Happy Half Birthday to You!

 This little girl is ONE AND A HALF YEARS OLD! My how the time has flown by. I just cannot believe it. Like... she'll be TWO in just six short months. It's pretty crazy. Ok, I'm tearing up now...

Since Julip's birthday is in February, and we'll likely never have a celebration outside while we're living here in St Louis (I've been told that February is a pretty unbearable month) we are having a celebration today... outside! And as all little Jernigans do on their birthdays (or half birthdays), we'll be going to the zoo!

This month, we've already done a lot of driving. Little Julip was such a good traveler on our family vacation last week (did you notice we were pretty quiet around these parts?). She miraculously still got in her naps on the road and still ate healthy foods we brought along in the car. 

This little one has some cute feet. 

 Julip is teething her final few teeth. She's got her little finger in her mouth regularly and maybe doing a heel-strech takes some of the pain away...? (Do we have a ballerina on our hands?)

I cannot wait to inherit all the family photographs of little Dustin one day. He was just the cutest chunky-monkey! He was 10 pounds when he was born and had blonde straight hair for a long time. See any resemblance between him and Jubie? 

 See what I mean? Look at those thick legs! :) 

 

It was hard for me to even believe that that was really Dustin. You can tell those are his lips and eyes though. (See me in the reflection? These are pictures of pictures hanging in Dustin's grandparent's house.)

Julip is changing quit a bit, too. So many people have commented on her light hair that is nearly blonde. Fact: Julip's birth certificate says she has black hair. Fact: I had BLACK hair when I was a baby, too. And, as you can see in the picture, she's getting some little curls as her hair grows. Her eyes are still green but kind of change with what she's wearing. 

Little Julip is walking and running like a champ. She can even climb up and down stairs. She's only had one major fall and shook it off pretty quickly.

Julip loves reading books! They don't have to be kid's books and don't even need pictures. She just loves books. She'll pick up any book and just flip through the pages. She's finally letting us read through an entire book with her... of course it's usually a very short one.

 Julip has started following simple instructions, too. We'll ask her to close a door, put something down, or go get some shoes and, to our surprise, she'll do it. It's so fascinating seeing how much she understands. In this picture, we had asked her to wipe of her hands and mouth. If you look closely, you can see she missed a spot or two of peanut butter, ha. 

 We never turn the television on except to watch the Nate Berkus show. It's nothing like dear ol' Martha Stewart, but it'll have to do now that she's moved to the Hallmark Channel. 

Baby girl is learning new words slowly but surely. She'll often repeat things we say and it's so cute to hear her little voice. We cannot wait till she's speaking in full sentences!

Yes, she's eating directly off of the table. I had cleaned it off. Don't worry. 

Julip has finally refused her "mush" enough. She is no longer eating her pureed food and will only eat finger foods. She surprises us with what she'll eat (and not eat). She won't eat apples, but she'll eat onions. She won't eat eggs (very much), but she'll devour shrimp. Her favorite foods are still peanut butter, whole wheat bread, and grapes! She really doesn't eat very much. We just have to remember that if she's hungry she'll eat. She still nurses about 3-5 times a day giving her extra calories for sure. 

Having Julip in our lives is such a delight. We love her more and more everday!

Happy half birthday, baby girl!

love, 

Momma