April 29 - There She Goes!

Our days of holding Jules and carrying her around contently are long gone. If we are carrying her, she is busy looking around us to see what she can get into, and tries to squirm to get down. And once we put her on the ground...watch out, she's one fast little bean! She turns it into high gear when she goes after Amelia's water bowl and when the door is open to outside. She loves the great outdoors..we might have a future camper on our hands! She also loves the bathrooms, specifically the bath mat and shower curtain (that is her behind the curtain in the photo).

In other exciting news, she is finally holding her own bottle. She was content having us feed her...she would literally sit there with her mouth wide open and head tilted back. It was really quite funny. Jill recommended that I try giving it to her in the highchair and it worked the first time!
Jules can also pull herself into a stand now and pulls up on everything. I put her down for a nap this weekend and when I went in to get her (after she woke up), she was standing there waiting for me! She is also trying to climb over things (pillows, furniture, J.D. and I) and even let go of the table recently and stood on her own (she looked a little scared when she realized she wasn't anchored to anthing and sat down). J.D. and I are loving this new stage, she is so much fun!!

April 20 - Weekend Extravaganza

Hello baby Yamo fans-how was your weekend? Once again, we had great weather here in Gainesville and we were quite active. In fact, I'd say this was our busiest weekend yet with the bean. On Saturday, the University of Florida football team had their annual 'orange & blue' scrimmage. For those of you who don't live in a small college town or are unfamiliar with the popularity of football-all I can say is: WOW. This was a scrimmage and campus was packed. There were thousands of people there to cheer on the Gators and hundreds of people
tailgating. I always knew Gainesville had a lot of Gator spirit but I think winning the national championship last year took it up a step. We didn't actually go to the game, but we went to an alumni bbq beforehand. We all donned Gator blue and had some tasty food. Jules was mesmorized by all the fans and seemed to have a great time.

Later that day, we went to J.D.'s advisor's house for a post orange and blue mexican feast. There was a lot of delicious food, drink as well as desserts. It was great catching up with everyone from the lab. Our friends Chris & Kerry were also in town from south Florida (we ate with them at the alumni bbq as well) and it is always fun chatting with old friends.

So, for those of you who didn't go to school in Atlanta, there was an amazing breakfast place that we used to go to called The Flying Biscuit. It was one of those places that sometimes had an hour wait...and you waited because the food was THAT GOOD. Well, imagine my surprise when they announced they were opening one in Gaineville, within walking distance to our house!! The

place became a franchise in recent years and this is one of the first franchise locations. Their grand opening was this weekend and the whole family (human family, we didn't take Amelia) walked there. After a 35min wait (not so bad..) we were seated. It was the bean's first time in a little high chair and she looked so cute! She was very well behaved as well-she ate her cheerios and puffs and enjoyed watching our fellow patrons. J.D. and I enjoyed every bite of food...yummy!

After walking home, I made brownies and we went to a neighborhood block party (in the cul-de-sac around the corner from our house). Once again, there was an ample display of treats (do you see a theme here?? lot of eating!). It was great seeing everyone and we had a fabulous time just sitting around and chatting. We ended up being there for almost 5 hours! Of course, both Julia's were there and they were the hit of the party. All the ladies and high school girls wanted to hold them nonstop!
Needless to say, after such a busy weekend, our little bean passed out last night before 7:30pm and slept soundly until 7am. She had a doctors appointment today to check her ears and great news: they are totally clear!

April 12 - Happy Bunny Day!

Happy Easter everyone! We were blessed with a beautiful, sunny day here in Gainesville and took Jules to the park for the first time. The park is great-not only is it within walking distance to our house, but there is a large playground with playscapes for kids of varying ages, pavilions, lots of grills, a pool (open in the summer), a baseball field and even a skateboarding area. Of course, Jules is a little young to enjoy all the amenities, but she seemed to enjoy the swing and the slide. Her favorite thing though (as well as Amelia) was watching all the egg hunts! They loved watching the kids in action! (the 'serious' look on her face in both pictures is her watching the older kids hunt for eggs..she was mesmorized!) 'mommy and her 2 favorite girls!' (they are quickly becoming best friends..Jules fed her a cheerio the other day and Amelia is glued to her now! Jules also loves to pet her soft fur..I'm loving it!)

April 11- Water Baby

Julia went swimming on Saturday for the first time ever in a baby pool. Peeps, she loved it!! We already know she loves bathtime but this was her first experience with cold water and she didn't care. In fact, she took to the water like a fish! Almost immediately, she started crawling in the pool and put her face in the water! At one point she was hanging onto the edge of the pool and kicking her feet. It was SO cute!! This makes me even more excited for swimming lessons...and I was already excited..

In bad news, my camera battery died when she was in the pool so there are no photos, but we I did get this shot of her in her adorable swimsuit coverup (she has a matching bathing suit, complete with ruffles on the butt). I also took a quick video of her and we'll post it (for those of you wondering where all these videos of her are, J.D. downloaded them yesterday and he's working on it..be patient!)

April 9 - Happy Birthday Daddy

Jules helped daddy open his birthday gift (some new ties) and loved playing with the wrapping paper! As for J.D. and I, we had a nice evening filled with delicious pizza and yummy ice cream cake. Happy b-day babe!

(how cute are those penguin jammies? They are fleece so this is probably the last time she'll be able to wear them)

April 6 - Sleepy Time

As many of you know, our little bean is just about a perfect baby from 7am to 7pm (many refer to her as a little zen baby because she is so calm and so chill). Sleeping has been a challenge though. She's been getting up about twice a night for awhile now and she doesn't need to. She has the weight to hold her over to morning (check out those adorable hams!) and even when we feed her in the middle of the night, she'll eat an ounce or two and fall asleep. So, while J.D. was out of town the last few days, I decided to let her 'cry it out.' A few moms in my book club swore it worked so I decided to give it a try:

Thursday Night: she cried from 2:30am to 5am...I went in to check on her at 4am and she was trying to pull herself up using the bars on the crib..she eventually fell asleep and woke up around 7am as happy as could be

Friday Night: she cried from 4am to 5:30am...woke up around 7am as happy as could be

Saturday Night: slept from 7:30pm to 6am....a new record!! When I went in to get her up for the day she was sitting up in the crib (first time EVER), legs poking through the slats holding onto the bars like she was in jail (sorry, I didn't get a photo)

Sunday Night: slept from 7:30pm to 6:45am....WOO HOO! Yet another record!! I can barely contain myself, I am THRILLED beyond belief!!

Now...fingers crossed...let's hope this continues! I'm so proud of our little bean!

(okay, these photos are a tad blurry but she looked so adorable crawling down the hallway I couldn't resist posting them)

April 4 - Fun Times, Sad Times

Hello everyone! In addition to our fabulous fieldtrip to the Butterfly Rainforest, we had a busy weekend. On Saturday, we celebrated JEK's (neighbor Julia) first birthday at the Mellow Mushroom in town. The weather was beautiful and the food (pizza of course!) was delicious. Jill (JEK's mom) made yummy cupcakes for everyone and there was a big turnout. I think there were close to 40 people in all! The most fun news though is....prepare yourselves....our little bean ate cheese pizza for the first time...and she LOVED it! I broke off little pieces of
the pizza and fed her bit by bit..she couldn't get enough. Her favorite part though was the crust, I ended up handing it to her and she gnawed on it for awhile (it looks like fried chicken in the photo..trust me, it is pizza crust!). She also tried melon for the first time and seemed to like it. She was mostly interested in grabbing things off our table and throwing them on the ground...ahh, the wonderful effects of gravity!

In sad news, we said goodbye to G-Man after close to 2 years. His owners are officially back in the states and settled in the DC/Baltimore area. Scott drove down Saturday and we did the hand off. I know Guinness will be happy with his real family, but he will be missed greatly. He was definitely Julia's favorite dog (he's calmer than Amelia and let her crawl all over him) and Amelia's best friend. Poor

Amelia has been depressed since he left. They were thick as thieves since he was here. This is the first time she's been without him other than the few times they've been to the vet separately. She's been walking around the house crying since he left and keeps going outside looking for him. J.D. and I are trying to show her extra affection to let her know she is still loved.

April 3 - Butterfly Rainforest

The Tiny Gator class had their first offsite fieldtrip on Friday to the Butterfly Rainforest at the Florida Museum of Natural History. The Butterfly Rainforest is a four-story, outdoor screened enclosure with waterfalls, a walking trail, lush subtropical and tropical plants and hundreds of live butterflies. I took Julia to school and we walked over to the museum (about a mile walk) and had a

blast. We ended up having more adults than babies, since every parent volunteered to chaperone, in addition to the full-time teachers (Mandy and Pat) and a student volunteer.

Everyone (kids and babies alike) enjoyed the beautiful flowers, fish, plant life and butterflies. Jules stayed awake the entire time and seemed to really enjoy all the bright colors and sounds of the rainforest!