Kind of Crawling

FINALLY, Juliette has started crawling... well, kind of. She's doing an army crawl. It's amazing how fast babies learn. She kind of did it on Sunday, then Monday she had it down pat and now today, she's almost on all fours! My little genius. 

She also pulled up for the first time today! I had her on my lap on the couch and she reached to grab the armrest only to pull herself to standing (whilst leaning on the arm rest, making a 90 degrees angle, but hey that counts right??)! Conveniently this made the entire end table in reach, which turned into a disaster. All these quick advancements make us realise just how poorly baby-proofed we are... 

 

Moving on Up

For about 5 seconds, I thought I lost a baby.

Juliette has been such a star with all her milestones until we have started focusing on this moving business. She rolls like lightening. Seriously, I will blink and she will end up somewhere crazy like under the dining room table, under the chaise lounge, between the couches under the end table or trying to get to her buggy. The days of leaving her playing on her mat whilst I put some dishes away or put in a load of laundry are definitely LONG gone. But she definitely hasn't tried to crawl yet.  

Monday she sat up for the first time, using the baby Einstein jumper to anchor her feet and then she pulled up on her bouncy chair and there it was! But she hasn't done it again until today. 

Currently, her favorite toy is a water bottle.

I saw the light on the monitor move around 3 PM, which is when she usually wakes from her afternoon nap, so I turned on the screen and saw her kicking around. And then, she did the funniest thing - got up on all fours and started rocking! I've never seen her do that before, so I quickly went into her room so I could see her do it in person, but I found her sitting up in her crib with a delirious and stunned look on her face. Of course I immediately started crying... she's getting so big so fast!! I'm not sure that I like it.

Mother's Day

Today is my first Mother's Day! Well, in the UK anyways. Apparently the date is tied in with the Lenten season over here. 

To celebrate, my little family went out to brunch in Fulham and then Andrew and I watched a lot of Downton Abbey - my latest obsession. I had a night out last night for my friend Helen's birthday so I wasn't on top form today. I got the most beautiful flowers too!

Juliette has really been blossoming these last few weeks! She now LOVES eating her solid foods. She prefers actual pieces of food (Avocado, cheese, bread, peaches, kiwi, eggs, etc) rather than the purees. Spoons are the enemy. And yesterday, she finally "got" how her sippy cup works! She was super proud of herself after that...although today, when she sucks in the water, she now likes to fountain shoot it out of her mouth... Not mommy's favorite new trick! 

Dinner time has become something I look forward to every day. Andrew and I now sit at the table (instead of in front of the TV) and Juliette is in her high chair with some sort of fruit to feed herself (her dinner time is earlier than ours). She couldn't be more quite than if she were asleep during this time.. my girl LOVES feeding herself! It reminds me of my family dinners growing up. It's just nice being all together and catching up on the day. 

I think crawling is just around the corner now for little JJ. She can army crawl backwards at the moment, spin 360 degrees in the same spot and zombie crawl forward about an inch when she is SUPER motivated, usually when she's flung a toy just a little too far. Yesterday she pushed up to a sitting position for the first time too! I never cease to be amazed by what this kid can do. It's absolutely mind blowing how fast they develop! 

I think every mom is proud of their kid, but I think I have a little intellectual super star in the making. She is absolutely obessed with books. She rolls over to her book basket at least 3 times a day and pulls out books to look at. The baby is 8.5 months! She's been able to do the Pat the Bunny book since about 6.5 months, but today was the first day I caught some of it on camera. It's a half efforted attempt, but you get the idea.

  
She's such a great kid!!!

Mid-Feb Dates

On Friday, Juliette and I went to Shad Thames to visit with Valentina and little Emilia. Juliette loves riding on the tube, so was good as gold on the journey there. We hopped off at the Tower Hill stop and walked across Tower Bridge. It was a bright, sunny day with clear blue skies and a crisp breeze. Even at 9:30 am the city was already bustling. It's moments like this that I always stop and take a beat because it still amazes me sometimes that I am having this incredible experience of living in one of the most fabulous cities in the world.

We stopped at the Starbucks in Valentina's neighborhood to grab some coffees for the morning and the staff made such a big fuss of Juliette. You would think I'd be bored of her adoring fans almost 8 months in, but I still beam with motherly pride. She is a total doll baby. 

Vale and I had a fab time catching up and the girls loved "talking" to each other. It's amazing how fast time goes by. It honestly feels like yesterday they were itty bitty nuggets! 

Valentina is already back at work, but we hope to do this more often! Adult time is sooo nice when you spend the majority of your time with an infant... you long for someone to talk back! 

Saturday, I was also fortunate enough to have a moms only date with my friend Helen. We had breakfast in the neighborhood and then hit up the IKEA in Croydon. We were there for quite some time, but lets be honest, you could spend an entire day in that place! I showed incredible self restraint and came home with only the Moppe boxes that I've been dieing to have and a new bath mat. Helen was more successful. I have to say that I can't wait to move home to Severna Park because I saw a million thing at IKEA that I want to furnish my house with! 

I'm looking forward to more girls days in the future :)      

Classical Baby

En route to the concert

Juliette and I went to see our first Baby to Bach Concert thanks to Valentina and Emilia! They do a series in a few neighborhoods throughout London. The pianist is a mom who loves to play for her family and they feature a new instrument each month. This month, they have Tim Lowe on the Cello. 

There were babies from 11 days old up until 3+ years old. Children were free to explore during the performances, and many chose this option! Some kids found the music quite soothing and took a little snooze, while others were running around like crazy! Juliette fell into the latter category, shrieking like a fiend during the show! She LOVED watching all the other kids and I have a feeling she will be up there dancing as soon as she is able to!

Saying hi to her Bestie Emilia

 They are doing a concert in Fulham on Tuesday so we are thinking about going again! It's time I expose Juliette to more cultural activities while we are living in London. Small time American won't have the same opportunities...  

7 Months Catch Up!

Juliette is now 7 months old! We've battled her first major illness, have introduced sleep training and solids and are ALMOST crawling, but not really. Here is a quick chart (with my commentary) from babycenter.com to give a snapshot of where she is: 

Mastered Skills(Most kids can do): 

• Sits without support - She's been doing this from 5 months.

• Drags objects toward herself - She's been doing this since about 4 months!

Emerging Skills (half of kids can do):

• Lunges forward or starts crawling - She's been lunging for awhile to reach objects that are a bit too far. No desire to start crawling yet, but yesterday she did look like she might try for half a minute before deciding the toy wasn't worth it! She's quite content being stationary!

• Jabbers or combines syllables - JJ has done this solidly from 5 months although she is NON-STOP now! Lots of "ba ba" "ma ma" "da da" "deh" for dog and "ga ga."

• Starts to experience stranger anxiety - This started around 5 and a half months and was mostly with men. If I'm around, she's usually OK with most people. It is the separation anxiety that's MUCH worse. Although, we have been making slight improvements on this front with her new pterodactyl (who knew that started with a "p"?!) call - a little shriek she does if she notices that I have wandered out of the room or she thinks I am not paying attention to her. If I do not respond, she will do it again. If I do not respond again, she starts to get distressed! If I do respond, she goes happily back to playing. It's just a check to see if I'm around and listening for her! I am trying to replace the shriek with "ma ma" but have had no luck so far...   

Advanced Skills (a few kids can do):

• Waves goodbye - She is very selective with this. She knows how to do it, but prefers to save it for when she sees herself in a mirror as opposed to making Daddy feel good about himself when he leaves in the morning.

• Stands while holding onto something - Not her strong suit. She's been good at bearing weight on her legs for the last couple months, but she's too wobbly if you try to get her to do it on her own just yet. Again, this kid is very happy to sit and roll around only!

• Bangs objects together - JJ has done this for a few weeks now and is very proud of herself when she does it! She bangs just about anything together, but the stackable rings make her beam with pride when she does it!

• Begins to understand object permanence - She has this down solidly already. She has know for over a month I'd say. She always looks for things she's dropped, she gets super stressed if I've snuck away and she realises I'm gone, she loves playing peek-a-boo and when we go to change nappies, she always looks for her toy we keep on the changing station (she needs to hold a toy otherwise she does crazy gymnastics to try and get the wipes, powder, bum cream - just about anything that may be in reach!).  

Obviously, these aren't the only things she's been up to, but it sure does make me feel like I have a little rockstar when I see how she measures up against these benchmarks! 

Juliette also LOVES reading books. Our nighttime routine involves three books before bed. I try to do some repetition in reading so she has a chance to let the stories sink in. Anything with an interactive option, she is ALL about and knows what she is supposed to do on each page. For the most part, when it asks to feel something, she jumps right in! "Pat the Bunny" has proven a little more challenging, but after a day or too she was "Patting the Bunny," "Playing Peek-a-boo with Paul," "Feeling Daddy's Scratchy face," and even selectively sticking her finger "through mummy's ring". 

There is a page the asks the child to "Smell the Pretty Flowers." Up until now, I have been bringing the book forward to her nose as she remains in her lounging position against my chest, holding it there for a few minutes so hopefully she realises there is a smell and then we go to the next page. Last night, when we go to the flower page, she pulled herself forward with her abs and pulled the book to her face! I immediately turned to Andrew and shrieked, "She's a genius!" Seriously, it took her about a week and a half to get it after reading the book semi-regularly. Maybe this isn't that advanced, but hey, she's undeniably starting to understand things around her! I randomly went back to that page two more times and she smelled both times! Mommy was very proud.

Juliette also battled her first major illness when we got back from the States. It turned out to be nothing more specific than a viral infection, and she was puking up the Calpol (baby Tylenol) I was trying to give her to break the fever. Her temperature peaked at 104 F and I freaked out and called my good friend (and mom of 3 little girls under 4) and asked what I should do! Helen saved the day with Paracetamol (Tyenol) suppositories! And it didn't even phase me to insert them. You don't even think when you're a mom and your kid is in trouble... you just do what you have to do. 

Thankfully the Tylenol worked amazingly! And a week later (including 3 trips to the GP and one to the hospital because she stopped having wet nappies) we were back in optimal health. 

Finally, one more notable change has been sleep training! After 4 days of "tough love" Juliette is consisently putting herself to sleep at nap times and in the evening for bed time (that took a bit longer) and is sleeping in her crib without mom intervening from 8:30 PM until 7:00 AM. Every now and then I hear her on the monitor during the night, but she's able to get herself back to sleep after 5 minutes or so. It's the nights were she sleep soundlessly during those times that I sleep HORRIBLY because I think I am unable to subconsciously stop listening for her! 

I almost don't want to say it, for fear for jinxing our current situaton, but ever since we have done the sleep training, her schedule has been consistently down to the minute for all sleep!!! I REALLY hope this is the trend for the future. I better start thinking about baby number two because if I start getting to sleep through the night, I don't know if I will want to start this all over again... ;)             

Juliette's New Bed

When we put Juliette in her pack and play post Christmas, the girl has gotten so long, it just didn't seem appropriate anymore! Andrew and I decided to take advantage of the January sales in the UK and buy the Mamas & Papas Hayworth bundle.

 

 It came yesterday and of course we immediately put it together. It's amazing the difference buying quality furniture makes - this thing is beautiful and solid as a rock! It makes the whole room smell like wood too. Yum. The best part was deciding to go with the bundle with the rolling drawer and changer. The drawer has tons of storage for our tons of baby stuff and the changer is nice and big and convenient! Of course, when she starts pulling up on things, we won't be able to leave it on when it's not being used. Jules already shows a knack for getting into things she is not supposed to... I wonder whose side that comes from? Dad *cough cough*. 

Another cool feature of this crib (or cot bed in British) is that it converts into a toddler bed when she's around 18 months! I mean, realistically we will probably use the crib for the next baby and buy her a real bed when the time comes, but everything is soooo much cuter in tiny sizes. I will have at least one child that uses it as a toddler bed!  

JJ spent her first night in the crib last night. We are almost over the jet lag, but I'm guessing because it was something new, she woke up at 1:30 AM and 4:30 AM when she has normally slept in until 6:00 AM (once we finally get her to fall asleep at night). A negative - she can see us better through the bars than she could through the mesh on her pack and play so that makes settling herself again impossible. 

This weekend we will make the move to the back room and our current bedroom will become the nursery... I'm not sure who will struggle with this more, mommy or baby! I love having her so close by. Since do nothing but kiss and love on her all day, I'm sure she'll be one of those kids that makes me drop her off 3 blocks from school so the other kids don't see her with her uncool mom... I should have a few good years before that happens though! 

Juliette gets baptised!

While home, Andrew and I wanted to get Juliette baptised since both of her Godparents reside stateside (Uncle Jesse and Aunt Celine) as well as the majority of our family who we wanted to attend. So on Saturday, 29 December 2012, Juliette was baptised at Sacred Heart Church in La Plata. Father John performed the baptism. We had quite the turn out! 

Jules wore her cousin Erin's baptism dress for the ceremony and Auntie Marianne gave her a handkerchief that had been folded and pinned in a few places so that it could be a baptism hat! It came with the following explaination: 

I am a little bonnet
as cute as cute can be.
Would you ever guess a
hanky I used to be?
I can be worn home
from the hospital,
Then again on Christening Day.
You can then neatly fold
me and keep me for the Wedding Day.
Every bride must wear
something old - so you can
clip a stitch or two and
a wedding hanky will unfold.
If by chance it is a boy.
on the day he is wed,
I can be presented to his bride
won't she be proud to use -
the bonnet he wore upon his head.

Juliette was one of four baptisms on this Saturday. Two older little girls and another little girl probably about one or so because she could walk. When it was Juliette's turn to have the water on her head, she did great and checked out father John from an upside down perspective. One of the older litte girls did not have the same experience as she kicked and screamed the whole time.

Afterwards, my mom hosted the family for a nice reception. Juliette is one special baby to warrant guests coming from Florida, Virginia, West Virginia and Georgia to see her!

   

Juliette's First Christmas

Jules just celebrated her first Christmas. She wore her reindeer long johns for the occasion and almost didn't get to open her presents before mass because her Uncles had a hard time waking up. 

Since the adults all did a secret Santa this year, Juliette had the most gifts to open. I was really impressed with how good she did actually opening the gifts! Although, every piece of wrapping paper that came loose was more interesting than the last. She received lots of nice gifts like a "Goodnight, San Francisco" Book, some new clothes, more books and a cause and effect game with pop-up animals! Sadly, Andrew and I didn't have anything for her to open on Christmas morning, but that was probably for the best because every Target run, Mommy may have let her pick a little something out for herself. 

We then went to mass with Aunt Marianne and her boys and mommom. Jules did great and slept the whole time. Aunt Ann, Uncle Greg, Emma and Cara joined later. It was so great to see everyone!