Special Time

Tonight Julia and I got to go grocery shopping, just the two of us. We went to Whole Foods with a very big holiday cooking list and it was the most fun I have EVER had grocery shopping! She is such a little character. I would read off my list, "Ok, we need lettuce" and she would look around the produce section and say "there it is Mommy, your salad". Then onto, apples and broccoli, and potatoes, even when I asked her for the "herbs", she pointed right to the basil and oregano plants. I was shocked at how much she knows about the foods we eat! Like my mother said this weekend, "that Julia loves to cook, she will probably own a restaurant".

We zoomed up and down the aisles, talking about all the yummy food we will be preparing, she smiled the entire time, followed all of the rules and was rewarded with many smiles and hugs from a happy Mommy ... and to top it off, we stopped and rested with a small Gelato.

Thanksgiving shopping was a big success!

Julia is 1!

Happy Birthday to Julia Frances!

We can not believe a year has come, little Julia is now a toddler. Not a baby ... well to us she will always be our baby. I took her birthday off to give her lots of special attention. We plan to drive into Providence to meet Daddy for a birthday lunch and get her first sweet at Nancy's Fancies ... a great cupcake shop on Atwell's Ave.

Julia is so much her own character, it's so adorable. She's persistent and a free spirit. She likes to figure out all of our gadgets and then clap for herself afterwards. She's great at pushing around the furniture and cruising right along. She gets super excited when she sees her Daddy, she does a whole body jiggle! She picks up the phone and says hiiiiiiii and she hugs her toys and baby dolls. She seems to be a Pisces through and through -- she is sweet, cuddly, a thinker and motivated. She gives the best hugs and big open mouthed kisses. We love her so much and are so happy to celebrate her 1st year during her "birthday week".

Sneaky ...

Ok, I have to admit, I am becoming a bit obsessed with this Deceptively Delicious mission. I am sneaking pureed veggies and fruits into EVERYTHING!!! And the family knows no difference! So I ask, is yellow squash in oatmeal over the line? I sampled it and you know what, it worked!!! Plus for an added bonus the cubes cooled down the oatmeal pronto.
On a semi-related note, Julia is eating everything under the sun these days. She only has 2 teeth but eats like she has a mouth full of them. She likes meat, cheese, veggies, grains and fruits. Eats yogurt well but has to space it out or she will end up vomitting. She is down to nursing 2 times per day and seems very content with that. I am done pumping ... Woohoo!!!! And I can not believe she is 10 months old tomorrow. This year has gone by so quickly.
Other Julia notes:

• First Word - mama



• Words that followed - baba, rara, emma, nenene, da (not quite dada yet but she's getting there) and loud (we swear she said this the other day but we'll see if she says it again!)
• Standing all by herself
• Crawling
• Pulling up to things
• Walking holding our hands
• Rolling a ball
• Clapping
• Laughing at her sister
• Recognizes herself in the mirror and gets shy about it
• Loves her kitty