Saturday, January 22, 2011

piggy tails

Julianna's hair can now be worn in pig tails! How exciting is that? Maybe it's just me, but I've already pictured in my mind having a little girl with pig tails!

On Thursday evening, I went Julianna's daycare to pick her up. When I walked into the room, I saw my beautiful baby girl sitting on the floor rockin' the sassiest of pig tails!

Of course... I had to photograph this wonderful event! She was giggling and so happy!

As soon as Ju Ju wakes up from her nap, I think we'll go do some thrift store shopping. I haven't been in awhile. I love looking for treaures... especially cheap treasures! I'll post if I find anything particularly wonderful!

Have a happy weekend everyone!

Monday, January 17, 2011

sweet julianna is 10 months old! ^

Julianna Hope is 10 months old today!

So much has changed in the past 10 months... even in the past month a lot has changed! It's so exciting to watch Julianna meet milestone after milestone and grow into such a dynamic little person. I love being her mommy!
During the past month, Julianna has been sleeping through the night. She usually goes to be between 7 and 7:30 and is awake around 6:30. Naptime has also been less dramatic this month. As soon as she rubs her eyes, I know she's tired. Just about everytime, I can lay her down, turn on her v-tech dog violet that plays lullabies, and she's out within a few minutes. Naps usually last about an hour to an hour and a half.

Julianna is developing such a fun personality. She is constantly "talking" about something and letting us know just how she feels about everything. When Josh enters the room, she says "daaa daaa!". It's the cutest thing! She calls me "mom mom" and says this especially when she wants something or needs me. It melts my heart!

Mealtime in the past week has become so much more fun for all of us. She's beginning to eat a lot more table food. She eats a variety of meat, cheese, fruits, vegetables, bread, and something sweet every now and then. She loves to mash the food up with her gums and a little help of her only two teeth. When she seems me preparing her plate, she gets very impatient! She loves to eat!
Julianna has also been on the move this month! She started crawling around January 1 and she's gotten better and faster at it since then. No stopping her now! She also began pulling herself up this month as well. She's been super busy trying and learning to do new things! We bought her a walker but she's not interested in it much right now. She just goes backwards in it and then gets really angry. She can seriously be a diva sometimes!
Another big change this month happened today. She moved from the infant room at daycare to the older infant room. She'll stay in this room for the next 2 months. While she's in this room, she'll be practicing eating table food, crawling, and she'll have more room to explore. She must have really enjoyed herself today because she was exhausted when I picked her up. She napped from 11:50-1 today but that just wasn't enough for her. Hopefully she'll take a second nap tomorrow because she just wanted to go to bed when she got home today.

Bathtime has also changed this month. She loves taking her bath in the big tub. She splashes, kicks, and explores! Her daddy joined in on the fun last night and gave her a bath.

Josh and I are so in love with this precious little girl. She has been such a gift and a blessing from God!

Saturday, January 15, 2011

family time

Julianna got to hang out with her cousin Clara tonight. We went out for pizza to celebrate my brother's birthday. The girls did great at the restaurant! Julianna got to try the baked ham that was on our pizza. She loved it! Getting together with family is always fun!

first real shoes!

What a busy week this has been!

I also bought Julianna her first real pair of shoes. I ordered them on zappos.com Monday night and they were here on Wednesday morning. Super fast shipping!

I bought her these super cute Striderites:

She's had shoes on before... but they were always really easy for her to take off so they never really stayed on very long. She's not so sure what to do with her feet in her new shoes! She's been pulling up on everything and crawling all over the house. I think she'll be walking by 12 months!

splish splash

A week ago, Julianna took her first bath in the BIG tub! She probably could have done this long before now but I'm just a cautious mommy. I wanted to make sure she would be able to sit up on her own and not fall over. She's been sitting on her own for awhile now but I think she's more balanced now.

She absolutely LOVED taking her bath in the big tub. She splished, splashed, and played with her all of her bath toys. It was fun for her parents and her!

 

tummy yummy

Julianna has been really into trying "real" food this week! Due to the ice, I was out of work Monday through Wednesday so we had a lot time at home to really explore with food. Before now, she's been completely against the traditional baby finger foods: puffs or anything like it. She would act like she was choking/gagging. It was scary! But we are making excellent progress now! Sitting in the high chair is a happier time at the Soto house now.

She is eating pretty much what we are eating just much smaller. About the sit of her thumbnail right now. So far she's had:

-bananas
-toast
-cheddar cheese
-broccoli
-eggs
-corn
-rotisserie chicken
-green beans
-roll
-American cheese
-turkey

Tonight she'll be trying vanilla pudding and strawberries. She's had strawberries in the form of baby food puree as well as pudding but she'll get to taste this food in all it's glory tonight!

One of Julianna's first big girl meals:

Tuesday, January 11, 2011

ice, ice baby!


North Carolina got ice and lots of it! I have been out of school for the past 2 days so I have had lots of time with my family. Josh's dad and stepmom are also here visiting from South Carolina.

Julianna has had a blast playing non-stop with her parents and grandparents! She's tried some new foods in the past few days. She tried eggs for the first time today, biscuit, toast, and we're going to give her some broccoli at dinner tonight. She's really getting the hang of drinking out of her sippy cup. Juice only so far but we're hoping to switch to just the sippy cup within the next 2 months.

I reported in my post yesterday that she pulled herself up for the first time. Well, she's been doing it all day long today! She's discovered that she can do it really fast at the bottom step of our stairs. It's so exciting to see little JuJu doing so much big girl stuff! Kind of bittersweet... my baby girl is growing up!

Monday, January 10, 2011

hello, 2011!

Finally, my first post of 2011. This year has gotten off to a great start. There is so much to look forward to this year. New adventures and new experiences! I love how God made it possible for us to have a fresh start on the first day of January each year. A fresh start is refreshing; it's as simple as that. I feel so motivated!

In 2011, my beautiful daughter will turn one. In 66 days to be exact. It feels like just yesterday that I found out I was pregnant, filled with anxiety and anticipation. Now today, I have my Julianna. I have watched this precious child grow from a tiny 5 lb. newborn to a energetic, silly, beautiful, and curious nearly 10 month old. 2011 will definitely be an adventure as Julianna continues to develop in a mobile and even more curious little lady! Tonight before bath time, Julianna pulled up to standing all by herself. She was standing by her crib, reached up, and pulled her little naked body up and then wiggled her hips to the music that was playing in her room. It was too cute!

2011 will also be the year to further develop or begin friendships. Everyone needs friends. Our life has changed so much since getting married and having our first child. Many of our friendships have changed. We aren't as close to some of our friends because our life is just different than it used to be. I miss them. Having friendships is really important to me. I haven't had much time to work on friendships with a new baby and work. This year is the year that I want to further develop or begin new friendships. I'd love to have a best friend (other than my Joshua).

Here's to 2011, the best year yet!