Typical Evening

Julia-6 months

6 Month Stats
Weight: 16 pounds 2 ounces
Height: 26.5 inches
Nicknames: Sissy Katherine, Sissy, Jules, JuJuBe
Julia's Playlist: Gimme A Little Kiss (Grammie sings this to her and she beams), The Itsy Bitsy Spider
Milestones: Laughing, sitting up, starting to wave (so my neighbor told me ;-)), Michael hears her say "Da-Da" (that is okay, she has been saying Mama since she was 2 months), today she said "hug" and would hug Kelsey...NO JOKE!

Okay, so this is turning into an almost 7 month old post! At Julia's 6 month check up, she was so great for the new pediatrician. He said she had the concentration and attention of a 9 month old...wait for it...SHE'S ADVANCED!!! ;-)))

Julia enjoyed her first road trip up to Chitown to see her family. She loved meeting all of her aunts, uncles and cousins. It was a special treat to get to spend time with her Great Grammas! And of course living at Grammie and Papas is always a bonus.

So if I had written this post while we were there, I would have told you how great Julia sleeps in her pack-n-play, all through the night. However, since being home that is not the case. I personally can't figure it out. Thought maybe she didn't like her crib and put her back into the same pack-n-play used at Grammies and no such luck. Par for the course I suppose!

She has started eating solids. I was a bit concerned that she wasn't too interested in solid foods. Thankfully I quickly learned that it was just an aversion to rice cereal, as I was tired of having rice cereal spit at me. Forget that bland mush, she was ready for the good stuff. Bring on the carrots, sweet potatoes and apples! She is quite a messy eater but she is enjoying ever spoonful. She is also intrigued by puffs and is having a blast trying to get even just one into her mouth. She loves sucking on ice through her mesh net thingamabobs. Oh and add mint chocolate chip ice cream to her likes...Grammie and Papa are bad news!!! ;-)

She loves to play and grabs everything in sight, even if it is a pair of scissors!!! She enjoys being outside in the evenings. She took her first dip in a pool (no not ours) yesterday and loved it. She does not like to be alone and can be quite demanding to be held.

While she continues to love her sister and laughs like crazy at her, Kelsey is beginning to demonstrate some nasty feelings towards Julia in regards to sharing. Since Julia is now reaching for toys, Kelsey's toys of course, Kelsey has decided that sharing isn't as much fun as she once thought. We are working on this with Kelsey. ;-)

We are all still totally in love with Miss Jules!

Christening of James Patrick IV & Julia Katherine

Thanks Baby Jimmy for allowing us to share your special day with you! It was such a treat for us to have a celebration with family.

Look Who Can Pedal

Kelsey came back from a long trip at Grammy and Papa's eager and able to ride her tricycle! Look at her go! In no time she will be cruising the block! I'm quite certain that Michael and I aren't ready for this!!! Go Kelsey Go!

Kelsey and Papa LOVE Ice Cream!

And yes, she did finish it ALL! I can't figure out why Julia doesn't want to eat her rice cereal...I am guessing that being at Grammy and Papa's for a month didn't help! Rice cereal or mint chocolate chip ice cream dipped in chocolate....hmmm!

Rainbow Cone

You know it's your second child when she gets a Rainbow Cone BEFORE rice cereal!

Count it...18 Seconds

I thought I would take a bit of time away from my usual photo album and share the linked video.

I have found it so interesting to engage in conversations with other moms regarding "swimming lessons". I personally have no opinion as to how others teach their children, however, for me (and Michael) enrolling Kelsey in a survival swim style class was a must-do.

Living in the South and traveling, we are around water a great deal, whether it be a backyard pool or a pond at a park. During a home visit to Houston when Kelsey was about 6 months old, a 2 year old girl drowned in our community pool with a large number of lifeguards and parents around. It was at that point that I started asking around about getting Kelsey lessons, the sooner the better. At that same pool, I witnessed a 1 year old demonstrate some survival swimming techniques as she played in the water. I was instantly intrigued and so the research began...

Being in Doha, my options were limited, but I did enroll Kelsey in a mommy and me style class. For me, blowing bubbles in the water wasn't enough. With another baby on the way and clearly not above losing sight of my child for a moment, survival swim lessons were at the top of my list after repatriating to Houston.

It took me a bit of time to find Miss Glendy and we are so glad we did. You've all seen her amazing videos and pictures and CLEARLY these lessons are not for everyone, but for us, they were exactly what I was looking for.

It is now summer and I feel like every newscast describes the sweet young life, lost too early due to a drowning incident. So while I have been put on the defensive several times regarding the style of lesson I chose to pursue, I sleep well knowing that Kelsey (and Julia one day) will be forever safe in the water.

Click here for more information about Miss Glendy's Waterbabies.