Julia!

There has been way too little of Julia on this blog as of late. It blows my socks off to realize that she is seven months old. The first three months I got to enjoy every minute of her presence. This maternity leave was so much easier for me than David's, because we had our full time nanny, L., so I could spend the mornings cuddling with Julia while L. took the boys to preschool and then enjoy lunch and afternoon time with the boys while Julia napped. It was this precious little bubble of time when I was able to focus completely on the kids without worrying about work. I felt like I knew Julia's little details from her sleepy and hungry signs to her newest facial expressions.

Once I went back to work, time became much more of a blur and there are days when I only get 30 minutes with Julia when she is awake. In a way, I still see her as being three months old still. But she is sitting up, laughing often and even starting to feed herself. I am constantly amazed at what a contented baby she is. As long as she is near other people, she rarely cries and is happy just to watch the goings on of those around her. Julia has a great sense of humor and loves to laugh. She laughs at the goofy little things that make most babies laugh, like fake sneezes and exaggerated high-fives. But what makes her laugh the most is attention of any kind from her big brothers. AJ will bump Julia's tummy with his head and she will laugh uproariously. Davey will say "hi, shiss-shee" (his word for sissy) and she will giggle and giggle.

Seven has been a big month for Julia so far. She learned to sit independently and got her first tooth, the bottom middle tooth on her left side. She is also "swimming" on the floor when you put her on her tummy, so I think she might crawl here soon. The photo features Julia showing off that new tooth.