Wild Thing

Whew!  Ever since we found out about the twins it's been difficult to stay up-to-date here.  And Julius just changes so much.  

At this point it looks like he may be our family gourmand.  He'll eat or drink anything, yes, from fresh cayenne peppers to black espresso, but he also really enjoys trying different flavors.  He saw me dip my sausage into mustard and said, "oooh, a sausage and a mustard!"  "Hey, I wike mussard too!"

Oh, but that's not what I wanted to say.  Last night I read him Where the Wild Things Are for the first time.  He loved it from the moment he saw Max hammering the wall on the second page.  And his eyes got very wide at the Wild Things.  You see, Julius is a wild thing himself.  

Not a baby!

Now that we have a new baby on the way (Dean or Chrysanthemum Oval), it's a little easier to accept the fact that Julius is no longer a baby.  He's past that wonderful stage where he learns a new word every day, yet still knows few enough words that I can count them up.  Now he pretty much knows all he needs to communicate.  Sylvia loves to give him a long list of words to repeat.  

Now, he's not the world's finest enunciator, which gives him the ability to make cute little-kid mispronunciations.  Like when he got Heather's fruity gum out of her purse and said, "a water ellen gwum?  PWEE DAD?"  How can you resist?!

His other big thing now is his absurd strength.  He can pull Sylvia around in the big wagon, or give her rides on his dump truck.  When he does this he looks like the people on the "world's strongest man" challenges pulling tractor-trailers behind them.  

Oh and his other big thing now is his crazy lust for life.  He just has such vigor.  It's exhausting to see how eagerly he faces the day.  I like to tell Heather that it would be fun to go through my day with Julius' eagerness.  He loves doing everything.  "A WAKE UP!  A BOWER!  A DWINK COFFEE? CARRRR!  WIDE!!  OH, COME TOO, COME TOO!  HEFFY BOOK, A HEFFY BOOK!"   

Etch

I love to hear that boy talk.  He's at the sweet-n-cute age when his vocabulary outpaces his ability to enunciate.  He used to simply not say any word containing a sound he couldn't pronounce, even when he could prove in other ways that he knew that word.  He still has trouble with diphthongs, but now he picks one letter of the diphthong to pronounce, hence [t]ruck and [d]rink.  And he can pronounce his Rs just fine, but not Ss.  Stop is bop (usually "BOP!!", more accurately), sip is bip (again, more often "a BIP!! pwee, duh-DEE!").

But he still makes his characteristic sound, which we all love.  It sounds kind of like "etch," but with more of a raspberry-type sound at the end.  Sylvia always incorporates it into her Julius impressions.  Any word that he still doesn't want to pronounce becomes an "etch."  The interesting thing is that you can tell he is thinking real words and trying to communicate them, just "etch"-ing them out.  So when he counts off before taking off like a sprinter, he says, "etch... etch... GO!"  

Picture Post: Easter

Easter 2009


Easter 2010

Favorite Things

Julius' favorite things include Diego, starchy foods, wheeled transportation, and nakedness.  He combined 3 of his 4 loves yesterday when he wheeled his dump truck full of fried potatoes into Sylvia's room to watch Diego.  He was, unfortunately, clothed.

In other news, we have a new Julius.  The old Julius was sweet, shy, calm and compassionate.  The new Julius is sweet, compassionate, and A TOTAL MADMAN.  He can't sit still for an instant, and his speed is really shocking.  He pushes his dump truck, from one end of the house to the other, so quickly that it's not enough to step out of the way.  You have to take notice early and sometimes actually dive to avoid getting your toes broken.  He's super-strong, and can grab a high surface, do a pull-up, and kind of rappel his way up a flat surface (for instance, a counter and cabinets).  

It's marvelous how full of life he is, especially when I think back about his birth.  I'm so blessed that our poor, distressed baby turned into this rambunctious, glowing, vigorous little dynamo.  And you should see his smile!  

language explosion

Julius has been having a language explosion!  I remember the first stretch when Sylvia learned a new word a day, and how amazing that was.  Julius is in a similar state now, and some of his most common phrases are:

• I pie!  (I Spy)
• Outide, my houf (Go outside, to my playhouse)
• Choo, choo!  Beep, beep!  (Playing with cars)
• Poddy! Yeah, I peed!/Yeah, I poop!  

"BYE-BYE!" and "Up!" and "Down!" are also popular.  But my favorite, most characteristic Julius word is "okay."  As in, "I'm okay."  Any time he falls or suffers an emotional injury he'll bury his head in mama's lap and say, "mama, okay, okay."  It was especially sweet when he was sick/upset last week; he'd just hold Heather tight and say, "okay, okay."  

Terrible Twos: Travel Edition

I suppose it's not so much the terrible twos we're dealing with. I think it might be more separation anxiety than anything else. To top it all off, Julius is suffering from a bit of a cold, making his mood all the more sad.
When he feels especially unwell he'll cry and deny how he's feeling. He'll say 'Okay, Mama, okay. Okay.'

Despite all of this he's had quite a fun day at the Zoo. Here's hoping a good night's sleep will make tomorrow's adventure even more enjoyable.

little bro

Julius is such a little brother. His main desire is to be included. Doesn't matter what anyone is doing, or if it's something he'd ever want to do otherwise; if someone's doing something, he wants in. If Sylvia wants to dance, Julius teleports over and we hold hands in a circle. If we're reading, Julius will sit right with us even if it's a book that doesn't usually hold his attention. If I'm eating salsa, he'll beg for a bite even though it burns his mouth... and then he'll ask for another. If Sylvia's watching TV he'll watch too, just to be with her. And also because he loves TV.
And if I'm sitting on the couch he'll climb up and rest his head on me. We have a special sleep bond.
Oh, what a sweetie!

Yeah

I'm addicted to asking Julius questions. Especially ones I know he'll say yes too because when he gets so very excited. I've been trying to document it because I don't think just describing it will do. Unfortunately, whenever I pull out the camera he gets distracted and just stands there saying 'cheeeeese' until I snap a few shots.

Anyway.. it goes a little something like this:
Me: Julius, do you want some juice?
Julius: YEEAAHHHH. YEAH YEAH YEAH YEAH YEAH YEAH *happy dance*

new words

ME: Sylvia, GO TO THE RED ROOM RIGHT NOW! ONE...
JULIUS: twofree!

sweet man

One of the best things about Julius is his boundless capacity for sweetness. If you have to go into a room alone, he'll follow you back, and fall asleep on the floor trying to peek through the crack under the door. If we're lecturing Sylvia about needing to wear some underwear or socks, Julius will silently go to his room and bring Sylvia a pair of underwear or socks. He wants to make people happy and to end conflict, and he really follows through -- he wants to hug Mr. Cuddles too tightly, and he wants to roll around all over your face even if he's not trying to go to sleep.

Last week we all had a terrible stomach virus. At one point I couldn't make it to the bathroom and I collapsed in the Red Room with my trash can. Julius ran toward me, to see what fun things I would do with the trash can (he got excited whenever Sylvia threw up and he'd stand next to her and pretend to vomit, too). But once I started making my terrible noises he stumbled backward, scared. I saw he was scared and said, "go find mommy!" trying not to sound like a sea monster. He pointed to the living room and started to walk away. Then a second later, he appeared back in my field of vision, pointed at me, and then just stood there with me until I was done. I saw care and sympathy (and still some of the fear) in his eyes. I've seen my kids display oddly grown-up behaviors and emotions before, but I think this was the first time I'd been deeply touched by a little baby's care and concern for his daddy.

Halloween 2009

I both love and hate making Halloween costumes for the children. This year was especially tricky because I started on Julius' costume a full month prior to Halloween not realizing how much he'd grow during that time.
He grew and the fabric glue I used to adhere the strips of cloth to his shirt and pants caused the fabric underneath to pucker and tighten. He was initially suppose to be a mummy but when we were unable to squeeze him into the costume we went with plan b--ZOMBIE BABY!


This is what the Zombie Apocalypse will look like.


BRAAAAAINNSSS, that way.


I love how angelic his eyes look despite the fake blood and make up.

We went trick or treating for a good hour and Julius held up quite well. He wasn't too keen on keeping the candy in his bucket and wanted to eat every piece immediately but hey, doesn't everyone?

Tickle Monster

Julius can tickle now and he can even say the word "tickle" right before doing so. He also holds up his little hands and wiggles his little fingers and puts on this mischievous smile.
It's incredibly adorable.

ABCs

Julius loves to have us read to him. Lately he's shown a clear preference for alphabet books, and he reads the same 3 or 4 over and over. Sometimes we'll just sing the alphabet instead of reading the book to him. And now he's started singing back! He sings, "dee-dee-dee-dee-deeeeee," to the tune of the "QRS - TUV" part, and then repeats that phrase, sometimes a step higher the second time. And he sings it surprisingly in-tune. :)

new development

Now sweet baby Jules wants me to put him to sleep at night!
Sylvia never stuck with the same sleep pattern for very long. For a few months I had to rock her and bring her to bed, for a few months she read herself to sleep, for a few months she needed milk in bed. But Julius has always been consistent: he needs mom to put him to sleep in bed. For a while, though, the milk has been having the opposite effect. He'll tank up and then be full of energy, going crazy all over the bed and waking Sylvia up.
But recently I found that I'm able to get him to sleep by laying next to him, holding him tightly, and rocking back and forth. He's gotten so used to it that his eyes start fluttering as soon as I lay next to him. :) The only problem is, after all that rocking next to a sweet baby, I'm ready to go to sleep, too!


Jules is also working on some new words. Let's see... there's cow, cup, up, bye, cat, mama, dada, sylvia (ee-uh), thank you, read, ball. Probably some others too. He says thank you ("duck-dooo") any time any transaction takes place. He hands me a book, "reee, duck-doo". It makes a game of catch very entertaining. "Duck-doo!" "You're welcome." "Duck-doo!" "You're welcome."

Falls

Julius was romping around on the floor in Sylvia's room last night when he incurred yet another injury. He was flopping around on top of a blanket when his face made contact with the bottom rail of the bed. At first it didn't look that serious. It bled profusely but mouth cuts tend to do that. However, upon further examination we found that his frenulum(the piece of skin that connects his upper lip to his gums) was torn and that the area around his front teeth was bleeding as well.
My first worry was for his teeth because, although they are still baby teeth, damaging one can have a serious effect on the way his permanent teeth come in.

Alan had just gotten home so scrambled to get back into the car. Our pediatrician's office was closed of course, being 7:00 pm and on a Sunday no less so we opted for Doctor's Care(which was still open, thank God.)
His teeth appeared to be fine, not loose at all and the frenulum was not torn enough to require stitches. He does have to take a round of antibiotics to prevent infection and we'll have to keep an eye on his mouth to make sure things are healing properly.

Of course he was fine immediately after but when that much blood is involved and when the injury is to the mouth I'd rather be seen by a doctor just to be on the safe side.

Septembers

I uploaded some pictures tonight from this month(September 2009) and while I was creating the new photo album I found myself thumbing(or is that scrolling?) through pictures from last September. I thought it would be nice to contrast and compare.


September 2008 -- Mr. Chubby Cheeks


September 2009 -- He's still Mr. Chubby Cheeks but now he can walk and run!


September 2008 -- He wasn't even sitting up on his own yet but boy did he drool.


September 2009 -- He loves to accesorize!

say cheese!

This boy loves the camera.

hugs

There is no child-borne annoyance or offense that cannot be redressed by one of Julius' famous "ugg-AH"s. For a tiny little person with chubby little baby arms he sure can hug your neck tightly!

The pillow

This isn't an incredible significant bit of information but I thought it should be documented all the same.
Nothing brings Julius more joy than rolling around on the floor, clutching a pillow and farting. He does it on almost a daily basis and all the while he just smiles and laughs and laughs.