Wow! Time is really going by quickly now. One thing that has taken its time is Julia’s teeth. For months she has only had six and then one molar started to come in. In the last three weeks we have seen three new ones start to show themselves. One additional molar and the other two are front teeth. Yeah! She had done a great job of eating just about anything despite the few teeth.

Julia is not using many words yet and when she uses them she is only giving partial sounds. One unfortunate side effect is that she has started crying and screeching in place of words. The crying and screeching is a pretty effective means of communication with Emily, but it is a little tiresome. I have started teaching her more sign language so that she has the means of expressing herself in a more positive way. I hope she sees it that way. I can see a decent amount of frustration when we are not understanding her when she is trying to communicate the desire for something.

Her awareness of bodily functions is becoming more acute. She will point at her diaper when we talk about it, but also when she desires it to be changed. She has been asking to sit on the potty like her sister. That sister influence thing can have some good influences. Occasionally, she will fetch a diaper when she wants it changed.

Bad habits are formed lots of way – poor reinforcements to behaviors, distracted mommy, lazy ways of getting things done, and things learned directly from a sister. Some days I’m feel like I’m fighting a losing battle as I correct Julia only to have Emily demonstrate the improper behavior immediately. It is exhibited in lots of places like throwing food, touching curtains, kicking, standing on furniture, and disobeying mommy. The dynamic of sister influences and relations will be a topic of growth for the rest of the girls lives.

Eight months seems like such a long time. Julia has been doing really fun things lately and changing so quickly. It is hard to believe that this baby will start to sit, crawl, pull up, and walk all in the next four months.

This month she finally started to enjoy being on her tummy for any length of time, she mastered rolling over and uses the technique to get around the room to get things, she started eating solid food with a variety of success, she moved out of the cradle to the big girl bed, she is now sharing a room with her big sister, we got a bumbo so that she could enjoy sitting on her own more, we all went went camping, she made her first trip to the pool, and she is interacting with the world in a physical and verbal way.

She has enjoyed freedom of movement. She has rolled herself to Daddy’s electronics, into tight spots, to toys, and even into a toy bag (no worries, no danger of suffocation with this bag). The movement gives her the ability to follow Emily around the living room and get her stuff. Emily hasn’t grasped the consequences of giving things to Julia to play with – you don’t always get them back when you want them. Julia is willing to take anything that you have in your hands if she can get to them. This means that she can’t be held while eating and cooking without playing tug-o-war. It also gets your hair and earrings pulled with consistency.

One of my favorite times of the day with Julia is when we go to get Emily out of bed. Julia wakes up earlier than Emily and gets her first breakfast meal. When Emily wakes up, Julia and I go to the door and knock. Julia waves her arms up and down like a bird taking to flight and tries to ‘knock’ on the door herself. Then we go in and Julia’s face lights up into a smile if she hadn’t started it at the door. This smile is mirrored by Emily and her excitement to see Julia. Every morning Emily invites Julia to play in her bed with her. I didn’t know how much I would enjoy just watching the girls take such enjoyment in each other.

Julia talks a lot with little noises. She knows that if she makes noises she can get the attention of others. One day we were playing with some other kids and heard a child shriek. Within 30 seconds out popped Julia’s matching shriek. Luckily we don’t hear that every day. Julia’s will have a conversation of ‘ba, ba, ba’ with herself or the thing she has in her hands. When we are in the car I will hear Julia and Emily sharing the ‘ba, ba, ba’ conversation. It usually is followed with Emily announcing to me that “Sister said, ba”.

Wow – it has been four months already for little Julia. I have been holding her this week and thinking that she is so much heavier and getting a little chunky. Well, chunky for one of my daughters.

I try to document all of Julia’s significant changes around the time they happen, but I realized that I missed a big one. Julia has neck control and holds her head up really well. At one point she was close and I thought it would be much longer, and then the next thing I noticed, she was a pro at it. I guess I blinked. But she has been doing this for weeks, and I am just now journaling it.

There are some things she has been working on this week that I haven’t missed. She has found her voice. Not in a crying way, she has been working on that one since birth. She has found a coo & a holler. She can keep a conversation with you and at other times she joins in on loud conversations or attempts to get our attention. Tonight, I could have sworn that she was making noise to get Emily’s attention. It is really funny and I love it.

Something else that she is working on is trying to flip over. For a while, she has been doing leg lifts. She alternates between lifting her legs and then lifting her head/shoulders. Her leg lifts get pretty high and now she is adding a twisting motion to them that is getting her close to a flip. She will roll herself over and on her side when on soft cushions like the couch or bed.

Julia has the most beautiful bald spot on the back of her head. I would prefer her to not have it, but she just loves to rub her head back and forth. She likes to have her head rubbed on in general so she must be rubbing it herself. She will quit soon enough, and her hair will grow and it will be a distant memory.

One of my favorite thing she does is hold on to our fingers. When she is fussing herself to sleep in our arms, she pokes her hand out of the blanket in which she is swaddled. If we put one of our fingers into her hand, she will grip it, start to relax, and fight less. She will then drop into sleep, relax, and make herself so heavy. Julia is starting to not need to be swaddled to fall asleep. I remember Emily moving into the stage of not needing swaddling. It will coincide well with warmer weather, but I will miss my baby bundle.