Julia, oh how we love you

Julia is very cute.  I can't believe she is 2!  I still cherish the memories of the weeks just after her birth.  I remember them as being the most peaceful times of my life.  Just looking at her little sleeping body made me relax, and it still does 2 years later.

That makes her sound very docile.  She's not.  She is actually quiet wild.  She likes to scream and run around naked and tease and yell.  These are things I want to remember about her how she is now:

Julia likes to eat breakfast.  She likes bread with butter.  She does not eat crust.  She eats from the middle to avoid crust and to get as much butter in as possible.  She also loves oatmeal - but don't let it get too hot!  She'll eat it plain, with nuts, craisins or jam, but best of all she loves PB and honey in it.  She has this princess spoon that she insists on eating with at every meal.  She says "pritti poon!"  We used to have 3.  I don't know where the other 2 went, but we are down to one and it's often dirty - she used to flip over that, but lately she's resigned to eating with regular spoons.

We still give her drinks in a sippy cup because I hate the mess of spills - but she's capable of drinking from a cup or a straw.  She loves milk.  She loves to drink actually.  deek (drink) was one of her first words.  At breakfast she'll usually down 4 cups of milk.  Which is okay, because after breakfast she usually doesn't eat the rest of the day!  (or maybe that's why she doesn't eat the rest of the day....)

She takes a long time to eat, often we are all finished and have left the table before she decides she wants to get down from her high chair.  She can climb in and out of it on her own.  She's actually pretty proficient at climbing.

We moved her to a toddler bed after Christmas because anna decided she wanted her bed to be the floor.  She just crawled right in that thing and hasn't EVER gotten out on her own.  Not once.  It's amazing.  Really.  She sleeps with these 2 blankets that Grandma Buhler crocheted - she loves to stick her fingers through the holes and suck her thumb.  Oh she has cute little fingers.  She can open doors, but hasn't ever gotten out of her room at night or in the morning.  She just lays in her bed and calls "ANna, Mommy, Daddy"  Oh Julia.  She is a light sleeper though, we have to be real quiet after she goes to bed and when we wake up in the morning.

Julia usually goes to bed right at 7.  We read her some books - to which she always says "mo booka ree"  (more books read).  Then I sing her a song, she usually requests "tinkle tinkle tar" (twinkle twinkle little star).  She always sings the part with "star"  She also knows the word "day" in Child of God when I sing that.  We say a prayer as a family, then we tuck her in.  We don't see her again until about 7 in the morning.  She is usually last to wake up and we are chomping at the bit waiting to see her cute little face. 

Julia's got a big old belly.  She loves to point to her belly button. 

Today  Julia is 35 inches tall, 30 pounds, BMI 17, HC 19.3.
In sept she was: 32 inches tall, 24 pounds, BMI 16, HC 19.3

She's a very girly girl.  She loves to get dressed in the morning.  EVERY day she requests to wear a sunday dress, to which I reply NO.  Then she settles for either her Princess Shirt (from grma heiner) or her TuTu outfit (from uncle steven).  If neither of those are available she might consider wearing the BYU cougar shirt because I told her that her daddy loves cougars.  She likes to please him so sometimes she'll wear it.  She always remembers who bought her what and often calls clothes by the names of the people who bought them for her.  We are so blessed.  Thanks for buying clothes for our kids.

Julia loves to go.  If I say we are going somewhere she is very first to get her socks, shoes and jacket on.  Then she proceeds to get anna's shoes and follows her around pestering her to get them on.  20 minutes later, when we are finally ready, anna will say I NEED MY SHOES!  Julia runs quickly to get them for anna - she always knows right where she left them when she gave up on getting anna to put them on.

She is old enough to enjoy the library.  She still likes to run away and pull some books of the shelves, but mostly she is getting into reading.  She sits and looks at the pictures of the early reader books that contain barbies, ponies, fairies or PRINCESSES.  Did I mention she is obsessed with princesses?  It's no good. She loves loves loves babies - real ones and doll ones.  She has this little naked bald baby she carries around everywhere.  We watch my friends baby and Julia LOVES him.  She watches everything I do with him and later imitates with her baby.  She feeds her baby, burps her baby, rubs her baby's back, tucks it in, wraps it up, rocks it.....in essences she's a mommy and a princess through and through.

She loves to tease anna.  She likes to climb on anna, pull anna's hair, take away anna's toys and just BUG her.  But she's also always the first to give a luv to anna when anna is feeling sad.  she follows her sister around and does what her sister tells her to do.  They giggle and play and get into mischief together.  And of course, they dance together!  In this picture they are trying to get each other to touch the peacock at the Aviary.

Julia is terrified of everything.   Most of all: Dogs, Horses, Cows, and all animals except birds.  She loves ducks especially.  She was terrified of the doctors office today and WOULD NOT take her clothes off.  But she isn't afraid of nursery - she just walzes in like it's candyland or something.  The picture below is of Julia staring down a dog.

She hates to be left out.  If we go somewhere with anna and not her she gets deeply offended.  She likes to be included. 

My favorite thing about Julia is that she is so thoughtful, kind, and loving.  She gives THE BEST hugs and the sweetest kisses.  Just looking at her makes me smile, the way she walks, the way she talks, the way she runs and dances and sings and reads and plays.  When she looks at me I can just relax.  She is my little love, my little bobi, our dear dear Julia.  We are blessed to have her in our family.

pics above: 1 year birthday to 2 year birthday