February 13 - Perfect Ten

Our little bean slept ten hours straight last night-TEN hours!! I don't expect (but hope for) a repeat tonight, but I'll keep you all posted. Keep your fingers crossed!

February 11 - Little Helper

My fabulous hubby never ceases to amaze me. For another year in a row, he totally spoiled me for my b-day. Grandma Yamo came up this weekend and watched Julia one night so we could have a romantic dinner (it was totally a surprise, I thought we were going to try to do something tonight). Unfortunately, I
had a horrible cold that left me exhausted, but we still had a great time. It was only our second time out without the bean and while we missed her, we knew she was in good hands. Her favorite part of the weekend was helping me open a birthday gift-she loved the tissue paper and bows!!

So last night Jules tried another new food...bananas. She wasn't too excited about them and made the cutest faces when she was eating them. To date, sweet potatoes are still her favorite (I really thought she'd take to fruit more) but we'll see how her pallet develops in the coming months!

Julia has also 'found' a few things recently. Her wrists and her upper lip. I know, I know, it sounds funny. But she will move her hands around flexing her wrists and loves to throw things now. She also sucks in her upper lip (that is the only way I can describe it). It is really funny. She does it so fast it is hard to snap a photo.

Oh-and the sleeping 8 hours...that didn't last. She is back to up every 3. This little munchkin would rather play than sleep!

February 10 - Pebbles in the Flesh!

February 5 - Repeat!

Fab news...our little bean slept again last night. I'm so excited I could throw a party..but instead I'm just going to hit the hay early and enjoy the zzzz's while I can!!

(Here is out little bean after she woke up this morning..she is such a little sweetie!)

February 4 - The Great 8 (Second Edition)

Hello fabulous peeps. As many of you know, Julia slept pretty well from 2.5-3months but hasn't slept well since Thanksgiving. We initially attributed her 2H spurts to an ear infection, but once that cleared up, she still did not sleep for long stretches. Our next thought was that she wasn't eating enough..well, we increased her bottles during the day AND introduced solids and she still got up every 2H or so. We attempted to let her 'cry it out' but she would not go back to sleep (..we let her cry for quite a while). After reading up on baby habits, we determined that she was 'practicing' rolling over, sitting up, etc. in her sleep and waking herself up. After all these months of sleep deprivation, I convinced myself a full night sleep was eons away (we've heard stories about babies that woke up every few hours for a few years). Well, drum roll please....


Julia slept 8.5 hours last night!! Woo hoo! I cannot even express how happy I am today. Of course, I didn't get 8.5 hours of sleep since she went to bed at 7:30pm and I went a few hours later, but just sleeping a few hours longer than I have been is amazing! Cross your fingers that she continues to sleep well. And for those of you who have babies that sleep 12 hours a night (and have been doing so since they were just a few months old)..I hope you realize how lucky you are!! Hopefully your next baby(ies) sleep well too..I don't wish sleep deprivation on anyone. It didn't bother me for the first 5 months, but just recently I've 'hit the wall' and I'm really feeling it!

January 30 - Medieval Times

Jill and I brought our Julia's to the Alachua county fairgrounds last weekend for the annual medieval times festival. It was quite an experience! In addition to the delicious funnel cake (a 'must eat' for anyone attending a fair or amusement park) we saw a lot of interesting people and outfits. Our favorites were the raccoon tails (we assumed they were fake fur) and gypsy outfits. We watched a battle between the king and prince, witnessed the knights of the round table, saw fortune tellers, dancers and lots of craftsman. The Julia's

both did a great job and seemed to enjoy all the people and music. The toughest part of the whole day was the parking situation. We had to park a few miles from the entrance and then take a school bus. It was our first time trying to manage a baby, baby bag and stroller on the small yellow bus! Luckily there were a few kind people that helped with the strollers.

In completely unrelated news, Julia went to the doctor today and our little bean is a whopping 15lb 2oz!!! She is a total chunker!! She is sporting the most adorable rolls on her thighs these days, they are definitely ham hocks!! She is one happy and healthy baby!

January 29 - Julia Checks Her Email

I've mentioned Julia's love for the laptop in a previous post...now she's discovered video games! To be precise, she's discovered remote controls and she is enamored with them! She also continues to enjoy the computer and wants to touch it at every opportunity.

In other fun news, our little bean is sitting up now! She can't pull herself into a sitting position, but if we place her in one, she can sit there and play with toys in front of her for a pretty long period of time without falling over. She also seems to enjoy junk mail. Yes, you read that correctly, junk mail. I take the random fliers from our mailbox and put them in front of her and she has the best time crinkling the paper and throwing it around. It is super cute!

I'm not sure if I have mentioned this before, but Julia is also trying very hard to stand up. When she is laying on her back, we will put our hands in front of her and 'assist' her in sitting up-well, the little bean goes from the sitting position immediately into a stand! She's been doing this for the last month or so, but within the last week or so, she LETS GO of our hands and attempts to stand on her own!!

January 20 - Julia and Mommy

A few people have noticed that there are very few photos of me with Julia on this blog (which has something to do with my hair desperately needing highlights..). So...by popular demand, here are some photos of me (ignore the dark roots...) and the bean-seriously, have you ever seen a baby this cute?? I'm beside myself!

Mommy & Jules

Jules helping mommy with work (J LOVES the laptop and cell phones)

My little snuggle bean


Look at those cheeks!

Mommy & her girls

January 17 - Rumblin' Tumblin' Reptile

I am proud to announce the youngest member of the Rumblin' Tumplin' Reptiles-drum roll please....our little Julia Bean!! Last night she attended her first Gator gymnastics meet in style. Daddy got her an adorable cheerleading outfit (complete with Gator emblem and matching hair bow, which is the closest we could find to a leotard..they don't make them for babies!) and she did great. We went to the meet with our friend Jill (her Julia didn't make it out, but will hopefully come to the next meet). The Gators battled SEC rival Auburn and came out victorious. Jules stayed awake for most of the meet and was fascinated with all the noises and people. Some college girls sat next to us as well as behind us and Jules loved smiling at them!

In other fun news, we branched out this weekend to peas..mm, delicious, green peas. Julia doesn't like them as much as the sweet potato but she still polished them off! (this photo is her with potato all over her face, she looks so cute I just couldn't resist posting it!)

January 14 - Sweet Potatoes

Happy January baby Yamo fans. I apologize for the lapse in recent postings, work has been very busy lately and I haven't had much free time.

In Julia news, I have lots of fun updates. First and foremost, our little bean loves her tummy time now!! Starting last week, she started sleeping on her tummy (we checked on her in her crib one night and to our shock, she was all comfy, sprawled out on her stomach). I haven't taken a photo yet but I will try to this week and will post one. It is really cute. She also loves to play on her tummy and can rotate 360 degrees to her left. She hasn't mastered the right turn yet, but it is only a matter of time. She can also get her knees up underneath her and reaches for toys in front of her, but hasn't quite mastered using her arms and legs at the same time. She is trying really hard though!

Julia also started eating her first veggie..sweet potatoes! J.D. utilized our food processor and made a huge batch of homemade sweet potatoes and she seems to like them. Although she gets distracted by the fun watermelon pattern on her little bumbo chair, she still manages to eat the majority of a helping. We'll probably introduce another veggie this week, possibly peas. Hopefully she likes them too!

In other fun news, Jules has really taken an interest in the dogs. She tries to pet them quite often. We were all in the car this weekend and she tried to get Guinness's attention by blowing bubbles at him and reaching out to him, it was adorable!! He still pretty much ignores her, but Amelia loves to give her kisses (J.D. does not approve of the dogs licking her..but I don't mind, I say it builds immunities!). Whenever Julia and I are playing on the floor, the pooches are right next to me, so it is a fun playtime for everyone (I suspect the dogs are equally interested in all of her toys that resemble dog toys).

And last but not least, Julia received her first cabbage patch kid from Nonni. According to her birth certificate, she is actually a few months older than Julia, but I'm sure they will be friends at they get older (so far Julia just tries to eat her hair). And most fun..the cbk is named Jewell Doris-fabulous name!!