Juliana is nearly 8 months old (Wow did I just say that? Is my teeny girl almost 8 months old?) In fact, she has 4 more days before she hits the 8 month mark. Its amazing the difference between Noah and Juliana- they are definitely the "Odd Couple"... as much alike as night and day and it goes beyond looks. Noah loves his sleep and his food, Juliana cares for neither (Once upon a time she loved her sleep, all those many months ago). Noah didn't care too much about being held, Juliana wants to be held constantly. Noah loved his car seat, Juliana hates hers. And the list goes on. We're having a hard time with Juliana eating baby food. She just does not like it. Actually, I'm pretty sure that she hates it. I work so hard with her everyday to get her to eat a bite or two during mealtime. Its so very frustrating, especially when Noah at this point was eating 3 meals a day and loving every bite of it. Juliana cries, flails her arms and legs, spits food back at you. Tell me, is this just a girl thing? I am so in love with this little girl but I sometimes question how I make it through the day (or night) without pulling a few clumps of hair out. She doesn't like to sleep, her naps are sporadic at best. And as soon as we have a schedule worked out for her, she surprises you by waking up a few times in the middle of the night, or sleeping the entire night, or not napping the next day, or taking a 4 hour nap. But back to the food- shes so very small for her age and so I'm really trying not to stress the food so much because I know milk is most important right now so I will probably give it another couple of weeks. But for those that read my post yesterday- Juliana is somewhat better today. She has kept her bottles down and has had no fever but I do believe my child has seasonal allergies. We had a fresh coat of pollen covering everything outside and she had green coming out of both of her eyes and her nose today. I'll have to keep an eye on that.
But on average, today was a very nice day. We enjoyed the last bit of this warm weather stretch by grabbing a ton of toys and playing outside. I cannot wait until summer. We played trucks and ate lunch and snacks outside. Even Juliana helped herself to a sandwich off of Noah's plate when he took a play break from eating. She has been a bit fussy and was fussing on and off while we were outside. She quit suddenly and I was thinking "Yes, she finally resigned herself to the fact that fussing just isn't going to help her"... but then found her munching on a chicken salad sandwich. Okay, this kid wont eat baby food... or anything age appropriate... but will snag your hamburger, sandwich, oreo, or french fries in a second (and subsequently choke and I mean really choke). I forgot to mention that earlier when talking about her aversion to baby food. We had a wonderful time outside though and Im definitely not looking forward to the rain or cooler weather that is in the forecast.
Noah also "read" his first words today. We have the "Your Baby Can Read" kit. It was actually a gift, and it was one that I wasn't overly thrilled about getting in the first place. I followed through with watching the DVDs and showing the flash cards to Noah, not because I really cared about him reading at this age (I though it was a bunch of bull to be honest) but because it was a great resource to incorporate new words into his vocabulary and its very educational (And boring... yawwwn!). To my surprise, both kids actually watch the DVD and Noah can pick out a couple of words (By memorizing what the words look like, I still prefer the good old fashioned, CHEAP, way of sounding them out). I do think that its been really beneficial for Noah though. If you've seen the ads on TV or are interested in the program, I have a review ready for you.
I actually think that was pretty much the extent of my day. Both kids were in bed by 8:30 (gasp!). I call it a success!!
