Big Birds

For those of you who read this blog solely for updates on Julia, you can move on to the next web site and get on with your day. She's only got a brief cameo on this post. However, an interesting recent, non-baby phenomenon at the Goldberg house merits a brief mention here.

For each of the past three days, we have spotted exotic birds in or around our yard. On Saturay, Deborah looked out our family room window and said, 'What's that?" A peregrine falcon, hanging out on our sun room roof. [At least we're 75% sure it was a falcon; it could have been a hawk]. On Sunday, as Jon and Julia were getting ready for a walk, Jon spotted this tall, skinny gray bird by the creek. We're 51% sure it was a heron. [See photo and let us know if you know what it is.] And Monday Deborah saw a third unusual bird in our yard but couldn't snap a cell phone photo in time. She's less of a bird nerd than Jon and doesn't know what it was.

We've had a bird feeder for four years, with nothing more out of the ordinary than a cardinal, so the past few days have been a welcome little surprise. Perhaps all of the local fowl are rising up in advance of Thursday in defense of the weirdest looking bird of all: the turkey.

Deborah's Birthday

Saturday was my 32nd birthday, and I have to say it was one of the best birthday's I've had in a long time. Jon took off work Friday and spent the day with Julia, giving me the day off. This was an amazing present! I had lunch with friends, which was quite a treat since it did not involve cheerios, sippy cups or picking food out of mine or Julia's hair. I also did a little shopping and took a nap. It's amazing how my idea of an exciting birthday present has changed in the last year.

Saturday, Jon, Julia and I went to the mall and out to lunch. Jon baked a delicious birthday cake. He tried to keep it a surprise, but the house smelled like freshly baked cake and it's pretty impossible to hide cake from me, anyway. My friend Erica was kind enough to babysit for us that night and we went to dinner at Vivace, a new swanky Italian restaurant in the Metropolitan midtown. Thanks to Jon, Julia and all my friends and family who made it a great birthday.

Monkey Business

A few updates from a new 11-month old (as of November 17).

- We've called Julia "Monkey" for some time, and she's finally living up to her name. Julia has decided to eat bananas like a grown-up, whether that be a grown person or a grown monkey. She grabs the peel and just starts chomping away, often literally biting off more than she can chew. She also really enjoys the game where Daddy takes a bite, then Julia takes a bite, then Daddy takes another bite and so on.

- For her 11-month birthday, we let Julia try a taste of a cupcake, which didn't seem to register with her one way or the other. We gave her several new books, including a (surprisingly long) Thanksgiving book and another Sandra Boynton book. She still loves to "read." Lately, her favorite book is "Goodnight Gorilla."

- Julia's mobility and speed continue to improve dramatically. She can crawl very quickly and does not seem to be in any hurry to walk on her own. When she breaks free, she likes to bang on the washer-dryer, bang on the windows between the sun room and kitchen (usually to say 'hi' to Mommy), look out the sun room windows to the back yard, and, especially, explore all of the contraband in the kitchen (the trash, the oven, the pantry, etc.).

Smart Cookie (Monster)

Because Julia continues to be a woman of few words (actually, we're still stuck on one word, "Mama"), it can be very hard to tell what she gets and doesn't get.

It's clear now that she comprehends a whole lot more than we realize.

For some time, Julia has enjoyed a cloth Sesame Street peek-a-boo book. The plot is pretty straightforward: each Sesame Street character has some secret shame that leads them to hide in or behind a different object on each page. Where's Grover? He's hiding behind a huge dog. Where's Oscar? He's hiding in his trash can. Where's Big Bird? He's hiding in his nest. And so on.

It's Julia's job to play CSI: Sesame Street and locate each character. Frankly, it's not all that difficult, even for an (almost) 11-month old.

But yesterday, she really impressed us. Daddy closed the book and asked Julia, "Where's Ernie?" Julia then turned to Ernie's page and located germaphobic Ernie in his bathtub. We shut the book again and asked, "Where's Cookie Monster?" Julia then turned a few more pages to find Cookie Monster on yet another self-destructive sugar-eating binge. We had no idea that Julia could positively identify each of the characters when they weren't right in front of her. It was a little shocking, honestly.

Now, let's not get carried away here. We're still talking about someone who is as likely to put her food on her head as she is to put it in her mouth. But it was a good reminder that babies absorb a ton of stuff, even if it's not obvious, and that we need to watch what we do and say around her!

Off to MeMa's House

We hadn't been to The Longs' in quite a while, not since the summer actually. Of course we had seen them several times but just not gone to their house. So Julia and I decided to take a few days vacation in Dulah. We drove down Sunday morning and stayed through Tuesday. In our absence Jon enjoyed a bachelor Sunday of football with the boys.

To say Julia's MeMa and Granddaddy Jimmy Dale were excited to see her would most definitely be an understatement. They were basically unhooking her from the car seat before I could turn off the car. Everyone had a great time while we were there. Julia entertained with her ravenous bear-like mealtime manners, peek-a-boo games, and her newly acquired high-five skills. She saved her best performance for Monday night. While undressing her for her bath, she managed to crawl away. Completely naked she crawled all over the room and then sat down and began reading one of her favorite books. Based on Julia's expression it must be a pretty funny one.

Jon calls this picture "Hello Moon!"


Sunday she got to meet another one of her great aunts. Aunt Dot and Jimmy and Sandy came from Lumberton on Sunday to meet her. Then Monday, the Millers visited. While Julia enjoyed all the visits from family, she was most interested in her new feline friends. She spent hours watching and waving to the three cats. She also enjoyed swinging on the front porch with MeMa. While the Julia had to say goodbye to the kitties when we left Tuesday, she was able to bring her other new friend home--her first Elmo stuffed animal, courtesy of MeMa Shirley. From the way she's been dragging him around everywhere, I think they'll be friends for life.

Julia with Granddaddy Jimmy and Aunt Dot

Julia and Dawn

Dawson, Olivia, Julia, Deborah, Reid, and Cookie Monster

Tidbits

A few minor post-Halloween Julia tidbits for a Friday afternoon:

- Little Julia has been battling a cold this week. She is feeling a little better today. Deborah took her to the doctor's yesterday, and the doctor reported that she indeed had just a cold (that's a good thing). Julia also refused to sit still on the table or on the scale. She officially weighed in at 19 pounds, but she was so squirmy the results are uncertain.

- Let's just hope it's a function of the cold, but Julia has been a demanding little girl this week. The second you take away a toy, she screams. If you try to feed her apples and she wants cheese, she will pick up the apples with her hand and either throw them in your face or drop them on the ground. Changing her clothes and diapers have been adventures as well.

- On a happier note, Julia loves going to the grocery store and wastes no opportunity to wave to anyone and everyone buying or selling groceries. She waved so much at the deli clerk this past weekend that Jon thought Julia was trying to convince the clerk to give her just a wee bit more turkey.

- Julia is excited about all of the grandparent visits between now and the end of the year!

Julia's First Halloween

We hosted eight babies and toddlers at our house for a Halloween party, and no one was hurt, nothing was broken and Julia stayed in her spider costume the entire time.

It was a Halloween miracle!

Julia seemed to really enjoy her first Halloween. Lots of her little buddies came over to enjoy the day. Tessa, Brady, Mae, Jaclyn, Emma, Lillian and Nate (at age 18 months, the grandfather of the festivities) all looked cute in their costumes and played well together. Given the dreary day, and the fact that babies who can't walk or chew gum (much less at the same time) make suspect trick-or-treaters, we were glad that all the babies and toddlers who joined us had something fun to do on Halloween.

Jon dressed up in a giant Ernie costume that scared Emma half to death but made for some funny pictures. Aunt Sheryl was on hand to take photos and be with us for Julia's first Halloween.

Julia did go trick-or-treating for the first time by visiting our neighbors Phyllis and Ed. She got a cup of sugar-free jello and a fruit cup. Better luck next year, Julia.

All in all, a fun day.

When Babies Attack

Cue the Animal Planet narrator and ominous music:


"The baby is hungry. The baby eyes its prey - an unsuspecting, lazy house cat. The baby has read about cats and has studied them but has never before seen one in the wild - until now."

"How will this drama end? Will the cat return safely to her sofa, out of reach from the aggressive but very short baby, or will the ravenous, curious creature become a ruthless predator? The baby makes a move...she has the kitty in her grasp...RUN, CAT, RUN!! It's too late. Poor kitty."

Denim Delight

Deborah had a dentist appointment this morning...which means Daddy was in charge of all morning activities - including Julia's attire. When placed in charge, Daddy does not pass up an opportunity to push the envelope with regard to her wardrobe or hair.

Today, that meant that Julia got to wear jeans for the first time. They were adorable.

Lesson learned, however - jeans are a little impractical if the wearer needs ten diaper changes a day. Suffice it to say, Julia had on different pants by the time Daddy got home from work.

Lauren & Roy's Wedding

Julia attended her first wedding this weekend.

My close friend and former roomate, Lauren Sacks, tied the knot Saturday. The wedding was at a beautiful farmhouse outside Carrboro (she is currently on a Hawaiian beach; I just emptied the Diaper Genie. Sigh.). While I ran around most of the weekend doing bridesmaid duties, Jon took care of Julia. In fact, she spent so much time with Jon, that on Monday I think she had separation anxiety, crying for quite a while when he left for work.

We spent the weekend with Tracy, Brandon and Grady Thomas. Tracy, who is 38 weeks pregnant, was an amazing host and Julia not only got to play with all of Grady's toys, she also slept in the baby's nursery. Julia was very polite at the wedding. Jon stood in the back with her, but she was pretty much quiet through the whole ceremony, although she was quite entertained by the bagpipes and drums. She did "dance" with Grady for two songs.

One little girl, Amelia, the daughter of another bridesmaid, was infatuated with Julia. Every time Julia came into her line of sight, Amelia would squeal with delight. It was hilarious. See the below photo.

Other highlights from the weekend:

- Julia got to play with cats for the first time! She has a lot of book learning with regard to cats, but this was her first real-life experience with kitties. She seemed to like the Thomas felines, but she was a little too aggressive. She basically mauled one of the cats.

- We believe that Julia is starting to call Jon "Ba," and may be calling Elmo "Mo."

- Julia has become inseparable from her little doll Rachel. She drags Rachel around the house with her all day long. Rachel was a gift from the Petersons when Julia was born.

Swing Fling

The newest capital improvement to the Goldberg house is the installation of a kiddie swing hanging from an oak tree in our front yard.

Julia has enjoyed the swings at the park, so we wanted to bring a little bit of the park to her. To be honest, so far she seems pretty indifferent about swinging in the front yard ... unless ... you try to scare her! See the attached video from last week to see what happens!

Ten Months Old

Julia turned 10 months old on Saturday! It is hard to believe that she is almost a year old.

Mommy got her the book "Cat," by Matthew Van Fleet. It is the highly anticipated sequel to her current favorite, "Dog," by Matthew Van Fleet. She enjoys a few of the plot twists in "Cat," but still appears to prefer the superior "Dog" and "So Big."

Mommy also got Julia a toy that's sort of like a walker for toddlers. Julia will try to climb up on anything - the trash can, the bathtub, the couch, mommy and daddy - but she is totally indifferent to her new toy so far.

Nevertheless, her practice walking has improved dramatically. One of us will stand up Julia, hold on to her hands, and let her try to walk a few paces. With our help, she was walking all over the place on Sunday afternoon!

Other new little Julia updates:

- She is getting more independent during playtime. A new favorite game is that she will throw a ball or her little doll Rachel a few feet, crawl after the ball/Rachel, and then throw it again and chase it again. Repeat over and over.

- Julia has become quite the messy eater. She treats turkey loaf, cottage cheese and most other foods the way women treat hair conditioner in TV ads. She will devour her dinner with her hands and then rub her hands through her hair, as if yogurt and prunes will give her baby fro just a little extra bounce.

- She is getting more and more verbal. She has been saying "ba" a lot and says "ma-ma" every five seconds. She said "ma-ma" on Sunday morning and reached after Deborah. Then again, she recently said "ma-ma" while looking at a car and a dog, so there's no telling what she means and what she doesn't mean. All we know is that she's as close to saying "da-da" as she is to saying "encyclopedia." Not that anyone is bitter about it.

Visit from the Goldbergs

Julia enjoyed a quick visit this weekend with Grandpa Allan, Grandma Lynn and Aunt Sandy. Julia is sometimes afraid of Grandpa Allan but they were best buddies on this trip.

On Saturday night, we all went to dinner at Red Rocks (with its gluten-free menu for Aunt Sandy), and we were joined by our friend Stephanie and Julia's little friend Tessa. Julia and Tessa held hands during dinner. It was very sweet.

Julia enjoyed her meal more than anyone. She had turkey loaf. If Julia could eat cottage cheese and turkey loaf every day, she would be a happy little girl!

Happy Girl

This picture (taken Monday) was so cute I just had to post it. It makes me sad, though, because Julia looks more like a little girl instead of a baby.

Here are a few other recent photos.

Yummmmy...rice cake!

Sporting the Madison Park neighborhoodie

What a big smile!

Cottage Cheese Monster

Julia has just achieved another "first": She is the first and only person in the history of the world whose favorite food is cottage cheese.

In recent days, Julia has gotten her first tasty morsels of chicken, beef, navy beans, and lots of other exotic foods. But these days nothing captivates her more than plain old, large curd cottage cheese.

Look at the attached video. She looks just like a happy brown bear that has stumbled across a yummy jar of honey. Her eyes light up when she sees the cottage cheese, then she scoops huge handfuls into her mouth with her bare hands. Bathing her has become a challenge, as she invariably has cottage cheese in her hair, ears, eyebrows and chin.

Perhaps she takes after her great-grandmother Gert, whose daily breakfast for many, many years included cottage cheese on incredibly burned toast.

Nine Months Old!

Little Julia turned nine months old on September 17! We celebrated with cupcakes (none for Julia, yet) and two new books to add to her growing library. She loves Dog by Matthew Van Fleet (author of Tails, which Julia also gives four stars), but has not let us finish reading The Grouchy Ladybug. In fact, she loves dogs in general, getting so excited every time she sees one.

Julia has had lots of milestones lately:

- She can (sometimes) wave hello and goodbye. Deborah thought Julia waved goodbye to our neighbor recently, and Jon thought he saw Julia wave goodbye to a poodle during a recent walk. But Julia definitely waved goodbye to her mommy this weekend! Her wave looks like the "wax on, wax off" move from the Karate Kid movies.

- Jon and Julia spent their first night alone together as Deborah went to Raleigh for Lauren Sacks' wedding shower. Julia was perfect!

- Julia in recent days has eaten prunes, cheese, Cheerios and a different kind of "puffs" cereal for the first time.

- Julia put on her first-ever disguise! (See photo). She was trying to deal with the humiliation of Daddy's last place performance at The Great Grill Off.

At her nine-month checkup, doctors said Julia is still very healthy. She is petite - in the 10th percentile for height, and 25th percentile for weight (17 pounds, 14 ounces and 26 inches tall). Her head size is in the 50th percentile, probably because she reads all day long.

How Big is Baby Elmo?

Our girl loves books. The attached video says it all.

If you put all of Julia's toys and all of Julia's books on the floor, she would definitely, 100% of the time, select a book rather than a toy. At least once a day, she rifles through the bookshelf in her nursery to pick a few favorites.

Her favorite book right now is "How Big Is Baby Elmo?" The answer, as you will see in the video, is "SO BIG!" [Quick digression: Despite the suspensful build-up, we never actually learn exactly how big Baby Elmo is. This is a vague and unsatisfactory conclusion, and a bad message for children. If a client asked Jon, "how big is our liability for X," and he said, "SO BIG!," he soon would be a stay-at-home dad.]

Other Julia literary favorites include "Bubbles, Bubbles," which chronicles each Sesame Street character's relationship with bubbles, "Ten Little Ladybugs," which until the surprising climax appears to be about ladybug serial killers, and "The Very Hungry Catepillar," which teaches kids that reckless binge eating is the key to becoming a beautiful butterfly.

Of course, every single day of Julia's life we've also read her "Pat the Bunny/Sleepy Bunny" and "The Going to Bed Book" before she goes to sleep.

Anyway, Deborah and Jon, avid book lovers themselves, are very proud of their little girl.