I work hard to get photos of the girls together, but on this morning it just worked out for me. We were still in our pj’s playing and Emily asked to hold Julia. I set Julia up on the boppy so that the girls could enjoy each other without worrying about how long Emily could handle holding Julia. They just loved looking at each other. Both even looked at the camera for a photo, crazy hair and all!

(4 months) Nothing is sweeter than watching a baby sleep. Even though they are still, so much inside of them is changing as they grow. It is just amazing to understand how they develop from movement from the center of their bodies outward. Julia was reaching out and making contact with a toy just a few months ago and now she is grasping things and bringing them to her mouth to taste. Now, everything that she get a hold of goes into her mouth, and if she can’t find anything, she will use her own fingers for entertainment. I don’t mind her chewing on my finger, it is a glimpse into how she is interacting with the world.

Julia is a regular night sleeper now, although she seems to have lost it for our vacation. On our trip she would wake once and sometimes twice to eat. All of our schedules were very different as we traveled, so I was not surprised. When we returned she would wake up once and last night she slept the whole night. I noticed a marked improvement in my memory, patience, and fatigue once Julia gave me my first week of sleep without interruptions.

Today, we had our first intentional occurrence of putting Julia down awake and her falling asleep on her own. While I changed her diaper today she was pretty still and it was time for her nap, so I went ahead and laid her down. It worked and she went to sleep. This is one thing I hope is repeatable.

Julia and I played a game of waving at each other yesterday. I don’t know that she understood what waving was, but her arm was bent up so that her hand movements were a wave.  I would wave at her and she would smile big and move her hand and arm. If this is repeated soon, I will be shocked, but it was a fun time of play between us.

Emily traveled really well on our trip. She was happy playing with her toys and books in the car. She was completely potty trained for the ride there and back. She took at least one nap and fell asleep after the sun went down each way. The only car issues we had with her was her desire to steal blankets and toys from Julia. Luckily at this point Julia doesn’t seem to care. Emily asked to hear her favorite song, Banana Phone (thanks Elena and Ashley for the introduction), a bizillion times. She didn’t get to hear it every time she asked for it, but we did indulge her a lot if she was willing to say please. I think the best part of the trip for Emily was that everytime she arrived someplace there was new to her toys to play with, fun people to play with, and some cousins to play with.

Julia was enjoying a swing while Grandma secured her to it, although you couldn’t tell it from the look on her face. She was swinging in a tandem swing with Emily, which Emily thought was pretty cool.

Julia has a pretty serious face most of the time. Sometimes she sports a super-serious look, if she is considering something. Then she will burst into a smile and a little laugh. Many of her smiles are given to Emily and the best time to see one is when you go to save her from her bed when she wakes up.

I wonder what Emily was thinking as she looked out over the ocean.

Our family took a trip to Florida to do some visiting. We took the opportunity to go out to the beach and play with the girls one afternoon. Julia wasn’t very interested in the cool breeze that hit her once she was ready for a nap. Shortly after this photo she got bundled up and took a snooze. Emily had a blast both playing in the sand and splashing in the ocean. We let her wade in far enough to get her shorts wet. She wanted to go in further and stay in the water longer than we allowed her. The beach was a place of exquisite freedom and play for her. Who knew that sea gulls ran when you chased them? Touching the sand was awesome, but do you want it piled on you? What did the ground feel like under the water?