Juliet is Two

Juliet turned two last week and she is growing quickly. At her doctor's checkup, she charted in the 95th percentile for height! She is very sweet tempered (except, of course, when she is throwing a tantrum) and she probably gets away with a lot just by being so cute. She loves dressing up, playing with dolls, singing and dancing, and anything to do with Dora.

Happy birthday Jules!

Juliet's First Birthday

Juliet officially turned one at the end of March and we can't believe how quickly her first year has gone by! She can walk when holding onto our hands or furniture and she very much wants to be a big girl like her sister. She climbs into little chairs to sit and turn the pages of books, examining each page. She shakes her head yes and no, claps, points emphatically, and blows kisses (she actually makes a "mwah" sound now!) She brushes her hair, hugs doll babies, and tries to sneak drinks of her sister's juice. She is becoming a daddy's girl and crawls adorably after Michael wherever he goes.

At her 12 month doctor's appointment, we found that Juliet has been growing and thinning out a little. Her height is 29 3/4 inches and her weight is 21 pounds, putting her in the 70th percentile for height and the 55th percentile for weight. A few days after her birthday, she decided she was done with nursing and stopped altogether. Although it has been uncomfortable for me, we are thrilled that she self-weaned. She has been eating and sleeping well and is easy to soothe back to sleep if she wakes during the night. I'm not sure I'm ready to give up my baby yet but, ready or not, she is moving on to toddlerhood!

Preparing for Christmas

In the week before Christmas, Lily and Juliet decorated their own little tree, and undecorated it, and redecorated it...

We made Christmas cookies and, of course, sampled them.

Lily helped make a gingerbread house and then wanted to eat it immediately.

We had a hot chocolate party on Christmas Eve and left cookies and milk out for Santa. Lily insisted that he wanted chocolate milk.

Jules just watched and looked cute. At her 9 month checkup, she was in the 80th percentile for both height and weight.

Juliet at Six Months

Juliet is already six months old! She is so fat and happy, we call her our Buddha baby. At her pediatrician checkup she was 75th percentile in length and 90th percentile in weight! She wakes up with a smile on her face and brightens up our days.

She said her first word "mama" to get my attention when we were all sitting around the table. She was looking right at me and said it very clearly, just the single word, and then grinned when I looked at her. Now she is working on her "da" sounds.

She is becoming much more mobile, already starting to crawl by dragging herself in an army crawl the way Lily used to do. She prefers her sister's toys to baby toys and will move across the room to get them! She has also (sort of) started to eat rice cereal and drink water out of a sippy cup. She doesn't actually ingest much but likes to feel like a big girl.

4 Month Checkup

This month Juliet discovered her feet, rejected pacifiers altogether in favor of her thumb, figured out how to roll over, started sleeping through the night, and then stopped sleeping through the night. At her 4-month doctor's visit last week her height was 25 1/4 inches and weight was 15 pounds, 11 ounces. That's the 80th percentile for height and 90th percentile for weight!

2 Months Old

At Juliet's 2-month doctor visit, she was 23 inches long and 12 pounds, 4 ounces. She has gained five pounds of sweet baby chub since she was born! She is a happy baby and loves it when we talk to her and sing to her. I think we are more laid back this time around and are really enjoying her babyhood.

Catching a nap with Great Grandma Carnes

18 Month Doctor Visit

Lily is now a year and a half old. Everything looked good at her doctor's appointment but we found out that she hasn't grown a whole lot in the last five months. She grew an inch and a half and gained one pound, which puts her into the 25th percentile now. She still fits comfortably into her 12-18 month size clothes (mama wants to get her new ones out)!

Lily has started building her vocabulary and saying a lot of words, and it's wonderful for us all to be able to communicate better. She can identify her body parts and pictures in books and it's so cute how proud she is of herself. She sleeps really well at night now and is finally taking naps in her crib, but never for more than 30 minutes! We're really hoping the naps will lengthen out, but for now we just leave her in her crib for an hour every afternoon.

Already, Lily has shown interest in potty training but it will probably be a while before she's actually ready. She tells us when she has gone or is about to go in her diaper by pointing to her bottom and saying "bop". Sometimes she wants to take off her diaper and sit on her potty and she even peed in it once...but really she would just like to run around naked and not mess with it. So we're leaving it alone for a while!

13-Month Checkup

Lily had a doctor's appointment yesterday and at 13 months she is 29 1/2 inches and weighs 21 pounds, 4 ounces. Her height, weight, and head circumference are all at the 50th percentile now and she is healthy and developing well. However, for the past month she has been waking up crying many times every night and can't get back to sleep without nursing or coming in our bed. We think she is teething but we want to break these bad habits and help her learn to soothe herself (and get some sleep). If anyone has been through this, we could use your advice!

Lily's 9-Month Checkup

We took Lily to the pediatrician this week and she is growing well. She is 28 inches long and weighs 19 pounds 5 ounces, which puts her in the 75th percentile for height and head circumference and the 50th percentile for weight. She still isn't that interested in baby food so we will start trying soft table foods and finger foods and see if she prefers foods that she can feed to herself. We wish she would nap regularly during the day but are grateful that she sleeps well at night.

Lily has figured out how to sit up by herself from a laying down position (and how to get back down again). She has become mobile enough to get into everything in the house and is less interested in her toys than, say, electrical cords. She seems to be close to crawling when she gets on hands and knees and rocks back and forth, but for now she pulls herself along on her belly. It is funny to watch her maneuver around! She's looking more and more like her daddy, don't you think?

Lily's Half Birthday

Lily turned six months old on September 13th and she has changed so much with each month! At her doctor's appointment yesterday she measured 26 1/4 inches long and weighed 18 pounds. Her little body is starting to balance out, as she has shot up in height. Her head, length, and weight are now all around the 75th percentile.

She is getting better at eating cereal and likes to grab the spoon and smear food on her face. She rolls all around to play with her toys and to try to grab the cat (her favorite toy). Lily is starting to learn a lot of different sound combinations, including "da", which she practices with the approval of daddy. She can sit up with some support and her new thing is throwing herself backwards because she wants us to hang her upside down where everything looks different!