Apple Picking

Before anyone asks, Juliette has not started walking yet, however she is incredibly close.



Today, to celebrate Kathy's Birthday (which was on Wednesday this past week when the above video was taken), my side of the family got together and went apple picking, after which we had a nice picnic lunch with rhubarb pie.

We didn't get a ton of pictures, but I wanted to share these two with you and also this awesome short video.

So, wait, is an Empire Apple something grown for Darth Vader to eat? 'Cause that's wicked awesome.

For those keeping score at home, the Snugli that Juliette is strapped into here is the same one that Lydia was using just about a year ago when we went to a different apple orchard. Jules spent the tractor ride back from the orchard working on breaking through the skin of this apple to get to the good stuff inside.

Success! Sweet, Delicious Success!

Like anyone doubted she could do it. As I told her Granny, if she doesn't learn to do it on her own now, she may never learn. I don't care that she's only fourteen months old. Besides, she can do lots of other things. She's kind of fearless. Oh, don't believe me? Watch this:




Yeah. That's my fourteen month old daughter being ridiculously awesome.

August - The BUSIEST MONTH EVER

Jules, making way for Ducklings in Boston, August 5th, 2011

August was super busy for Kathy and I. The vacation at the start of the month was a welcome break, but after the rest of the month, we could sure use another vacation. Ugh.

But here we are, September 1st, and it's a new month and Jules is nearing her 13 month birthday. So I thought, since I didn't get a good update in on her actual birthday, I'd share some information with you.

"Working" on her laptop. Working = Dancing

Juliette loves to play and dance. Her favorite toys are the ones that play music. One of her birthday presents was a toy cell phone; most of the buttons just make regular phone noises and one plays a message that Kathy recorded for her, but her favorite buttons are the * and # buttons, the only two on the phone that play music. She will press one of those buttons and get to shimmyin' and shakin' like it's nobody's business!

Not taken by JJ Abrams

Juliette can say many many words these days, and does. Here's the list:

Picture!

Ball

Doll

Dad

Dadda

Hi

What's that?

Mom

Momma

Spoon

What's up?

Good.

Yes (I like this one)

No (d'oh!)

Kit (kitty)

Gen (gentle, when referring to the cat)

Book (though she does not pronounce the 'k,' she puts a 't' at the end)

Per (or Diaper depending on her mood)

Juice (anything in her sippy cup)

Light

Clock

Block

Boston

Water

Yeah (learned from Cousin Lydia, I think)

Bird (be it a bird, rabbit or squirrel)

Flower

Basketball (not kidding, she said it after hearing me say it once)

Cup

Down

Pants

Shirt (sounds like...something else)

Bear

Ba ba (Lamb or sheep, also what Sheepo says)

Bye bye

Shoe

Here (as in "here you go, I found this fuzz on the floor and I'm giving you four seconds to get it out of my hands before I eat it. Four-three-two-one nom nom.")

Yuck (usually 5-7 seconds after "here")

Relaxin' done RIGHT

In the past few weeks, Juliette has learned that the kitty is super soft, and that she'll let you experience this softness if you're very gentle. Jules has always been curious about Amethyst, and would laugh whenever she'd walk into the room. They have been playing together since Jules was able to sit up, with Amethyst rubbing Juliette's back and Jules laughing and grabbing for her. For a while, they played with balls together; Juliette would roll a ball across the floor to Amethyst, who would sometimes roll it right back. But recently, this started (see above). ADORABLE CITY.

Dad, if you make me listen to ONE MORE obscure indie-pop album from the last decade...

We went on a road trip to Nebraska for the weekend two weeks after Juliette's Birthday. We got to see cousins.

Cousins don't stand still when asked.

We saw others as well...

Grandpa

Aunt Kristie

Aunt Lori

Grandma

Also there but, oddly not pictured: Aunt Lisa, Aunt Carissa, Uncle Steve and soon-to-be Uncle Justin.

The weekend had to end, though...

Daddy Knew where his Towel Was. I'm counting upside down.

On the drive back, the sun was in Juliette's eyes. But we fixed that.

After a month like this, we just like to sit back and relax with a good book.

Or maybe, considering the heat, a cool soda would be good.

Ode to Sodie, Bo-de-o-dodie! Auntie Mo, hold me more often so I can get more of this SUGAR WATER YUM!

Oh, yeah, Juliette learned how to drink from a straw. Also how to use the Tupperware shape sorter.

Also, this mad adorableness.

I'm getting verbal updates from Kathy as I blog, so: Juliette learned how to build a small stack of blocks. She "cooks" her animals. She got a farm animal puzzle and a set of utensils and pans for her play kitchen, and she put the pig, cow and chicken into a frying pan and stirred them around with a spatula. That's my girl! Though, really, you should be grillin' all that, unless of course it's ground beef, chicken breast for pasta and bacon. Oh man...I'm so hungry right now...

While sitting with Poppy at his piano the other day, she watched his fingers intently and mimicked what he was doing. Do we have a musical prodigy on our hands? Do we have active imaginations? Maybe. But a musical prodigy wouldn't be a terrible thing. Prodigies tend to land recording contracts and end up on the Tonight Show at age 11 and...wait...do I want that? No...but I wouldn't mind her being musical (see above, re: dancing).

Stairs are no longer an obstacle but an out and out danger, at least as far as going up is concerned (we tend to not let her hang out around the top of unblocked steps, the experts frown on that). Get her at the bottom of a staircase, and up she'll go. She can manage it all on her own, but every time I've seen her do it I've seen it happen from half an inch away. Strange thing, though; when I've seen other kiddos learn stairs, they tend to crawl up on their hands and knees. Jules is using her hands, but is putting her foot on the next step and pushing herself up that way. With her whole leg. You know, the way people who have been climbing stairs long enough to really know what they're doing do. Like, people who aren't only thrice the height of one step. It's an awe-inspiring and nerve-wracking sight for a parent.

Standing is now an all the time thing. Standing in bed? Check. Standing at the picture window waving goodbye to daddy in the mornings? Check. Standing freely in the middle of the room and laughing at the sheer miracle that is one years' progress? Check. She still crawls between places where she stands, but that won't last much longer because...

This week, she took two steps. Not concurrently, but still. Her consecutive total may be one, but her cumulative total number of steps taken without assistance comes to two. So we've got that going for us.

Kathy informs me that's probably enough for now. I guess. But first, one more picture. Ready?

Juliette, on her birthday. And she totally knows it.

A Trio of Birthdays

Well, after Juliette's trip to the doctor on Friday the fifteenth, we were supposed to see Auntie Jess* briefly to give her birthday presents, but Juliette just wasn't feeling up to having visitors.

Jules hanging out with Auntie Jess in September

We called Jess and let her know, and told her we'd get her presents to her at a later date. Juliette said "Happy Birthday" over the phone by crying. So, we settled in for a good sleep, I read a chapter of The Wind in the Willows and we all fell asleep for the night. Which was good, because the next day was a big day...

We woke up early to run some errands. First, we ran to Cotton Babies to pick up some diaper-related supplies. Then we went to The Book House to pick up some presents for some special birthday girls. We ended up finding a whole lot of presents...for Juliette. We then looked a second time and found more presents...for ourselves. Finally, on our third pass, we found presents for the people we were actually searching for. Just so you know, this is absolutely horrid behavior when shopping for birthday presents for somebody, unless you are in a place like The Book House. It is an amazing place (seriously, if you haven't been, you should go, and if you can't make it because of geographical location, try anyway or at least check out the website). This is a place that is literally floor-to-ceiling books on every wall. Used, new, rare, various price ranges...like the sign on the window reads, it's a browser's paradise. AND, the money goes to Second Chapter Life Center, a charity which provides community support for young adults with special needs. It's an amazing store all around.

I'm a go on a bit of a rant here: I hate spending time in stores of any kind, with the exception of book stores, record stores, bike shops and music instrument stores. Only, not chain stores; I'm talking good independent stores, with real knowledgeable staff members. Bike shops are the oddity in this bunch, because I prefer new bicycles to used, but with books and records and guitars, I'll take either. I love the smell of old books and old records and I love the feel of a guitar with a few years behind it. End rant.

Anyway, so when we got those together, we came home and wrapped the presents and headed over to my sister's house. It was her 31st birthday! But...that's not what we were celebrating. We had a different reason to celebrate this time:

Cousin Lydia gettin' her cake on for her first birthday

Lydia had a great time on her birthday, showing off her newfound walking skills and smiling and cramming cake into her mouth. Of course, cousin Madeline had a good time, too, playing with all of Lydia's new toys and likewise cramming cake into her mouth.

Juliette, on the other hand, spent most of the party looking like this:

Picking out books wore her out.

But no matter, she was held by several people who had never met her and she doesn't remember it. I think she was only awake when I changed her diaper, and I've gotta tell ya, if she gets her diaper changed over there a few more times, she's going to start complaining about how she's got it at home. It's not a super posh changing table, and they don't have an expert in the field on staff at all times; cousin Lydia's diaper wipes are stored in a container that keeps them nice and warm. As opposed to our wipes, which are nothing more than pieces of flannel sprayed with room-temperature water from a plastic bottle. You can kind of tell Jules loves the warm wipes. But that's okay, that just means she'll have strangely fond memories of her cousins' house which she won't be able to fully explain when she's older.

So, wishing Mo and Lydia a happy birthday, we went back home to rest up, because we had ANOTHER big day the next day...but that story will have to wait for another post.

*Auntie Jess, while not technically Juliette's aunt, has earned this title through a combination of friendship, love, and baking skills.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM!

Today is a special day, Juliette says. Because today is mommy's birthday!

Yes, that's right, today is Kathy's birthday! In honor of her birthday, we spent this past Saturday out and about doing some fun things.

First, we went to a Farmer's Market at Tower Grove Park, where Pokey LaFarge and the South City Three happened to be playing. So, Juliette officially has been to her first concert.

Juliette meets Cousin Ryan, of the South City Three

Afterwards, we went to Forest Park and met up with Aunties B and Jess. No, they're not really related to us, but they're still Aunties nonetheless. We had a great picnic in the park.

She was trying to tell me a joke.

After walking to our picnic spot and eating all that good lunch we brought with, it was time for a nap.

Best outdoor nap ever.

All in all, it was a good day, and a good birthday celebration.

Happy Birthday, Kathy!