One + One = Fun

Julian has been adapting well to his home away from home, much better than I have been. It's a little cramped around here and to add to the claustrophobia, my sister and her two kids came to stay with my mom for the past 5 days. I can't blame her for putting on the squeeze as she had her trip planned long before we stormed the place.

Even though it got a little cozy, it was so much fun watching Julian spend time with his 2 year old cousin. I was so impressed with how well the played together. We caught the kids holding hands, Julian gripping on to his cousin's back and he pushed a little shopping cart forming a train. They would chase each other around and both break it on down as soon as the Grandfather clock would play its tune every hour. They would both beg for more, cousin saying "more!" and Julian doing the more sign that he even incorporated into his dance routine. We'd stand by the clock for minutes on end triggering the music. Julian is even learning to do the sign for music.

The boys are quite different, Julian a total daredevil and his cousin a bit more cautious but it was cool seeing the similarities that will lead them to grow up to be great friends. I can see their plotting already and know my sister and I will be in for a lot of fun when these two get together in the years to come. They both beg to be outside all day long. My mom kept saying how she's never seen two kids that wanted to be outside as much as they do. Bryan took Julian to his parent's yesterday and they ended up spending most of that time outside playing with Julian.

For the past several months I've been in the "one kid is all I need" frame of mind. I must admit a good part of that feeling is the thought that I couldn't handle more. But after seeing how much fun Julian had with his cousin, in a way that he doesn't have with kids he plays with on occasion, it made me want to give him a sibling. But I wonder if that is good enough reason to have a second, is that kind of like getting Julian a toy? I don't know if that logic works as well as it did when we adopted a second dog for our first one to have a playmate. Plus that totally backfired.

Lately Julian is a total sponge. He is picking up on everything and catches on so quickly. The last time we went to playgroup, every single person said he grew like a foot in the last two weeks and they never seen Julian like that, he was so much more social, less attached to me. He was curious and aggressive. He was just so old. And I was just so sad. But it's simply amazing at the same time. I love that he signs. I became pretty indifferent to it for awhile but then he started doing it on his own. When he was playing the other day he stopped and signed "water." We promptly gave him a drink. We were saying if he didn't sign, we wouldn't have known he was thirsty, he probably would have gotten pretty cranky and frustrated and we'd try to guess what his problem was. But this form of communication allowed him to be heard and allowed us to react properly.

I think his favorite things to play with right now are balls but specifically basketballs. He caught on to the sign for ball immediately and will run to the ball whenever you sign for it. It's so fun having a big yard to play in especially since the yard is on a hill and encourages Julian to throw the ball down the hill causing you to run at full speed trying to catch up with the thing. While you are running the 5 mile sprint, Julian stands at the top signing "ball, ball, Mommy get my ball!" He also loves going into the garden and helping my Dad pick the tomatoes which he then confuses with a little red ball which he can throw with all his might.

He points to everything and says "dat?" Sometimes we are trying to figure out exactly what he's pointing to but he doesn't seem to mind. He just wants to know what everything is. His favorite is the ceiling fan and after we name it he points to all the other fans in sight. This game is especially fun when you are driving along side a forest and coming from the back seat is "dat?" "Tree." "Dat?" "Tree." "Dat?" "Tree." "Dat?" "Tree." "Dat?" "Tree." "Dat?" "Tree." "Dat?" "Tree, tree, tree, tree, tree, tree, TREE!"

He now eats everything in sight but he requires a hot meal. No more Purely O's for breakfast, Mama has to break out the frying pan and cook up some eggs. He insists on eating off of a plate and using utensils even though there is usually no food on them by the time they make it to his mouth. He doesn't want to be different from us anymore. He wants to eat what we're eating and he wants to eat it HOW we're eating. He's a tough little guy, he never cries when he falls. He fell out of the bed last night and made a high pitched, yet very short screech and then began snoring away. I was tempted to leave him there.

Julian loves my parent's cat and he chases him around. But he knows there is a difference between the cat and our dogs because he touches him so gently. Although he does grab on to his tail and tries to keep on while the cat runs for safety. He's not used to having furry friends with tails so it's all very exciting for him. He says "gigi" for the cat and "goggie" for the canines. He also sternly tells dogs, any dog, to "Dit!" along with waving his chubby little pointer finger. He's beginning to say "Stop!" to our dogs as well. He might as well say "hey mom, want to hear how mean you are to the dogs?"

Yesterday I told Julian to get his shoes, which he did and he then came and sat on my lap so I could put them on. I was impressed beyond belief. I know these are all things kids will all learn but it's hard to believe when your kid does it for the first time.

It's been hard without the baby proofing around here but it's allowing him to explore and learn about his world a bit more as I usually get distracted and forget he's figured out how to break on through our sad attempts at locking things down. I was going to the bathroom and thought I could keep an eye on him when he figured out a cabinet thing opened, which I didn't even know how it worked, and he had complete access to expensive crystal and collector carnival glass. Not sure how to react when he had very pricey glass in his hand, I yelled his name from the toilet midstream. Julian never hearing that tone from me before, he startled a bit then broke out into laughter and kept pulling out the items. I have a lot of learning to do.

The past month has been difficult but also some of the best moments of my life.

Too scattered for a real post

Too much going on right now to form coherent thoughts. And really, who doesn't love photos?



Funny after all those times when I wish he would just take a pacifier for one stinkin' second and never would he now finds it quite entertaining.




"Will you stop blowing this stuff in my face?"


Busted with his hand in the dog food jar and trying to get them to eat the evidence.


Water! A great distraction while you are trying to pack.


Until he decides to cram his oversize body into the little container.


The Three Bumigos



Julian and his Wonder Twin cousin in their matching tanks and invisible pants.


He loves putting on my glasses. I've tried to tell him he looks ridiculous.


One thing I can't capture on film though is him doing his version of the sign for water which is the most disgustingly cutest thing.

What kind of mother am I?

So Julian turns one and I stop updating this all together? Shame on me. No it's just the fact he hardly lets me near a computer these days and the evenings are filled with way too many other tasks that need to get done in too short of time. It doesn't help that I had a stomach bug that kept me laid up in bed for more than a week which Bryan eventually caught. Julian was spared but we had to call in the reinforcements, the Grandparents, to help take care of Julian. And that they did. It's nice knowing we can always count on them.

And if we didn't have enough going on, we're moving! Out of the blue we decided to look at a house and we fell in love with it. We are putting our offer in tonight but expect some negotiations. And then the stress really begins as we need to get our house, which is far from ready, listed in the next week and hope it sells. The market has slowed down so much I'm very nervous about it all. But we're bursting at the seams here and just can't put off a move any longer. So even if this offer falls through we're going to keep forging ahead.

I'm so very sad about leaving the city. I think about all the fun we've had here especially this Summer being so close to the park and the pool. We'd only be moving about 5 miles away but it's a completely different life. It's still a nice area within the city limits but it'll actually require use of a car. But we'll have plenty of yard for Julian to burn off some of this energy because right now he's like a rabid monkey.

He's been an official walker for a few weeks now. He's so good at it. One thing he's been doing lately though is running to me with his arms open wide and a big grin and just dives into may waiting arms. Does it get any better than that? He's been signing lately too. He recently started doing the sign for dog (snapping) which is extremely impressive since I haven't done it myself in many months. I was blown away. He also pants like a dog when he sees a picture of one. You would think he's been raised by wolves, so much of what he does is really things he's picked up on from Jolie and Valentine. And he's finally started doing the sign for "more" which we've done forever and he's never responded. And although it's not a sign, he loves to do the part of Patty Cake where you "rooooolllll it!" He loves it and also likes the Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes song. I just started signing it one day w/out doing the movement and he pointed to his head.

He's also been eating pretty much everything, including dairy. It seems to be going well although I try to buy dairy free when possible. It's still a struggle to keep his food choices organic and healthy. It's very easy to get sucked into offering processed canned and other convenience foods. I got really lazy with it when we were sick as he was eating the same canned soups as us. It's giving me the motivation to improve our eating habits too though.

Enough talking, here's the photos!


Outside of the house we're hoping to get.


He kept doing this when I would say "smile!" Guess I should stick with the candids.






Eating an organic yogurt to go tube thing that I froze for his "ice cream" while Mommy eats her chocolate "yogurt." Which works great until it's melted and he insists on holding it himself.