Post-Christmas blahs

No sooner was I celebrating the fact that I finally remained healthy over a holiday, than Mom and Dad took me for the second part of my flu shot on Dec. 26. And once again, I had a bad reaction to it and wasn't myself for the next day or so. If you recall, when I got the first part of the flu shot the day before Thanksgiving, I got a fever and was out of sorts all Turkey Day long. This time around, I avoided a fever but my nose got stuffed up immediately, and again was acting un-Julia-like all day on the 27th. Too bad for Dad, who was home with me all to himself and bore the brunt of my frowny-face behavior. It wasn't a great day for either of us, but I'm happy to say that I recuperated by the 28th and was back to my old self. I'm still recovering from the congestion, but I'm almost as good as new. And Friday was much better with Dad! We took some walks outside and even settled down for a long winter's nap.

Aunt Paula wrote in with a few year-end questions, and also asked about all my Christmas photos:

I did not see many pictures of you with your Aunt Jessica. What is with that? Are you playing with all your new toys? Are you going out for a New Years celebration? Your Grandma, Uncle Dan, and I used to bang pots and pans at midnight. Do you have plans for ringing in the New Year?

I did spent time with Aunt Jessica, but I guess Mom and Dad never had their camera on hand. They took so many pictures of me opening my gifts that their shutter-fingers needed a break during the rest of the holiday.

I'm playing with some of my new toys, but not all of them. Some toys I got are still a little too advanced for me; as for the others, Mom and Dad want to parcel them out slowly so I always have something new to play with.

I'll be spending New Year's Eve with Babcia and Dido. Mom and Dad are ditching me to have dinner with friends in the city, but they'll be back before midnight (Dad has to work on New Year's Day).

I'll be back to ring in the new year with a host of new videos. Enjoy your celebrations!

One word: plastics

Mom and Dad don't understand why I love munching on my plastic containers so much. So here's a quick primer. First off, they're so yummy, and they give my teething gums a solid workout.


Also, in a pinch, they can double as fashionwear. So what's not to like?


Mom and Dad have been playing peekaboo with me the last few weeks, but now I've taken the initiative and have started playing it with them. How about you—want to play a quick game of a peekaboo with me?

Happy holidays

You've seen the Christmas videos, now it's time to look through some of my Christmas photos.

My holiday started off with a Christmas miracle: on the morning of the 23rd, I not only slept through the night, but I slept in until almost 8! That's the latest I've slept in two months! But the next day was even better, because that's when Grandma, Grandpa, Aunt Jessica and Uncle Ryan arrived for their visit. Then we all went to the children's mass for Christmas (they always went to midnight mass before I came along). Wow, it was packed! I didn't even get to sit with either set of grandparents. Next year we're going to have to go an hour early just to be able to sit together.

On Dec. 25, I didn't get a White Christmas, but I did get a bright Christmas: the weather was beautiful and sunny all day. And indoors, spirits were even brighter: everywhere I looked I saw pretty presents...and they were all for me!


I got lots and lots of great gifts from everyone, although my favorite presents came from Mom and Dad. They got me a Propel bottle, a cell phone and a cordless phone. Everything was so tasty!

I had so much fun with my relatives, and managed to spend quality time with all of them. I can't wait to see them all again!


These photos were just a brief sample of my mammoth photos from Christmas. If you want to see them all for yourself, click here to check out my Christmas photo album on Kodak Gallery.

The five videos of Christmas

I hope your Christmases were all as merry as mine was! I had such a happy holiday (and seven-month birthday!) with my family. I'll have lots of stories and pictures to share in the coming days, but I thought we'd start things off with a bang. I've got not one, not two, not three, but FIVE Christmas videos to share! Consider it my holiday gift to you.

First up, I decided to take a bow (and put it in my mouth!) as I unwrapped my gift from Mom and Dad.


I'm still working on opening up Mom and Dad's gift, but I'm finally starting to figure out the whole unwrapping thing.


Mom and Dad give me the best three gifts ever: I got a Propel bottle, a cell phone and a cordless phone to play with! And oddly enough, I get the feeling that they didn't spend a dime on those gifts!


Christmas can be a very emotional time. And as you can see, I go through just about all of them during these 60 seconds.


For our final video, I have some fun with another Christmas gift: tissue paper.


That's it for the videos, but stay tuned for photos and more coming soon!

Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night!

Before my Christmas celebrations begin in earnest (Mom, Dad, Grandma, Grandpa, Uncle Ryan, Aunt Jess, Babcia and Dido will all be on hand), I wanted to wish you all a very Merry Christmas and the happiest of holidays.


I hosted my first Christmas party on Saturday, and it was a huge hit (so was I)! It's too bad I could only admire the cookies—and especially Dad's world famous brownie trees—from afar this year, but I'm already working up an appetite for them at next year's bash.


The only thing I'm bummed about is that it poured all day today, which melted away all the snow that had been here for the past week. So that means no more sledding for (like in the photo above), and even worse, no white Christmas!

Still, I'm sure this will be a memorable and wonderful first Christmas. Make sure you check back soon so I can tell you all about it.

Bib-gate

I was so excited to get an Ask Julia question from Grandma for the first time in a long while, but it turns out—are you kidding me?— that she wrote to take issue with my claim in a previous post that I only have one Christmas bib.

I distinctly remember that you received two holiday bibs as a table favor for Thanksgiving. One was red and one was hunter green. What happened to the "Are those really my relatives" bib? It had a reindeer on it, I believe.

Yes yes yes, you're right. My apologies, especially since you were the one who so nicely bought me those bibs, along with my other bibs for previous holidays. I forgot all about that one, which I do wear from time to time, and Mom says I left out another bib as well. So I have three Christmas bibs in all.

I'm sure we can all rest easier now that this error has been corrected.

Ask Julia: "Nice" questions, Part 2

We heard from the grownups yesterday, now here are all the Ask Julia questions I received this week from the 3 and under crowd.

First up is my best friend Isabella, whom I'll be seeing at my Christmas party tomorrow:

I'm already planning my outfit and my spare (Mom says never leave home without one). What are you wearing?
I haven't finalized an outfit yet with my stylist (i.e. Mom), so I'm not sure what I'll be wearing. There are so many options: Versace, Calvin Klein, Osh Kosh B'Gosh, Baby Gap... Two things I'm reasonably sure of: my outfit will A) have some kind of a Christmas theme and B) be covered in drool (at the very least) by the time the party is over.

Not to be outdone, her brother Alec also wrote in, to vent about how Isabella is putting a damper on his holiday season:

I need your help! Isabella has figured out how to bust up my toys and it's all she ever does now!!! I can't build blocks or my train track or play cars without her knocking it over, kicking it, or sitting on it. Will you come over to play with her?
I'm sorry, but I don't see how this is a problem. Her actions sound perfectly normal to me. I'm nowhere near as mobile as Isabella is—yet—but this sounds like the same kind of things I like to do with Dad's "toys."
I'll play with her tomorrow at the party, but don't be surprised if we join forces and really start wrecking your playtime.

Finally, I received a sweet invitation from my friend Audrey:

My mom told me that when your mom was little, she went with my mom to see the Nutcracker Ballet at the Bushnell in Hartford. I think that is something I’d be interested in for next year. Do you think you’d like to go with me? I’m sure we could see it somewhere in the city. I guess our parents would have to come since I’m not really comfortable parallel parking the car in Manhattan.
That sounds great, although I don't know if I'll be old enough for nuts (or a live theater show) next year. But it sure sounds like something I'd love to do another couple years down the road! And by the way, I've seen my Mom parallel park, and I actually think I might be better at it than she is.

And with that, I'm off to get ready for all my big upcoming holiday gatherings. We're having a holiday party tomorrow for some of my kid friends (I think their parents were also invited), and then my relatives will be arriving before long to help celebrate my first Christmas. I'll make sure Mom and Dad take lots of photos and videos so I can continue to spread holiday cheer online throughout the week!

Ask Julia: "Nice" questions, Part 1

It took some time, but I did finally get several Ask Julia questions after I asked so sweetly (though I'm sure some would say "threatened") earlier in the week. However, I was upset to find that the questions only came from the same loyal readers who were already on my "nice" list: aunts with names ending in "a" and my fellow babies/toddlers. As usual, there was silence from my other readers on the "naughty" list. In the spirit of the holiday season, I won't start naming names, but let's just say this is a topic that we'll be revisiting in the new year.

We're going to split these into two parts. Today I'll tackle the grownup questions. I'll post the kid questions tomorrow. Aunt Paula wrote in with these queries:

You sure have a lot of Santa bibs. Do you have a favorite one? Do any of them have music or Ho, Ho, Ho sounds?
Believe it or not, I only have one holiday bib. I think you got fooled because I've been wearing it frequently lately, so it's been showing up in several pictures. It does not play music. I drool so much that I'd probably short out anything containing a battery or soundchip.


And Aunt Rebecca sent several questions my way:

I see you've been sledding of late and it looks like a whole lot of fun. Do you like winter better than summer? Do you like the cold weather, and the cold snow?
I certainly do love sledding, which I've been doing all week with Dido (who I think is already counting the days until I'll be old enough to go skiing with him). I hardly remember summer, but I will say that I love being outside, so I don't like it when it's too cold for that and I have to stay cooped up indoors. I also don't like being so bundled up with all those layers of clothes. So I have a feeling I'll like summer more, but winter definitely has its moments, like sledding.

Do your parents have a fireplace that you can sit in front of during those brisk winter days?
We do have a fireplace, which I hear will get fired up over the holidays. The one time I saw a fireplace in action I was completely transfixed, so Mom and Dad expect more of the same at home.

Which is your favorite Christmas color?
Um, is "bright and shiny" a color? I like the Christmas lights, so I guess I have to say white, as boring as that is. I guess this is the one-month-old in me, but I still have a soft spot for the classic dark-and-light contrasts.

Have you ever heard the Christmas song, "All I want for Christmas are my two front teeth"? Any luck there with those teeth? Perhaps you can ask Santa for a couple extra teeth if he has any hanging around.
You must have forgotten that I used that line as an answer to one of the "What do you want for Christmas?" questions from a couple weeks back. And still, sadly, there are no teeth to speak of. But absolutely, that would be the best Christmas gift.

Are you crawling a lot now? This is the age when you should be crawling a lot. Walking can come later.
Crawling is so my parents' generation. Now that we sleep on our backs, me and my fellow babies have little use for spending time on our stomachs. I don't think I'll be crawling. I do try to crawl when I end up on my stomach - Dad says I remind him of an upside down turtle, the way I hopelessly flail about (perhaps that will make a good video soon). But I think I will be among the many babies today who skip crawling.

Have you been helping mommy bake any Christmas cookies? Next year you can probably help her decorate sugar cookies with lots of tasty icing. What about a gingerbread house? Did your mom get you one of those?
In my house, Dad makes the Christmas cookies. I did supervise a bit last weekend when he was at work, but I'm finding it all pretty boring...at least until I get to taste it myself. No gingerbread house this year, either.

What is your favorite toy of the week?
I've got to go with my baby sled, because I've been getting hysterical when the fun is over and Babcia and Dido take me out of it. I never cry when any of my other toys are taken away, so that is a pretty big deal.

Do you watch yourself on video? Your cousin Diana used to love to watch herself on TV. Warning: TV adds 10 lbs.
Very funny! I do like to watch my videos, but I have an ulterior motive. When Dad shows me videos on his laptop, that means I can get close enough to play with the computer. And by play, I of course mean that I pound on the laptop and keyboard. Other than that, I do like watching them but I get confused by what is going on: how are Mom and Dad talking onscreen but also in person, right next to me? It makes my head hurt.

Where are you celebrating Christmas Eve and Christmas Day?
I will be holding court at home, and will be entertaining both sets of grandparents, Aunt Jess and Uncle Ryan. I guess Mom and Dad will be there too, though I don't expect to see too much of them with so many people vying for my attention.

Look for Part 2 tomorrow.

Morning pick-me-up

One of the highlights of my weekday occurs each morning when I'm playing on the daybed with Dad and I hear the sound of the front door opening. That means that Babcia and Dido have arrived for the day! Check out my reaction at the 30-second mark here:

Stand in the place where you live

There comes a time in every person's life where they must learn to stand on their own two feet. For me, that time came a week ago, when I first began keeping myself in an upright position (with a little support from a nearby object). For now, I do most of my standing in front of my newest toy, Leap Frog Learn-Around Playground. It's divided in two sections: the bottom part for babies who can't stand yet, and the top part for babies who can. Well, the bottom half was sooo boring that I had to learn to stand just so I could have a little fun on top. I do need Mom, Dad, Babcia or Dido to spot me, but I've been doing pretty good on my own!

Making a list and checking it twice

Santa's not the only one making a list of who's naughty and nice. As I've been supervising all of Mom and Dad's holiday preparations (gift wrapping, cookie baking), I've been keeping track of who has been sending me Ask Julia questions (two of my favorite aunts - both of their names end with "a"), and who hasn't (everyone else I know over the age of 3). Mom and Dad are always talking to people who say what big fans of the blog they are, but I haven't been feeling the love lately: my mailbox has been bare for the last week! All I'm saying is, the writer's guild members aren't the only ones who know how to walk a picket line.

So if you want to see more adorable videos like this...




...you'd better start writing me questions!

Pushing play

When it comes to playing with my toys, I've become a real pushover...

Gimme an O! Gimme a C! Gimme a D!

Today's playtime was brought to you by the letters O, C and D.

Holiday cheer

What a joyous time of year! The tree, the lights, the music...there's so much to love about the season.


In addition to rockin' around the Christmas tree, we've been lighting the Advent wreath (Babcia and Dido made it for us. Doesn't it look great?) each week. Here's a shot of Dad and I during the first week of Advent.


All this Christmas cheer...and we haven't even gotten to the gifts yet!

Leg of Mom

As you well know, I'm a girl who enjoys a good meal. And I love to get my chompers (can I call them chompers even though I still don't have any teeth yet?) on anything, and anyone, that I can. I liked sampling Mom's arms so much last month that I thought it was time to move on to her other limbs. Dad filmed my latest gourmet treat (it was more a light snack than a full-on meal), and he says it's one of my most adorable videos yet...which is really saying something!

Claus encounter

Each day closer to Christmas brings more holiday cheer. And I definitely needed some last weekend, because I was congested (I'm doing much better now). On Saturday, Mom and Dad took me to a local home to see the massive Christmas decorating display put on each year by the dentist who lives there. It was quite spectacular.

While doing some holiday shopping in town earlier that day, we stumbled across Jolly Old Saint Nick himself, who was greeting kids at the children's clothing store. With no other tiny tots present at the time, he came up to me and said hello. I started out tentatively happy, but my composure quickly began to crack, and once I flashed my patented Sad Face (a surefire signal that disaster is imminent), Santa wisely stepped away so Mom and Dad could diffuse the situation and get me smiling once again. So it looks like we'll have to wait at least another year before I can tell Santa what I want for Christmas.

Pa bell

Finally! After six months of doggedly pursuing Dad's various electronic devices (cell phone, blackberry, remote control, etc.), I successfully got my mitts on one of Mom and Dad's cordless phones. What happened next? Pretty much what you would expect...



There will be more videos and photos from the weekend to follow in the coming days, so be sure to check back often!

Monkeying around

I'm beginning to understand why Dad likes Curious George so much. The two of us have become buddies since I started reading about his adventures (and when I say "reading," I of course mean "chewing on the book"). We get along splendidly, because as you know I'm also curious about everything!

Christmas questions

Just as I was getting ready to complain about my lack of emails, I received one from Aunt Paula, who has a lot on her mind this week.

What do like the best about your pretty Christmas tree?
The lights, definitely, followed closely by the ornaments. If only Mom and Dad would let me get close enough to touch them...

Have you taken any of the ornaments off yet?
Of course! During my photo shoot in front of the tree last month, they let their guard down and I was able to snag one and start chomping on it. Dad said that next year he'll only be putting out ornaments that aren't breakable, because everyone expects that by then I'll be running around and likely causing all sorts of trouble.


I know you said that you were not going to sit on Santa's lap this year to put in your order. How do you think he is going to know what to bring you?
He's a smart guy, so I'm sure he'll figure it out.

Do you plan on putting out some formula for Santa to drink?
No way. Do you know how expensive formula is? Milk is much cheaper. And I heard my Dad say something about making Christmas cookies, so maybe I'll put some of those out for Santa too.

My fair baby

Maybe I should have gone as Eliza Dolittle for Halloween. What do you think?

If you're happy and you know it...

I thought I deserved a round of applause for all my latest feats, so I taught myself how to do just that! That's right, in addition to playing in the snow and learning to walk (kind of) this past weekend, I also figured out how to clap my hands together. Now I do it whenever I get excited (especially when I see people like Mom and Babcia for the first time each morning).

One small step for Julia

You might have noticed that none of my pictures were viewable on the blog earlier today. For once, Dad's computer wasn't to blame! One of the few drawbacks of using a site like Blogger is that every once in a awhile, the site goes completely or partially down, which means everybody's blogs are affected. Sometimes they're completely inaccessible; today the photos pulled a disappearing act. Happily, everything now seems back to normal.

So I'm putting my best foot forward, kind of like I did over the weekend when I took my first steps...with a little help from Dad, who held my arms. It will be another couple months before I'm walking on my own, but this was a big (albeit wobbly) step in that direction. Take a look for yourself:



As if that weren't impressive enough, I learned how to do something else over the weekend, but you'll have to wait until tomorrow for that news.

There's no business like snow business

We awoke this morning to unexpectedly discover a winter wonderland outside. And unlike the snowfall a couple weeks ago, which vanished by midday, this one went the distance. So Mom and Dad took me outside to experience my first winter weather.



Mom and Dad put me into my baby sled and pulled me all around the yard. At first, I was a little stunned by the snowy surroundings:



But once they took me down the small hill in our front yard, I was all smiles. This sledding thing is sure fun!



That's it for now, but the weather put me in an exceptionally cheery mood, which probably explains why I had several big firsts this weekend. I'll be blogging about them all week (and posting more videos as well), so check back again soon!

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.

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!

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?

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...

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.

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!

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!

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...