(8 months) Julia is hanging out after a bath. Both of my girls love their baths and the towel cuddles that follow. She was really enjoying laying on the changing table in her blanket and looking out the window.

Julia is getting long and is starting to fill up the changing table. There isn’t anything too special about the activities of this day, but it is fun to capture glimpses into the routine of our life.

We spent one warm summer morning at the Splat Pad with a friend and her kids. I ended up with a lot of action photos of Emily because she was very busy and not interested in looking at the camera. And not to many of Julia because she was attachedto me for much of the play time.

This park has a playground right next to the water area so that the kids can move freely between the two areas safely. Emily chose to play in the playground and not get wet for quite a while. And even after she got wet, she really enjoyed the playground area best this day. She was little ‘Miss Outgoing’ and hung out with some big girls who were great to include Emily in their play. Emily warmed up to the slide slowly as usual, but while holding Mommy’s hand she decided that it was OK. Her wet suit made her very fast down the slide.

Julia hung out with me most of the time. We tried the bumbo next to some squirting water so that she could explore it on her own. Almost immediately, a little boy came to play and inadvertently splashed Julia with water, which she didn’t like. I got her settled and Emily came to check on her. She was very sweet to talk to her and even pet her on the head. The funny thing was that Emily decided that she wanted to put her foot in the water and used Julia’s head to steady herself. The pulling of Julia’s hair was the last straw of Julia’s patience with sitting by the water and she wanted nothing less than to be held. I don’t really blame her, I wouldn’t like my hair being pulled and water splashed in my face either.

This was by far my favorite park and splat pad we have visited for a playdate. The location was good for meeting for a playdate, the size of the park was great for small kids, and the water made it easy to cool off and a lot of fun!

For months, I have been taking some time to get away with Julia and get some scrapbooking done. This has been good because I haven’t done any scrapbooking at home since Julia came. Last month, someone asked me if I had taken a photo of Julia at scrapbooking, and I realized that I hadn’t.  So, this month I took the camera. Julia was a really good sport about the amount of time we spent working and was pretty content to alternate between sitting in her bouncy seat and having floor time. She will be getting pretty active soon and my ability to bring her with me will end. But while it lasts I’m enjoying spending time with her and the other ladies are enjoying her company too.

While we were camping we went to a talk about possums on Saturday morning. The talk had some interesting things in it, but it sure didn’t capture the excitement of two-year-olds. Emily picked dandelions, worked on sharing toys with Elena, visited with the other people at the talk, and was thrilled to leave the talk early.

After the talk, we said hello to some horses. The horses weren’t inclined to visit, but seeing them up close was fun. Julia was OK with someone else holding her in the close vicinity of her mother. That didn’t happen much on the trip. Somehow she lost one sock.

Julia is not very smiley. She is reserved with other people and away from the house. But when in the mood she sure can giggle, grin, and laugh if she wants to. Don’t take my word, we have proof!

Robby is spending quality time with the girls and a book.

Life changes so quickly! Julia is now mobile. One week she mastered rolling over twice in a row, the next she figures out that she can use that trick to get around the room. She isn’t efficient, but she has moved to a toy box and to the toy shelf on her own now by rolling over and over and over until she gets where she is going. You can spot some pretty big smiles while she is going too. Robby pointed out tonight that we need to get her used to playing in a pack-n-play before she knows better.