Reunited and it feels so good

While I didn't weep for Mom while she was away on her business trip, I was still incredibly anxious for her to come home.



And when she came back and I saw her yesterday morning, I was not going to let her out of my sight! I spent all day yesterday being super-clingy. I was so happy, in fact, that not only did I kiss her for the first time in awhile but I even had a smooch to spare for someone who never gets kisses from me.

I left my Mom in San Francisco

My Mom has been in San Francisco since Wednesday, so this is the longest I've ever gone without seeing her. She comes back late tonight. So far it hasn't been too bad; in fact, I had my first sleepover at Babcia and Dido's on Thursday night. What a blast! Today will be the big test, as I'm spending the whole day just with Dad. I hope he can handle me!

I'm doing a bit of house cleaning today, posting a bunch of photos that I've overlooked during the last couple weeks. Here's a cute photo of me and Isabella, who came over with her brother Alec for dinner last weekend.


Here I am with Aunt Jess two weeks ago. She's moving up to Connecticut to start her orthodontics studies at UConn; I'm looking forward to visiting her later this summer.


This photo will be particularly interesting to Grandma and Grandpa, as Dad says this is the first time that I've looked exactly like he did in one of his baby photos. I assume he's referring to the face and not the outfit.


And I'll end with one of my irresistible smiles.


Wish me luck with Dad today, and I'll talk to you after the weekend!

Name that body part

Dad posted a video a few weeks ago where I correctly identified a few of my body parts before losing interest. Thanks to Babcia and Dido's great tutoring, I've learned so much since then, both in Ukrainian and English. That's why I aced Mom and Dad's latest quiz.

Ask Julia: 6/26/08

The Ask Julia questions are piling up, so let's get down to business. First up is Aunt Rebecca, who has been on fire these past couple weeks with great questions:

Do you have any baby dolls yet, Julia? I remember that Diana used to love to cut their hair, and I suspect that if you ask Aunt Paula, she can tell you stories about her dolls too.
The only real doll that I have is that Corolle doll, and I react to it the same way I did here back in November—by pulling a Hannibal Lecter:



If you like both bananas and ice cream, ask your mom to make you a banana split one of these hot summer days. Have you ever been allowed to drink soda pop? You can put ice cream in a glass filled with soda and have another great drink. I have a feeling, though, that these are not on your mom's approved list.
Babcia and Dido have already let me have fruit and ice cream together, and you're right, it's very tasty! No soda yet, though. I'm sure my head would go kaboom.

Any chance of getting a pet?
Given Dad's allergies, and the chance that I might have them too, I don't think so. And that's okay, because I still get nervous when I see animals up close.

Which parent do you prefer riding with in the car?
Mom of course, just because I prefer doing just about anything with her. But my driving experience is about to change dramatically, because as of yesterday my car seat got turned around and I'm now facing forward. It's a whole new world ahead of me!

You look like you've grown. What size are you wearing now?
I wear some 24 mos. outfits and some 2T.

When you go to church, do you have to go to the cry room, or are you well enough behaved to sit with the rest of the congregation?
I go to the cry room now, but Mom and Dad are toying with taking me out one of these Sundays. We'll see if I can resist the urge to start babbling.


What is your favorite flower?
I don't have one yet, but Dad let me smell the flowers in the back of church last week, and I made him take me back to the roses at least a dozen times so I could keep sniffing. So for now, I'd say roses are pretty high up on the list.

Here's what Aunt Paula wanted to know this week:

You seemed to be walking very well. When you go out with your parents or with Babcia and Dido, do you do a lot of walking?
I do! Every day I walk more and more. Then I get tired out and make them carry me. Dido has noticed that I keep trying to walk to the pharmacy a couple blocks away. Maybe I want to be a pharmacist like him!

I just love your little swimming pool. I really like the way you get into it. Do you think that your pool classes have helped?
Perhaps, but the water is so shallow, I'd say that it's more like my baths and less like being in the swimming pool. But the classes helped me feel comfortable in the water, just like Music Together helped me find the beat when I listen to music.

I know by the video that you say mommy. Do you say daddy? Have you given your dad a kiss yet?
I say "Daddy" all the time. I haven't given him a kiss, but I've allowed him to give me a kiss, so that's progress. But I haven't really kissed Mom for awhile either, so maybe it's just part of a more general "no kissing" phase I'm going through. .

Do you have something planned for the 4th of July? Are there going to be any fireworks for you to see? Maybe you could talk your mom and dad into letting you stay up. Take an extra nap!
I think I would enjoy them, but yes, it would interfere with my bedtime, and Mom and Dad don't like to do that. But the fireworks are basically in our backyard (they set them off in the park a block away), so I don't know if I'll be able to sleep through them. Although I've been sleeping through several loud thunderstorms over the past couple weeks, so who knows.

Thanks for the always-great questions. I wish other people would write me questions too, but I guess only Aunt Paula and Aunt Rebecca love me. I'm sure I'll get over the rejection...some day.

Lucky thirteen

My 13-month birthday is today, though now that I'm 1, these month-to-month birthdays aren't quite as monumental as they used to be. However, Babcia is having a real birthday today, so Mnohaya lita, Babcia!

One thing I've outgrown since my last birthday is formula, which I've been off of for a couple weeks now. Mom and Dad began transitioning me over to milk shortly after my birthday, and now my formula is a distant memory.

And since it's now been one day short of a month that I took my first steps, here's a look at how much progress I've made. I'm walking around everywhere these days, and while I don't fall as much as I used to, I do wipeout from time to time.

Sesame shirt

Dad is funny. Before I was born, he swore up and down that he'd keep his kids away from Elmo, and then after I fell for the red furry guy in Turks and Caicos, he went out and got me pajamas with Elmo (and Abby Cadabby) on them. I was overjoyed...and very puzzled. How did Elmo get there? But I soon got back to business: rifling through Mom and Dad's stuff. And Dad kept asking me the same question—are you deaf and blind? I already told you, Elmo's right here!—so I took off to look for someone more interesting to talk with.



As a funny postscript to this, the following night I wore Elmo-free PJs and kept searching for him on my shirt. Where'd he go?

Pool party of one

We're still without central air conditioning (hopefully the replacement part will be in this week and we'll be back in business), so when it's not thunderstorming—which has become a daily event—I'm keeping cool by heading out to the backyard and shuttling back and forth between my wading pool and my "water table."





Here's a video of me in action. This was taken a week ago, and I've become a bit more sure-footed since then (more on that later this week).