Emily, Julia, and I were playing on the floor yesterday morning. Emily was laying on the floor next to Julia and asked for ‘cheese’. This is her way of asking to have her photo taken, so that she can say ‘cheese’. I thought it was so sweet that she wanted to have her photo taken with Julia. By the time I got the camera, the moment was gone. Emily wanted to sit in my lap and help me take photos of her sister. I talked her into playing night-night with Julia and getting a photo of that. Julia doesn’t look like she was much in the mood to play.

Julia had her 2 month checkup today at 10 weeks. She weighed 9 lbs – 6.5 oz. and measured 21 3/4 inches long. This is an increase of 1 lb – 3 oz. and 1 1/4 inches in 4 weeks. The doctor was pleased with her size and felt that she was growing well. She received two shots which she disliked and received one vaccination orally. The doctor heard a heart murmur at this visit that he hasn’t heard before. He said that it could be a small hole that has formed between the chambers that will heal on it’s own, but he wants a heart doctor to listen to the heart and give an opinion. I wondered if something was wrong because he spent a lot of time listening to her heart. He told me what to watch for in the meantime. She should return for her next checkup at 4 months.

Emily joined us at this appointment and I was curious how she would be at the visit, given that it wasn’t for her. She was very curious about what the nurse and doctor did to Julia and wanted to watch. She enjoyed reading a book to Julia while we waited. And let me successfully ‘bribe’ her with her uneaten lunch to sit in the chair like a big girl. The doctor gave her some stickers at the end of his exam and while we waited for Julia’s shots Emily decorated herself, her doll, and Julia with stickers.

Christmas has come, but it hasn’t gone yet. The remains are still scattered over our living room floor. This is the first year we have celebrated Christmas with a child who is capable of interacting with it so much. Our celebration began on Christmas Eve at church being reminded of the story of Christmas. It continued on to Christmas Day where we opened gifts, ate good food, visited with Grammy and Granddaddy, and played with lots of toys.

I was so pleased to see the joy that Emily found in the day. She loved opening gifts and playing with what was inside. The word ‘play’ was added to her vocabulary on Christmas. I’m sure that she got the concept but today when she got up from her nap I told her that we would have lunch and then play. She then requested to skip lunch and go and ‘pay’ which I translated to play. She proceeded to use the word for the rest of the day.

I love to watch her explore things. How she is willing to do the same thing over and over again, how she is willing to try the same thing from different angles to see what happens, how she adds sound effects to actions, and how she imitates Mommy’s antics in her play. There was a lot of exploring because of Christmas! We so appreciate our family and friends their generosity with us and our daughters. Thanks so much – we love you all!

Merry Christmas! We are looking forward to this Christmas – the joy of Emily opening gifts and hugging on Julia.

A few funny stories from Christmas Eve.

I’m not sure what is sweeter than this display of love. I had put Julia on the couch, and Emily had proceeded to climb up to play with her. Hugging and kissing is one of her favorite games to play with her sister. After hugging her she got a blanket, laid down next to Julia, and covered the two of them up with the blanket. I guess she wanted to play night-night with Julia.

Julia has started to smile and express herself in ways that do not involve fussing or crying. If you get close to her and start talking in an animated way – out pops a grin and smile. It is so much fun! I tried to teach Emily to play peek-a-boo with her yesterday, but Emily didn’t quite get the consept of doing it to entertain Julia. When Emily understands that Julia is smiling because of something that she did, we will not be able to stop Emily from being a ham.

Julia is learning to use her arms and neck. She will reach out for a toy that catches her eye. This morning Julia decided that she wanted to wake us up and play. Today is Robby’s first day of his Christmas break, so I decided to let him sleep in and got up to play with Julia. I held her ‘sitting up’ on my lap, which is one of her favorite positions, and enterained her with her rattle. She would reach out and touch the rattle and bob her head in excitement. I guess it was some of her first multi-tasking, she had to move her neck while at the same time move her arms. It was hard work because she needed to take a nap.