Julius,

Ok I simply must share these outrageous photos of you being silly - you crack me up sometimes!!! These are candid pics taken in the master bedroom as we were trying to get you to try and take your evening nap. You couldn’t keep a straight face for the life of you!

There are a few others too if you want to see them. Just check out the “Crazy Ju-Ju” category in the baby gallery.

Love
Mom

P.S. Isn’t it past your naptime?

Dear Julius,

Welcome to 2010, my sweet. This time last year, I was almost three months pregnant with you! Now you’re here - and gosh I love you.

Check out the rest of the photos for early January - “Early January Photos in 2010″ in the baby gallery!
Love
Mom

Dear Julius,

December was a very cool month as far as growth spurts go. You really have learned a lot! Here’s a few things you’ve learned so far:
1) How to put everything in your mouth. Your hands, other people’s hands, your feet, blankets, bibs, toys, shirts, hair…
2) How to laugh… you really have learned how to giggle and when you think something is funny, you crack and up and can’t stop!
3) How to stick your tongue out… and then you keep it out. Maybe you get this from dad.
4) You’re learning how to stick to a consistent sleep schedule FINALLY. We’ve implemented a written schedule and have followed it regularly the whole month and it seems to have paid off. You’re getting 15 hours of sleep a day which is what babies need. You get fed exactly every 3 hours, but that will change soon since your intake will require more liquid with less frequent feedings.
5) You’re recognizing people.
6) You raise your left eyebrow when you understand something for the first time. It’s like the “aha!” moment for you.
7) You like to jump up and down on people’s laps
You learning what your body can do. Often times, you’ll put your feet in your mouth or bend backwards so your head leans all the way back (on the floor) to see how close you can get the back of your head to touch your feet.
9) You’re not crawling yet, but if someone stands you up, you can manage standing on your feet with just the slightest of assistance.
10) Your cries are easy as pie to interpret now.

Is this not the cutest face?!

There are 49 photos that have been uploaded to “More December Photos” in the baby gallery. Enjoy!
Love
Mom

Dear Julius,

Your Grandma Velara spent a long long time knitting this baby blue outfit just for you! And you just look adorable in this, wow. It fits you perfectly - you are 4 months old in this photo! One of these days when I have more money, I’ll send a photo or two of you wearing this to your Grandma (she keeps asking, but patience is a virtue, yes?) - in the mean time, this is my ghetto way of sharing photos with people.

What I love about this outfit is that there are so many things to love about this outfit! You use the blanket absolutely every day, and it seems your fingers have a way of finding where the holes are so you can grab the blanket and pull the whole thing into your mouth. You tend to kick your socks off, so they barely even stayed on for the photoshoot - but they sure are cute on you when you manage to keep them on.

The hat is so comfy on your head to keep you warm… although I do sometimes worry you might choke on the ribbon attached to it since you put EVERYTHING in your mouth that you can get your hands on! What I really love the most is the sweater especially since it’s winter time. Several people have commented on how beautifully stitched the whole outfit is, the blanket, the sweater, the booties. Everyone who has ever seen you in this outfit just admires it!! So be sure to thank your Grandma when you learn to talk. I love the hearts in the stitching. It doesn’t take a genius to see how much time was put into each detail. The whole ensemble is a work of art. A masterpiece of sorts.

I love you, baby.

Feel free to see more photos of you wearing this in the photo gallery under the category “Hand-knitted Outfit by Velara.”

Love
Mom

Hey Julius, here’s a video of you watching Pinocchio on the floor, just chilling. You especially like the part in the movie where little grains of sand are falling in the hourglass (the sound makes you perk up). And you also seemed to like the scenes with the blonde princess when she showed up. Your mouth would open really wide.

Love
Mom

Julius,

You were so freaking hilarious when we shot this video! OMG. Like your father, you sometimes like to stay awake even when it’s past your bedtime (he laughs at this and say, “Atta boy!”). We know where you got that! You were so full of energy and I had been trying to get you to follow a consistent schedule so you would take naps, feedings, playtime, bathtime, and bedtime; I was trying, essentially, to get you used to sleeping at the same time every night. Problem is, lots of time you’re just so full of ENERGY. After I had tried everything in the book (singing to you, putting you in bassinet, lights off, low music, no music, blanket over the roof, no blanket, diaper change, bath time, baby massage, cuddling, etc.)… nothing was getting you to sleep. Finally, I just put you in the bouncer so you could let out your built-up energy. For about 30 minutes you bounced and bounced and bounced… and then… you started to drift into a sleep.

As I attempted to lift you out of the bouncer when you were falling asleep, you’d suddenly start bouncing again. Then you’d fall asleep again. I’d try to grab you and you’d bounce some more. This continued for about 15 more minutes until finally a friend suggested I grab the video camera since you’d NEVER believe me unless you saw it with your own eyes.

Some people sleepwalk. You, my dear, sleepbounce.

Love
Mom

Hello sweet Julius,

It’s hard to believe you’re over 3 months old already! And so cute you are. Today is Thanksgiving and there are many thanks due. I still can’t believe that you’re here and that me and your daddy made you. You are such a miracle, you know that? Your father is in Virginia visiting family right now, and everyone says hello! I would have gone too, but you’re really little right now, plus we would have had to buy a whole bunch of travel items and well, anyway, maybe next year we can go! Today you had a ball and right now, you’re sleeping in your bassinet.

You’ve developed some sort of rash on your stomach (extending to your sides and up to your neck) and it could be something called heat rash or roseola (it’s pretty common in babies, nothing to be alarmed about). It’s thanksgiving today so I can’t take you to the doctor (they’re closed), but tomorrow I’m going to call the pediatrician and set an appointment to get you checked. You don’t seem to be bothered by it though. No itching or scratching. I’ve been putting things like A&D ointment, hypoallergenic lotions, and even baby rash cream on your belly and neck to try to speed the healing process. This should help until we get you a prescription.

I think maybe you’ve started teething, but I can’t tell yet. Your hands are almost always in your mouth these days. You’re so cute, you know that? I took several photos of you today - check out the photo set called “Thanksgiving 2009″ to see more photos of you.

You’ve been making these cute “gooogeeegooogee” sounds lately. Sometimes you and I will play a game where you make a sound and I repeat it. We do this for almost an hour sometimes! And you’re SO freaking smart. You love watching fire in the fireplace (you’re mesmerized by it). And you love watching the zen garden on tv. And you love listening to Bone, Thugs, and Harmony while you sleep - it puts you in such a great mood.

Love
Mom

Well you survived your first Halloween with your mommy! You know, my birthday is on Halloween, so you’re stuck having to dress up EVERY year You didn’t like the strawberry outfit very much, you cried and cried and cried and wanted it taken off. So I put you in the pumpkin outfit and you were happy for the rest of the day. You seemed to think it was more comfortable because you moved around a lot, laughing, and smiling. I loved seeing you so happy.

Trick-or-treaters came to our door and they all got to see you when we opened the door. Many people said, “Aww how cute” when they saw you… and you’d grin so cutely! Gosh you are adorable. I could just pinch your cheeks!!

I kinda went Halloween crazy this year with the face painting and I got you 3 outfits (2 of them shown). I also videotaped you trying to crawl while wearing your pumpkin outfit. I’ll get that uploaded soon. You still can’t crawl, but you’re already rolling over beautifully and you keep trying to move forward on your stomach.

On your two month check-up at the pediatrician’s office, the doctor said you are very well-developed and are already as advanced as a six-month old in most areas. That’s incredible! My smart, happy baby

You as a pumpkin:

You as a strawberry:

There are more photos of you wearing your costumes in the Photo Gallery under the photo set “Halloween 09.”

Love
Mom

Hello my sweet Julius,
I thought you’d get a kick out of this video! Here you are in your Halloween pumpkin outfit trying to crawl. You look SO adorable! I thought Bob Marley music would be appropriate. My cute boy…

Love
Mom

One of the things I love about you is how you look at everything around you as though you’re seeing it for the first time. If you think about it, it’s really magical. Everything is new. Everything is beautiful. Everything is… well… perfect. You are such a happy baby, I can tell. And you LOVE to be held. Have I told you how precious you are today? I love you so much.

You keep me on my toes, gotta keep this short. You’re waking up right now.

Love
Mom