Days With Daddy

John's break from college has been long and welcomed for all of us. Julia has had a month long break from the sitters, John from school, and me from worrying about her while she is at the sitters! He made the Dean's list last semester and got a letter from the VP and had his name in the paper. Now this is a day I never dreamed that I would see.....my husband's name in the paper for an above average GPA. Life is weird, but good! Starting Thursday, we will be back in the grind. John will be officially starting his sophomore year of college and will be attending classes on Tuesdays and Thursdays with no night classes this time.

This picture is a good example of what "Daddy Days" look like. I came home for lunch one day last week and John and Julia had been to Wal Mart. Julia was very happy to have gotten a new Cinderella cell phone and did not seem to mind at at all that her clothes did not match!

Old toys are still the best toys! These are some blocks that I had in 1974 and tonight, Julia learned how to stack blocks using them!

OH MY! Julia got her first Fed Ex package from Miss Emmy Ruth this week. It was a Julia size Elmo! I have never heard the squeals of delight from this little Missy like I heard when she pulled this big red guy out of the package! Now most everywhere we go Julia is squished because Elmo has to come along......in the stroller, in the car, and in the bed. Thank you Emmy Ruth for sending me my new BFF!

We had a good and quiet weekend. I did not even get out of my pajamas all day today! That means lots of play time with Julia! She is so much fun these days and is learning to assert herself in lots of ways...including a loud scream when things don't go exactly her way. Her newest word is "Scuse you" which she says every time it is appropriate and "Thank you" at least 30 times a day when you hand her anything. Her schedule is to wake up around 9 and eat a pretty big breakfast. John usually cooks her an egg, a waffle and sometimes even a piece of sausage. Her favorite part of her meals these days is the meat. She takes one long nap (a little over 2 hours) around noon and then wakes up and has lunch after her nap. We play hard all afternoon and eat dinner way too late... around 7. Then, its to the tub which she loves! They only way that I can convince her that it is time to get out of the tub is to ask her if she wants to brush her teeth. That kid toothpaste must taste really good because she can't wait to get her little hands on that toothbrush! We play some more and then read lots of books. She is usually in bed between 9:30 and 10. We surrendered our night bottle on New Year's Eve and now she doesn't have one at all! It was pretty painless and she just likes to have a drink of milk out of her sippy cup before bed. We sing songs and rock and she goes right to sleep when I lay her down. She is our little angel!

I am preparing myself for my first overnight trip that is coming up in February. I have to go to Albuquerque NM for 3 nights early in the month for a required work trip. I was nauseous while booking my flight and am NOT looking forward to being away. I know they will make it just fine without me, even though John will have some long intense days with no break! (Julia is a blast, but also a lot of work!) My first night away will be mine and Julia's 1st night since she was born almost 400 days ago that someone else other than me will have put her to sleep at night! Wow....I probably need to get a life!