We Can't Believe She's 1!

Wow! Everyone told us time would fly and it truly does. Julia is officially one year old and we celebrated in style. Helen's mom and Jody's parents came to visit their grandbaby to help her celebrate. We had a small birthday celebration on the 19th for her birthday with her grandparents and her friends Holden and Emily (whose birthday is next). We had spaghetti, monkey cupcakes, and monkey cookies. It is interesting trying to plan the birthday treats for a little one with dairy allergies, but you get creative. She opened some presents that night and a fun time was had. On Saturday we had the official birthday party and a great turn out. Julia's friends came and brought her all kinds of fun goodies. She received some great toys and clothes! We gave out monkey sugar cookies and bubble stuff as party favors. Adn had yummy BBQ for lunch. A great day, and definitely a time to cherish.

Other news - Julia is growing but she's a tiny one. She is moving all around and finding so much of her environment amusing. She thinks the dogs are funny, especially when they sneeze and she head butts them if they are in her way. Thankfully, her canine buddies are tolerating this well. She's been cruising on the furniture since July and she's getting brave and starting to move from one piece to another if they are close together. She figured out how to climb the stairs and after watching her friend Emily she can go down as well. She has a push toy that she likes to use to walk around the den - she's able to get up on it on her own and loves it. She's getting more teeth on the top and they are sharp. She figured out that she can bite my shoulder when I am holding her - we definitely put an end to that quickly. Julia can walk pretty far if she's holding onto mine or Jody's hands - we call it her 'marching' phase. She is still going to gymnastics and loves it. She is not afraid to flip upside down - the coaches enjoy the fact that they can try just about anything with her.
We will continue to keep everyone updated on her development. She keeps us busy! Never knew such a little person could make you so tired by the end of the day. Late nights are unheard of these days. Love to everyone!

Vacation-MOAB, UT

For vacation we took a trip to Moab, UT. We had heard so much about it from people here we decided we had to check it out. It is a desert area with beautiful scenery, but it is HOT. We are so spoiled by the weather here in Colorado.

Julia did very well considering we spent 6 hours in the car. But we stopped at different points and let her crawl around to release some energy.

Moab has some wonderful parks which we took advantage of while we there. We went to one called Arches Nat'l Park - beautiful red rock formations and did some hiking. We spent a day hiking behind the condo where we stayed and playng in a stream to keep cool. Julia loved that. We went to a lake one day to swim and Jule's was more infatuated with the rocky beach area. Who knew rocks could be so mcuh fun to sit and crawl on...?!?

Julia seemed to enjoy her first vacation. Looking forward to many more... she plans to be a world traveler... :)

UPDATES

Wow! It's been a busy summer and it seems it's almost over. Julia had been growing by leaps and bounds. We are having so much fun with her and feel so blessed that she is part of our lives. Julia and I took a trip to Columbus, GA for cousin Robert's wedding in June. She got to meet some family she hasn't met before and attend her first wedding. Being a little crawler does not make for an easy flight, but we did it. She so wants to move around now that I had to put her down at the wedding reception and follow her everywhere ensuring that no one stepped on her. We've been enjoying going to parks and playing with our friends this summer. We've been to several baseball games here in The Springs with her friend Emily.
After Julia's BUGS graduation, she started the next level class which is BIRDS. She LOVES going to the gym on Saturday mornings. She gets so excited and starts babbling as soon as we walk in the door. We think her favorite part of the class are the bells and the balls.
It's hard to believe that she is 11 months going on 1 year. We are making plans already for this momentous birthday. I swear it seems like yesterday that we brought her home. I look at bewborn pictures and it's hard to remember that she was that small and helpless.
Since she started crawling it has made life interesting - but wonderful. After many attempts we finally have baby gates that keep her away from the stairs. She recently learned to crawl up the stairs, but now we need to learn how to go down. Maybe she can learn that from her friend Emily who is a pro :). Right now Jules wants to go headfirst down the steps which doesn't work too well.
Hope everyone is having a fabulous summer!
We had a great 4th of July and hope everyone else did too.

And She's Off

She's officially done it - after weeks of rocking on her hands and knees and pushing herself backwards, Julia figured out how to coordinate all 4 limbs to crawl forwards. So now it's time for the baby gates and all the other baby proofing that comes along with mobility. This is not so easy as our house has awkward and wide openings so we're having a little trouble finding the right gates. The dogs aren't sure what to make of her new ability since she can follow them - they can't just get away from her now. But they're being very gentle with her and we're trying to teach Julia to be gentle with them.
It's not so easy to get things done anymore - I used to be able to leave her in a room and run to the kitchen or laundry room to get things done - not an option anymore; she wants to follow and she gets somewhere pretty quick now.
Julia has also sprouted two bottom teeth - she won't let Jody or I anywhere near them though so we haven't been able to get a picture. She's growing so quickly - it's hard to remember when all she did was sleep and lay in our arms.... :)

BUGS GRADUATION

On May 29th, Julia officially graduated from her BUGS gymnastics class. Aunt Carolyn and Uncle Patrick were there to see it. BUGS is a 'mommy and me' class for babies - it helps babies learn about their bodies in the space around them and encourages movement. Julia received a gold medal that the coach hung around her neck - a little graduation ceremony. (I'm waiting on the pics - as soon as I get them I'll upload them). So, now that she is officially done with BUGS we're on to the 'BIRDS' class. Starts this Saturday - we picked Saturdays so Daddy can go too.

First Hike

We ordered a backpack and set off to hike. Can't think about staying inside with the gorgeous weather. One Friday recently, the girls - Emily, Julia, and Holden and the moms set off on a hike in Cheyenne Canyon - it was a pretty hike with gorgeous views of the city. Carrying a child on your back puts a different spin on hiking. All the girls did pretty well considering it was the first time in the backpack for that long. Julia fell asleep towards the end - tired little tumbleweed :) . I guess as long as she's comfy she'll sleep anywhere she can. We've taken a few more since then - even one with daddy. He had to keep walking without taking a break because she fussed at him if he stopped. The most recent one we did was at a park in the city called Ute Valley - it ended up lasting a couple hours because we got a bit turned around. We're having fun exploring the Springs - Jules is going to be a little outdoors girl - we recently bought a seat for the bike to take her on rides and we're going camping this weekend.

Fun at the Park

So with all the beautiful weather we loaded up and headed out to the park with our friends. It was a baby playdate. Three babies and three moms piled into one car and set out. It's amazing how long it takes to get three little ones ready for a day of relaxing at the park - a lot of work!! Anyway, once we loaded up we set out only to have a couple detours along the way until we figured out where we were going. And of course, all three little ones fell fast asleep as we arrived at the park. But, the girls had a blast. It was a warm, breezy day. We all sat on blankets, ate lunch and watermelon, used the swings, and got sleepy thanks to the beautiful weather!