our latest late-night standoff. I won the Saturday night battle, staying up from 4:45 a.m. until 6 (and crying for much of that time), until Dad finally brought me into bed with him and Mom to sleep another 30 minutes. But once again, Dad won the war, as I slept through the whole night last night. Don't get too cocky Dad, because a rematch is always just around the corner...

Saturday, November 17, 2007

Night moves

Mom and Dad looked so rested and relaxed when they came back from Chicago. That simply will not do, so I'm back to waking up in the middle of the night, wide-eyed and ready for action. This has been going on all week, but early on, I was getting up too late in the night, around 5 a.m. or so, and Dad would just bring me into bed, which successfully got me down for another hour or two. So I shifted things up a few hours, to the 2 or 3 a.m. hour, which has set the stage for another late-night showdown with my parents. Last night I got off easy because Mom came in and scooped me right up; tonight they've brought out the big guns (i.e. Dad). We've been facing off for about 45 minutes so far, and I'm not caving yet!

Thursday, November 15, 2007

Vacation, meant to be spent alone

The letters have been pouring in to my mailbox this week. Everyone is waiting with bated breath to hear about my big weekend getaway with Grandma and Grandpa (and Aunt Jess too, who was there for most of my stay). In a word, it was terrific! They were such attentive, loving hosts, and made sure there were so many new things for me to experience. I walked a mile (okay, just a step) in my Aunt's shoes...



Caught up on the latest headlines with Grandpa...



And finally discovered a food that I don't like: string beans.



My best friend Isabella (who just learned to walk recently. I'm so jealous!) was the first to write in with a question:

How was your first solo vacation without Mom and Dad? My parents have been pining for a weekend away, but Alec convinced me that we should protest against it. Since you're my friend and the real expert, I thought I'd ask you.

You've got to convince your big brother to see the light. It was so great! And the best part is, I had everyone fooled. They thought that Mom and Dad were having the vacation, but actually I was. You see, I've been wearing down Mom and Dad, and Babcia and Dido, over these past few months. But over the weekend, I had fresh meat! They all had so much energy and enthusiasm, with new rooms for me to explore and new toys to play with (though Mom and Dad made sure I had all my favorites from home). And then if you're extra lucky, Mom and Dad will feel guilty about leaving you alone for a couple days (even though you barely noticed they were gone), and when they come back they'll shower you with extra hugs and kisses...and gifts!

Now a question from Aunt Paula.

I understand that you had a wonderful weekend with your grandparents. What was the best part? Being with Grandma and Grandpa, or going to Grandma's work, or was it going to church? Did Aunt Jessica check out your soon-to-be teeth?

I didn't have a best part, I just liked bonding with Grandma and Grandpa. Going to Grandma's work was fun, because I always like meeting and charming new people (even though they didn't deserve it; they're laying Grandma off!). The best part certainly wasn't going to church, which didn't compare to the nice church that Mom and Dad take me to every weekend. This boring guy was there who put me right to sleep (and I wasn't the only one!). And yes, Aunt Jessica looked in my mouth and announced that my teeth hadn't arrived. I could have told you that, and I don't even have 3 1/2 years of dental school under my belt!

And here's one last question from Grandpa:

Do you think you picked up any bad habits this weekend?

You mean other than my new crystal meth addiction? Nope, I was having too much fun, and too busy laughing and smiling, to pick up any bad habits. But I can't wait to spend more time with you and see what trouble I can get myself into! (Grandma already wrote and invited me back again for the weekend. Score!)

Don't get me wrong, when Mom and Dad returned from their trip Monday and I saw them, I gave them the biggest smile they'd seen all month from me! Then the next day, I finally met Dad's friend Sara, who is touring the country with Mamma Mia as the show's dance captain. She danced with me a bit, and I loved it! Dad, you've been replaced as my favorite dance partner!

Now I'm back home, where I've been spending the past couple days with Dad, who took the whole week off to be with me. We've had our great moments and not-so-great moments, but that's a story for another day....

Wednesday, November 14, 2007

I've got the fever for the flavor of a Corolle doll



We're back home! I have a lot to say about my fun weekend with Grandma and Grandpa, but for now, I just wanted to check in for a quick hello—I know some of you go into withdrawl when there aren't regular blog updates. As much as I enjoyed the weekend, I was happy to get home and tackle some unfinished business, like munching on my Corolle doll, as you can see in my latest video:



I'll be back tomorrow with all the details about my big weekend away, so if you have any questions to send along, get 'em in now!

Friday, November 9, 2007

A call to arms


As Dad put it, "Everyone in the family who is flying to Chicago, take one step forward. Not so fast, Julia!" Looks like I'll be bunking with Grandma and Grandpa while Mom and Dad take a quick weekend getaway to the Windy City. Dad says he's looking forward to finally getting some sleep (I don't know what he's talking about), while Mom still looks a little unsure about being away from me for two whole days. Don't worry, Mom, I'll be in good hands!


As promised, I have one more video to share with you before we head out. Earlier this week, Mom was blowing on me and making silly sounds, so I decided to have myself a little evening snack.



By the way, if you're looking for an easy way to get to all the posts with videos, just click the "videos" link at the bottom of the post (or just go here). Have a good weekend, and I'll write again when we're all back home safe and sound. You know, it sure would be nice to come home to a letter or two!

Thursday, November 8, 2007

This dish is bananas, b-a-n-a-n-a-s!

Mmm-mmm-mmm! Mom fed me fruit—specifically, bananas—today for the first time, and wow, was that ever good. I didn't have my usual shocked reaction that I often have when trying foods for the first time, I just dug right in. So yummy!

Dad passed along this Ask Julia question from a person named Aaron. All spelling and punctuation errors are his:

I am Mr Aaron Wolfson, A businesman.I have been diagnosed with Oesophageal cancer.It has defiled all forms of medical treatment, and right now I have only about a few months to live. I am very rich,but was never generous, I have given most of my assets to my immediate family members.I have decided to give alms to charity organizations. I cannot do this myself anymore because of my health. I once asked members of my family to give some money to charity organizations, they refused and kept the money.I have a huge cash deposit with a finance House abroad.I will want you to help me collect this deposit and dispatch it to charity organizations.You will take out 20% of this funds for your assistance.If intrested kindly reply as soon as possible
Regards and God Bless
Mr Aaron Wolfson

Well, I am incredibly moved, so I'm just going to take all the money that you guys have given me over the past five months and send it all to this guy. Sounds like a can't-miss proposition!

Seriously, though, how about sending me a real question?

To close, here are two videos from the vault, chronicling some of my early bouts with gravity. This first one was taken in late September, when I hadn't quite figured out how to sit up yet.


And this second one is from about a month ago, when I had just started to learn how to pull myself up to a standing position (with a little help from Dad).



Look for another new video before the weekend.

Wednesday, November 7, 2007

TV or not TV?


What do Desperate Housewives, Brothers and Sisters, Prison Break, The Unit, Ugly Betty, My Name is Earl and Dexter all have in common? Well, they are all shows that one or both of my parents have stopped watching this year, because yours truly is taking up so much of their time. And that doesn’t even count Chuck, Reaper, Back to You and Gossip Girls, which are new shows that they watched briefly before realizing that they didn’t have any time for them. There are still a few precious shows they still make time for – especially The Office and Friday Night Lights – but even finding time for those is often a struggle. Maybe this Hollywood writer's strike is a blessing in disguise for them (just don't tell Dad I said so!).



A quick question from my Aunt Paula:

I understand that you will be going to Grandma and Grandpa's for a mini-vacation. What type of activities do they have planned for you? And you for them? I am sure Grandma will take you shopping. What do you think she should buy you?

Hmmm, I haven't thought about it that much. As long as they feed me and let me do lots of jumping, we'll get along just fine.

Speaking of jumping, here's a new video of me doing just that. Even when I'm not in my Jumperoo, I like to have a little spring in my step!

Sunday, November 4, 2007

So nice of you to join us!

On behalf of Dad, I want to apologize to those of you (including Grandma and Grandpa) who have been accessing my blog through jasonandvera.com and wondering why nothing had been updated for the last week. When we moved the blog over here, Dad redirected juliamadeline.com to the new location, but forgot to forward jasonandvera.com here as well. I've given him a good talking to ... and plan on giving him another good talking to around 2 a.m. or so tonight!

To help make it up to you guys, here's another video of mine, which showcases my foot-in-mouth expertise. Mom and Dad took this one in late September, when I finally discovered how tasty my toes could be.



So a much belated welcome, and what better way to get reacquainted than to send some new questions my way?

Having a ball

Mom, Dad and I survived last night's switch to Eastern Standard Time (aided in part by my stealth — and relatively odor-free — eleventh-hour poo, that kept me up a little longer than usual Saturday night, until my parents figured out what was going on). My late-night battle with Dad was brief, lasting only a half-hour until I threw in the towel and went back to bed. Then this morning I was up at about 6:20 a.m. (which, of course, was really 7:20 a.m.). In other words, it looks my transition to the time shift has been relatively smooth so far.

It's another bonding day for Mom and me, as Dad is still on weekend duty (he got off semi-easily last time around, but no such luck this weekend). Here's a new Ask Julia question from Jonah, who's about a year older than me and is the daughter of Dad's friend Jessica (not to be confused with my Aunt of the same name!). He read about my illness last week.

This is more of a tip than a question. I, too, love anything sweet that comes out of a plastic syringe, namely Tylenol. Something really fun to do is lunge for it in the aisle of the supermarket so everyone thinks Mom is shopping with a drug-addicted baby. Oh, and Julia, maybe I have missed something, but how many teeth do you have to show for all that chomping on things? What's your favorite thing to chew? I like my shoes. Mom says there are germs on shoes and I shouldn't eat them. Moms get upset when they almost crash the car trying to get a dirty shoe out of the baby's mouth. Try it sometime. Highly comical!

Thanks for the tips, Jonah. I thought I had gotten skilled at lunging for inappropriate objects to put in my mouth, but obviously I still have a lot to learn! As for your questions, I'm almost embarrassed to admit that after months of drooling, I still don't have a single tooth to show for my efforts. Mom and Dad have started checking my mouth every morning to see if anything has sprouted up. And my favorite thing to chew ... well, I'm an equal-opportunity muncher, but I'm partial to the old reliables, the 3 Fs: my fingers, fists and feet. They are so tasty and conveniently located, that I have to go with that trio.

You are probably wondering why this blog was titled "Having a ball." Because I finally got an Ask Julia question from someone other than Aunt Paula or Aunt Rebecca, I'm happy to share another of my videos for you, as promised. A couple weeks ago, Dad happened to be filming during the period of time each day when everything is hilarious to me. On this day, I cracked up everytime Dad threw my ball to (and at) me. Looking back, I'm not sure what was so funny, but at the time it was the funniest thing I had ever seen. Enjoy!

Saturday, November 3, 2007

Hour of our discontent


Tonight is going to be veeeery interesting. And not just because of the latest round in my late-night battle with Dad. Mainly, it's because of the switch to Eastern Standard Time, and turning the clocks back an hour. Until this year, Mom and Dad were huge fans of this night, because they got an extra hour of sleep. But now that I'm on the scene, the time change is fraught with peril. For the past month or two, I've been getting up pretty consistently at 6:30 a.m. But move that time an hour back, and you're talking about a 5:30 a.m. wakeup time!

My parents tried to ease me into the time change by putting me down an hour later last night, but even with that switch — and my losing an hour's sleep last night during my 2 a.m. crying fit — I was up at my usual 6:30 a.m. time.

In other news, my Dad has pulled weekend duty again, so it's pretty much just me and Mom this weekend. So we had a girls day out to the mall with Babcia. I have a feeling that the three of us will be going shopping together alot!

So how will things turn out tonight? Tune in tomorrow....

The battle for late-night

So it only took one night of getting up sick to completely undo my months and months of sleeping through the night. For the past two nights — Thursday and now tonight — I've been getting up in the middle of the night, wide-eyed and ready to play. That has set up another late-night battle of wills between Dad and me: will he get me to learn to fall back to sleep on my own, or will I be able to cry loud enough to convince Mom to overrule him and come to my rescue? It hasn't been fun for either of us so far...

In between sobs, I'll tackle another batch of Ask Julia questions from my Aunt Rebecca:

How crushed were you to find out that Boston won the World Series?

Ugh, don't even get me started! However, I do have to give credit to my relatives in CT and MA, who resisted the urge to rub it in when I saw them last weekend (at which point, Boston had won their first two World Series games).

Are you looking forward to Thanksgiving? Do you think you'll get to play with a drumstick, even if it's not on the list of foods you're allowed to eat?

I actually am, now that I sampled a Thanksgiving food for the first time today: carrots. They were quite tasty! Though Mom and Dad are dreading the after effects tomorrow morning, when they expect that they'll be changing an orange-colored dirty diaper. But I don't think I'll be playing with anything edible like a drumstick, because everyone knows that everything I play with eventually ends up in my mouth!

Speaking of Shiloh Pitt, is there any possibility that you'll be able to meet her when she and her family come back to New York?

Ah yes, the little girl I portrayed at Dad's Halloween party. I don't expect to meet her because I can't stand the paparazzi. Being subjected to Mom and Dad's incessant picture-taking and flashbulbs is more than enough for me!

Any plans to go window-shopping in NYC when the stores are decorated for Christmas? Any plans to go sit on Santa's lap at Bloomingdales?

I've heard Mom and Dad talk about maybe taking me back into the city during the holidays, but I'm not sure what we'll do. I do think I'm a little too young for Santa—I'd probably end up just chewing on his beard.

I see that Ratatouille has come out on DVD. Have you thought about putting that on your list for Santa Claus? What else catches your eye as something you'd like to have for Christmas?

One of the perks of Dad's job is that he gets all the new DVDs sent to him, so we already have it. It's just too bad that my parents won't let me watch movies for at least another year, especially because I hear that Dad has set aside lots of kids DVDs for me, everything from Baby Einstein to Dora the Explorer.

For Christmas, all I really want is something to gnaw on!

How is your family going to spend Thanksgiving this year? Does your mom have to cook? Will you help her if she does?

It looks like we'll be at Grandma and Grandpa's for Thanksgiving, so neither my Mom nor I will be cooking. That's too bad, as I'm sure I could whip up something yummy for our feast, like drool soup.

Sorry, I've got to get back to my late-night faceoff with Dad.

WaaaaaaAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!.....

Thursday, November 1, 2007

Wednesday night fever

Mom and Dad wanted my first Halloween night to be memorable, but not like this! It marked their first 2 a.m. call to the pediatrician. After I kept waking up every hour or so all night and picking up where I left off—crying inconsolably—they finally realized that I had a fever. And how did they confirm that? By doing something they swore to me they'd never do: sticking a thermometer up my butt! Strangely, it was more traumatic for them than for me (I didn't notice).

My 100.9 temperature prompted Mom's call to my pediatrician. After lots of reassurance and advice from the doctor, Mom and Dad gave me some Children's Tylenol and got me to sleep. I'm happy to report that when I woke up this morning, I was back to my old self again! My temperature was back to normal by the end of the day today, so all seems to be well. (Though I quickly grew to love that cherry-flavored Tylenol. Is there a 12-step program for getting off that stuff?)

And now, two new questions from my Aunt Paula:

How did you like trick or treating? I bet that you had a great time. You were the cutest butterfly that I have ever seen.

You're so sweet! As I mentioned yesterday, my illness sadly kept me from trick or treating this year (of all the days to get sick, eh?), so I'll have to wait until 2008 to start stockpiling candy.

Now that we are all down mourning the loss of our favorite baseball teams, what are you looking forward to now?

You mean other than my next bottle or food item? That's simple: Christmas. Dad has been telling me all about it, and how much I'll love all the pretty colors and twinkling lights. From everything that I'm seeing about it in all the stores I shop at, it must be right around the corner—next week, perhaps?—so I shouldn't have to wait long at all!

My Aunt Rebecca sent in some more questions, which I'll tackle tomorrow. But remember, no new Julia videos until someone other than Aunt Rebecca or Aunt Paula sends me a question!