Juliet the Princess - juliettheprincess

Dear Juliet 2/27/2010

Dear Juliet,

The first time I fell in love, I was in seventh grade.

The object of my affection was not the boy next door or the one who sat next to me in math class. Nor (thankfully) was it the latest tweener rock star or a fresh-faced movie star. It was Eric Lindros, center for and captain of the Philadelphia Flyers. My appreciation for the game of hockey was fairly fresh (and preceded, by the way, my acquaintance with your father), and Eric Lindros was this tough, handsome guy toward whom I easily turned my teen-age affections.

Now, Eric Lindros played some pretty good hockey. He led the Flyers to the Stanley Cup Finals and was always in the scoring race. He definitely made me cheer. But the most important reason Eric Lindros is at the very bottom of my list of those I have been in love with? He never really made me cry.

It is strange to think that crying is such a major component when you fall in love. You might think that love is all about what I experienced with Eric Lindros: cheering. But I think that the more you cry in a relationship, the deeper you are in love with that person.

When I was in eleventh grade, I fell in love with my first serious boyfriend: Mark. He and I enjoyed each other’s company, comforted each other when we were unhappy, and shared a love for music. We laughed and smiled a lot. And when he went to college and we began to drift apart, I could sense that our love was coming to an end. I cried a few times during the week leading up to our break-up, and I cried myself silly when we finally ended it. But after a day or two, the sadness passed and the crying ended.

Then, I met your father. We also shared in each other’s laughter, losses, and achievements. Our relationship was marked with laughter and joy. But I had also spent more time crying over him than I had over anyone before in my life. I would cry when we could not be together and when things were not going right and he was not with me to offer me strength. And of course I cried over disagreements that arose between us. People are always sad when they are disappointed that the person they love cannot understand their perspectives. Now, as time has gone on and we have grown more comfortable with each other, I do cry less. But at those moments when we are apart and I find myself wishing he were with me, I still cry sometimes.

Once I found your father and married the person I loved so much, I thought that I would not fall in love again and that I would not be crying over anyone else. Then, one September day, there was you. And, suddenly, I was shocked to discover that mothers fall in love with their children deeply and profoundly. And there is cheering in my life with you: when you first walked and every time you proudly pound out a song on your xylophone. And there is comforting and so much laughter. But, my precious Juliet, I have never cried over anyone so much. The majority of my crying has not come when you struggled with colic for four weeks or when you decided you wanted to play (or, barring that, cry) at three in the morning. No, my crying has come at much less expected times. It has come when I rocked one-week-old you to sleep and realized that you were already needing me less each day. It came when I was 10 minutes from work and just had an overwhelming feeling of emptiness that I was not with you. It came when I was at a concert without you this week and I found thoughts of grown-up you drifting into my mind. I was thinking about the sweet little kisses you give everyone now and wondering if you will still want to give your mother a kiss on your wedding day. That made me cry. I can’t even write about how much my love for you makes me cry without crying.

So some day, you will find yourself crying over some young man that you love more than anything in the world. Please remember that you will be able to come to me and share your tears without my judgment. And when you feel better and walk away from me to experience all the cheering and comforting and laughter that being in love brings, please forgive me. I’ll probably be crying because I will forever be in love with you.

Going Up and Down

Juliet is 16 months, 11 days old today. She is figuring out new things every day. Recently she discovered how to climb down from somthing, like a bed or a chair, by herself. Her mommy discovered this when she left Juliet asleep on the bed for just a minute while she went downstairs to answer the phone. When she got back upstairs, Juliet was waiting for her at the top of the steps! Since she had not cried or made a loud THUD on the ground, her mommy supposed that she had learned to get down from the bed by herself. Sure enough, Juliet has become an expert at climbing down things. She even climbs down the stairs herself. It is an activity that she still finds a bit frightening, so she takes her time trying and only tries when her mommy or daddy are standing there watching her. She does a combination of a bum-bump and climbing down backwards.

While she is at it, Juliet also is learning to climb up on things. She is really good at finding things that are about 6 inches high and climbing on top of them. She did this for a while when she was at Barnes and Noble last week. But she also tries really hard to climb up on sofas and beds. She is clearly an athletic little girl!

Another Parent's Thoughts on His Daughter's Future

This is a link to an episode of "This American Life" on PRI. I heard Jonathan Menjivar's segement while driving home with Juliet in the back seat last night. That segment begins about 28 minutes into the podcast.

I, too, will spend my life trying to discern from Juliet the answer to the question Jon asks of the future PONTUS (President of the United States - the nickname he has given his unborn daughter):

Are you happy?

http://www.thisamericanlife.org/player/CPRadio_player.aspx?podcast=http://www.thisamericanlife.org/xmlfeeds/397.xml

Weekend Plans

Juliet is now 16 months, 3 days old. Happy belated 16-month birthday, Juliet. Today is the first day in a long time when it has not been very cold and snowy outside. Yesterday it did not really snow, but it was still pretty cold. Today, the sun is out and it is a bit warmer. Today might be the first day that Juliet gets to go out and play in the snow a little bit, especially because she no longer has a cold. She has a nice snowsuit with boots and mittens to keep her warm, so she should be ready to go!

It is also nice to know that Juliet has a long weekend coming up. Both her mommy and her daddy are off Saturday, Sunday, and Monday. Juliet does not know what she will do with all that time as a family, but she is really looking forward to it. Maybe she will just stay home and enjoy all the fun toys that she got as Christmas presents. She really does love them all! She is excited every time she gets home, because it is like having her own personal playground in her living room.

The Indoor Playground

Juliet is 15 months, 29 days old today. One of her favorite things to do is visit the playground at the Ross Park Mall. It is a really nice little playground that is modeled on downtown Pittsburgh. The carpeting is a picture of all 3 rivers and there are several little bridges to climb on and slide down. There are also a few larger-than-life storybooks with fun facts about the city and state. Juliet especially likes to climb on these books because they are big enough for her to climb over but not large enough to be interesting to the bigger kids playing in the playground. Juliet is glad that there are often many kids playing in the playground because she likes saying hi to other kids. However, it is tough for a little girl like Juliet to get a chance on the slides when there are 9- and 10-year-old kids pushing her out of the way. So, Juliet usually sticks to the less-popular slides (which are just as fun), and climbing through the tunnels. Juliet also likes the bookshelves at the back of the playground. Most of the kids don't go near the bookshelves, but Juliet really likes reading, so she is happy to head back to that area when the playground is crowded so she can find a nice book and sit and read it.

It is always fun to go to the indoor playground. However, Juliet really misses the nice outdoor playground at the park. She can hardly wait to get back outside once all the snow is done!

The Twelfth Day Of Christmas

Today, Juliet is 15 months, 25 days old. This was the last day of the 12 Days Of Christmas. She guesses that this means that Christmas is officially over today. That makes her a little sad, but she is also glad that she is well on her way to summertime. It is hard to think about the summer when it is so cold outside. There has been lots of snow recently, but it has been so cold that Juliet has not had a chance to go outside and play in it. Maybe this weekend she will get the chance to build her first snowman.

Dear Juliet 1/4/10

Dearest Juliet,

I miss you more than anything today.

At this point, I have said bye-bye to you in the back of daddy's car hundreds and hundreds of times. I have also given you good-bye kisses after having a long break with you 4 times. It has not gotten any easier. Especially now, when you are growing and learning new things at such a fast pace that I am overwhelmed with everything that you are encountering. Especially, especially now that you have a cold and you are miserable. I wish I could stay with you, but here I am, at work, doing what I know in my heart is best for you and our family.

I hope that you are watching the snow today. I have yet to let you go out and play in the snow because it has been so cold and you have had this cold. But maybe this weekend, we will go out and build a snowman. In any case, I will enjoy and savor each moment of this upcoming weekend, because these times seem to be increasingly fleeting.

Welcome 2010!

Today, Juliet is 15 months, 23 days old. She had a very good Christmas and a very happy new year. She has been looking back at the past year and how much fun it has been. It was the first full year that she been around and she learned a lot. The best thing that she learned was how to walk. It has opened up a whole new world for her and she is always on the go now. She also learned how to feed herself with a fork and spoon. This has made meal times much more fun as she tries to manipulate her utensils and get most of the food in her mouth. Now she is learning how to climb onto things. She can climb onto the sofa by herself, and today she managed to climb off her mommy and daddy's bed by herself without falling. Everything is very interesting to her now that she is able to explore everything more fully.

She also starts this year with many more toys to play with. Her living room is completely loaded with her books, puzzles, stuffed animals, and games that play music and teach her letters and are just for fun! Juliet looks forward to getting to play with her new toys in the new year.

2009 was a huge percent of Juliet's life, so for her, it seemed to last forever. For everyone else, the year went by very quickly and it is hard to believe that it is 2010 and Juliet is almost 16 months old. Juliet hopes that 2010 will be even more fun for everyone and that she can continue to share her adventures with her family and friends.

Christmas

Today, Juliet is 15 months, 14 days old. Today was Juliet's second Christmas. It was a wonderful Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. Yesterday, she had dinner with her great-grandma, grandma, pa-pa, mommy, daddy, uncle John, aunt Lisa, uncle Bobby, and cousins Will, Bobby, and Ella. Afterwards, she went back to her great-grandma's apartment for presents. She got so many nice gifts! She got clothes and she got a very special Snow White doll from her great-grandma. Afterwards, she went to her great-aunt Carolyn's house for more presents. She got many neat gift. One of her favorites was a ride-on Leap Frog giraffe from her aunt Carol, uncle JF and cousin Bryan. Then, Juliet went to the beautiful midnight mass at St. Sebastian's.

On Christmas Day, Juliet woke up and saw immediately that Santa had visited! He even left her a note thanking her for the cookies and milk. She looked in her stocking and saw all kinds of neat little toys.

The rest of the day was very busy at Grandma's house. Lots and lots of presents, lots of visitors, and lots of fun. Juliet loved seeing all the people and making them laugh! She also had a good dinner.

Juliet has had a wonderful Christmas! She thinks that it was even better than last Christmas. Tomorrow, she will be headed to see her mom-mom and pop-pop in eastern Pennsylvania. What a terrific holiday it has been!

On The Ice

Today, Juliet is 15 months, 10 days old. She is a very active girl. From the time that she was just a baby, she has always been up for trying new things. She especially likes any opportunity to get out there and do something physical. Yesterday, she was able to do just that. She went ice skating for the first time. It was at North Park's rink, which was nice and big with lots of room. It was even roomier than usual because she went during the Steelers game. So Juliet had plenty of room to try out her tiny little rented skates. Now, she didn't skate on her own. Her daddy held her hands and helped her move around the ice. It was very fun, but very cold! Juliet was not sure what to make of the experience, but it was something new for her to try. She might try again on Christmas Eve, if it is not too cold. Winter is turning out to be a very nice time of year!

Perfect

When the doctor first lifted Juliet up for me to see, she was 6 pounds, 8 ounces and full of life. Her skin was pink and healthy, her eyes were wide open, she had ten tiny fingers and toes, and was just about the most beautiful thing I had ever seen.

She was just…perfect.

As the weeks went on, she gained a healthy amount of weight, started to lift her head up and look around. Everyone commented on how alert she was, how advanced she was. She was obviously ahead of the curve in many ways, I thought. She really is just perfect.

When she first pulled to a stand at seven months and was cruising along at eight, my husband and I overlooked the fact that she wasn’t crawling much. If she wanted to cruise, then why bother with the crawling? Still, we were glad when she began to crawl at nine months and took off like a shot walking across the room soon after her first birthday. I would happily peruse my What To Expect – The Toddler Years book and check off all the milestones for twelve- and fifteen-month olds that she was meeting and surpassing. Everything was going so perfectly for my beautiful little Juliet.

Still, she wasn’t really saying much. Sure, she would let her wants and needs known by pointing and grunting. And she loved the “dah” sound. She would orate for a minute at the time on many a subject: “Dah, dah dah dah. Dah dah dah dah dee dee dah.” And for a while, that was fine. She was babbling, jargoning, whatever the experts called it. Perfectly normal.

Then time passed. She celebrated her 13-month birthday, her 14-month, her 15-month. Juliet was still sharing her thoughts using “dah” almost exclusively. We’d also hear a “dis” or “dere” for “this” or “there”, but beyond that, really not much of anything. Even “mama” – the word that I had most wanted to hear since she emerged in the world all perfect and beautiful fifteen months prior – was conspicuously absent from her vocabulary.

Then yesterday, I finally took the step of having her screened for a speech delay. The evaluation was painless and actually fun for Juliet. For me, however, it was admitting that everything about my daughter was not “perfect”. She was not exactly where I expected her to be. And, I have to admit, I felt a bit disappointed. Not in my daughter. Not even a little. There is so much pride in my heart for her that there is no room at all for disappointment. I instead felt disappointed in myself for not doing everything perfectly. I felt that I had let her down by not saying enough words to her, by not repeating enough sounds back to her. I had let her down by not making her perfect.

I acknowledged those feelings in myself. But then I moved on and put the disappointment behind me. My daughter is smart and hard-working and very, very loving. How is that not perfect? The only thing that yesterday proved to me was that there was an area that Juliet would have to work harder on. And that was OK. Such a challenge had never stopped my little girl before.

And about this idea of “perfect”? I have decided that Juliet is indeed perfect – she is the absolute perfect daughter for me.

Mommy's Blog

To Juliet's Friends and Family,

Juliet's mommy has been invited to be a blogger at Mamapedia.com. It is a site for mommies who want to ask questions and share thoughts about raising their children. Juliet's mommy will be occasionally taking some time on Juliet's page to post blog entries about her experience raising Juliet. These entries will be linked to the Mamapedia.com site as well. So please check them out and let her know what you think!

15 Month Check-Up

Today, Juliet is 15 months, 4 days old. She had her 15-month check-up yesterday. She is happy to report the following:

Juliet is now standing 31 inches tall and weighing in at 23 3/4 pounds. Her head circumference is 47 1/2 inches (which is still big, but she is out of the 97th % now!) Dr. Hyde was pleased to know that Juliet dances, babbles, points to objects that she wants, walks well, bends over to pick things up, climbs on furniture and can stack things. Despite his pleasure at her excellent progress, Juliet was still forced to get 4 vaccination shots! That didn't seem very fair to her! But the pain only lasted a minute, and Juliet was happily helping her mommy pick out food for dinner soon after. She got fish and Kraft dinner, stewed tomatoes, salad, and broccoli. It was a very good dinner, and Juliet ate a good bit of it.

Juliet is glad that she is growing up nice and healthy. She is planning to keep on growing and getting smarter at the same time.

Meeting Santa

Juliet is now 15 months, 3 days old. Yesterday was the big day! It was her first real meeting with Santa! Juliet went out to the mall, where she has seen Santa before, but never really talked with him. It was fun because people were bringing their pets to have pictures taken with Santa. So Juliet enjoyed walking past the line of people and their pets. She even went up to a few of the pets to say hi and give them a nice petting. One dog even gave her a kiss! It was really fun to see all of the dogs, many of whom were dressed up in fancy clothes for their pictures with Santa.

Finally, it was Juliet's family's turn. Juliet was not too sure about Santa at first. She kind of fussed and didn't want to go near him. But since her mommy and daddy were holding her, she relaxed and eventually had many good pictures taken with Santa.

Juliet didn't really tell Santa what she wanted for Christmas. In fact, she doesn't really know what she wants. She has so many nice toys and books that she enjoys playing with. She is sure that she will be happy to receive any gifts that come her way.

On The Big Screen

Today, Juliet is 15 months old. Happy 15 month birthday, Juliet! She cannot believe that it has been 3 whole months since her first birthday. She remembers how nice and warm it was on her birthday weekend. Now, it is very cold! Juliet has seen snow, sleet, freezing rain, and lots of loud wind all in the past week. She is so glad that she has a nice, warm bed to come home to during this kind of weather.

Juliet just returned from seeing her first movie in a movie theater. She saw "The Princess and the Frog." She really liked it! She was able to sit through almost the entire movie. She only got up to move around a few times. It was a lot of fun to watch a movie on a big screen. It was also fun because the theater was filled with little girls wearing tiaras just like the character in the movie. Juliet bet that they were princesses, too! That's why she was waving to all of them as everyone was leaving the theater.

Juliet is happy that her first time watching a movie in a theater was so successful. Now, she will look forward to seeing more movies out. But, she still likes being cozy at home, watching a Disney movie or Baby Einstein DVD. She can walk around more, get a snack, and do whatever she wants. Still, her first big-screen movie was a very nice experience!

Was That Food To-Go?

Today, Juliet is 14 months, 26 days old. She gets a little impatient sometimes. Now that she is very mobile, it is hard for Juliet to stay in one place at a time. She is no longer just walking around in a hesitant way. She is now running from room to room and trying to climb onto the sofa and up the stairs and over anybody who happens to be sitting on the floor. That's why dinner has become a little rushed for her. She will take a few bites of food, and then want to run around and investigate what is going on elsewhere. Sometimes she will even take her spoon with her. This doesn't bother her, but it does leave spilled food on the floor for someone else to clean up! It's a good thing that Juliet has gotten used to eating lots of different kinds of healthy food, because now she is only eating a few bites at a time, so every bit should be as nutritious and healthy as possible.

The Elf Is Watching

Juliet is now 14 months, 25 days old. She has been focusing on being good at this time of year. Why? Because there is now a little elf on the shelf in her house. Yesterday, her mommy and daddy read her the story about the elf on the shelf. Every day he hides somewhere new around the house, and every night he reports back to Santa at the North Pole. He tells Santa what Juliet did during the day that was naughty, and what she did that was nice. Juliet always has an eye on the elf. When she remembers that he is watching her, she does nice things like giving her mommy and daddy hugs, cooking dinner for her stuffed animals, and reading her books. Of course, sometimes she forgets and throws little temper tantrums when she cannot have what she wants. That's when her mommy and daddy remind her that the elf is watching and he will tell Santa about everything that goes on in the house.

Juliet will try very hard to be as good as she can possibly be during the next 3 weeks. She knows that it is getting close to Christmas. She can tell because of all the decorations that are now up inside and outside the house, and soon, there will be a nice new Christmas tree standing in the dining room. For now, Juliet will keep being good and remembering the real meaning of Christmas every time she looks at her nativity scene or adds another animal to her Advent calendar.

Great-Grandma's Apartment

Today, Juliet is 14 months, 22 days old. She is very happy because her great-grandma is back in town. Juliet was very excited to see her. Although she has been back since Saturday night, Juliet had not seen her because of her trip to Columbus last weekend. So her mommy took her over to her great-grandma's apartment on Monday afternoon. As soon as she saw her great-grandma walk into the room, Juliet ran over to her and gave her a big hug. And tomorrow she will get to see her even more. Since it is supposed to be very chilly outside tomorrow, Juliet will not be going to the football game. Instead, she will stay nice and warm at her great-grandma's. Juliet is really looking forward to relaxing there and maybe watching some of her favorite movie: Snow White. Juliet knows that she is very lucky to have not one, but two great-grandmas and one great-grandpa. All three of them love her very much, and she loves them right back.

Hauling Out The Holly

Today, Juliet is 14 months, 21 days old. This year, she is sure that Christmas will be even better than last year. She already is noticing more of the holiday festivities and fun than she did before. She loves looking at all the lights. Her trip through Hartwood Acres two weeks ago was very special. She saw lights of all different colors and making all kinds of holiday pictures. Now, many of the houses in the area are starting to decorate, too. She really enjoys looking at the next door neighbor's house. It has two lighted, animated reindeer out front. Juliet really likes reindeer. She has a toy one and she was very excited seeing all the reindeer on "The Year Without A Santa Claus" last night before bed. Many of the other houses nearby also have pretty lights and decorations up. Juliet is looking forward to the up-coming weeks. Soon, she will get to officially meet Santa, help pick out a Christmas tree, and watch as her own house gets decorated with lights. She can hardly wait.

Too Much Energy

Juliet is now 14 months, 20 days old. Sometimes, she has too much energy and just does not know what to do with it. During the day, she is able to get all that energy out by playing. She plays with dolls, stuffed animals, her kitchen set, her microphone, her little car, and her books. Sometimes, she just likes carrying toys around the house. Since her mommy and daddy have set up a gate to prevent her from falling down the steps, she can do laps from the living room into the kitchen, into the dining room, through the hall and back into the living room without worrying. She also likes climbing on her mommy and daddy if they are sitting on the floor. So, Juliet does use a lot of energy up during the day. Some nights, however, she has just a little left over and it doesn't crop up until the middle of the night. Last night, Juliet woke up around midnight and was a little upset. Her mommy and daddy came in and held her hand, but each time that they would try to let go, she would get upset and start crying again. She just could not get herself back to sleep and she felt a little afraid to be alone.

As it got later, her mommy decided to take her downstairs. Juliet tried to cuddle with her mommy to relax, but her energy got the better of her. So, her mommy went down to the floor with her. Her mommy lay on the floor with a pillow and blanket and she let Juliet sit next to her or walk around a little, if she wanted to. Soon enough, Juliet was coming over to where her mommy was lying and cuddling up to her. And soon thereafter, Juliet fell asleep until morning.

Juliet is glad that she is so full of energy. It means that she never misses anything. Unfortunately, it also keeps her up at night once in a while. But the best thing to solve her problem is just to let Juliet use all that energy up. Then, she can sleep well at night.

Juliet's 2nd Columbus Weekend

Juliet is now 14 months, 19 days old. She got back from her annual trip to Columbus, OH yesterday. It was such a wonderful trip. On Saturday, she went to the Christmas festival in the suburb of Gahanna. She went on a horse-drawn wagon ride and she listened to a rock band play on a stage. Juliet was up dancing to their music. She had such a nice time dancing that she didn't even really notice all the people enjoying watching her dance. Or maybe she did. Juliet kind of likes being the center of attention. After taking a break for late lunch and a little nap, they all returned to Gahanna later that night and walked the Christmas-lighted trail. They also got to watch a parade with lots of floats and bands. Finally, Juliet finished her day at Champps, where she watched some of the Penguins game and had a good meal.

The next day, Juliet had some breakfast at the German Village restaurant and then headed to Easton Town Center, which is a very nice shopping area. It was a pleasant day, and Juliet enjoyed walking around outside. She saw a model train display and lots of Christmas decorations. She checked out a toy store and made a note of a few neat toys that she might ask Santa for. She did see Santa at the mall, but was a little nervous and only waved to him from a distance. She then had a great dinner of a grilled PB & J sandwich at Cap City Diner and slept the whole way home.

Tomorrow will be back to normal routine, which is fine by Juliet. It will be nice to have everything back to the way it usually is. Besides, now it is only 25 days until Christmas!

Juliet's Thanksgiving

Juliet is now 14 months, 16 days old. Happy belated 14 1/2 month birthday, Juliet. She has so much to be thankful for. She first has her health. Juliet is a very healthy little girl. She has had only a few colds in her life and she was recently vaccinated against H1N1. Secondly, Juliet is thankful for her family. She has a mommy, a daddy, 2 grandmothers, 2 grandfathers, an Uncle John, an Uncle Mike, an Aunt Lindsay, 2 great-grandmas, one great pop-pop, 6 great-aunts, 4 great-uncles, and lots of other aunts and uncles who are cousins of her mommy and daddy, and lots of cousins, too. Plus, she has an extended family that includes the cousins and aunts and uncles of her grandparents. Juliet is also thankful for her friends, like Wesley, Emily, Phoebe, Darren, Mason, Landon, and all the other wonderful kids who like to play with her at the playground. Juliet is thankful for her home. It is comfortable and safe and filled with happiness. Juliet can always count on having cheerios in the house and she also knows just where she can find any toy or book that she wants. Juliet is thankful for her food. She always has enough food to eat and milk and water to drink. She has healthy meals and healthy and tasty snacks. Juliet is thankful for her clothing. She always has something nice to wear and coats to keep her warm. She has plenty of socks and shoes to keep her feet protected and mittens to warm her hands.

But what Juliet is most thankful for is how many people love her. She never doubts that there are people to take care of her and that there are people thinking about her. She is so thankful that there are people interested in following her on her website. She is thankful that her life is full of happiness and joy.

Turning Somersaults

Juliet is now 14 months, 13 days old. She has been full of energy. Ever since she began walking, it has been impossible to keep Juliet still. Now, she is not just walking: she is running. She is so excited to see everything that she can possibly see that she wants to run from one place to the next. And not only that, Juliet is also climbing. She climbs into chairs and she really likes climbing over her mommy and daddy. She even tries to do somersaults. She does a good job of getting her head on the floor, but she needs some help getting her legs to flip over. It is easy to try to somersault at home, but she has yet to learn that it is not a good thing to try at her grandma's house - where the floors are hardwood! It is amazing all the difficult physical tasks that Juliet is figuring out as she grows up.

Juliet's Big Weekend

Juliet is now 14 months, 13 days old. She just had a wonderful weekend. It started with Light Up Night on Friday. First, she walked around town with her mommy and daddy. They went into Macy's and Juliet got to meet and have her picture taken with Mickey Mouse. Then, they all walked further into town where Juliet got to look at the Christmas Tree at the skating rink and all the decorated gingerbread houses at PPG Place. After that, Juliet crossed the Smithfield Street Bridge to Station Square. She got to see a concert with Cinderella and Snow White and she was dancing to the music. Then, she went inside to play in the play area with some other kids. Juliet loves being around other kids. She is not afraid at all and she loves to make friends. Then, right before dinner, Juliet got the chance to wave to Santa. She was a little nervous, but she thinks that she will be all right when she meets him up close in 2 weeks.

On Saturday, Juliet got her H1N1 vaccine. She had to wait in line for a long time, but now she knows that she will not get this very bad flu. That night, Juliet went out to Hartwood Acres to see the Festival of Lights. It was very, very nice, and she really enjoyed looking at the beautiful display.

Sunday was nice because Juliet did not have too much to do; she had done it all the previous two days. She went to breakfast, walked around the mall, and went over her grandma and pa-pa's for dinner. It was such a nice weekend, that now Juliet is very excited about the long weekend coming up. She knows that Thanksgiving will be a wonderful time with her family.

Juliet Is Back

Juliet is now 14 months, 8 days old. She has taken a little break from her website because her mommy and daddy have been so busy and it is sometimes hard for them to have time to write for her. But she would like to see the website keep going, so she will try really hard to keep it updated with more stories and pictures.

Juliet is just getting over her second ear infection. She was surprised that she has one because her ear really didn't seem to be bothering her. But the doctor said that her ear didn't look too good, so he prescribed her some amoxicillin to heal her. Juliet loves the amoxicillin. She has to take it in a little syringe that goes in her mouth. After she is done taking the medicine, Juliet likes to carry the syringe around and suck on it, just because it tastes so good. It makes the difficulty of dealing with an illness a lot easier.

Juliet is also excited about Light-Up Night tomorrow. It is the night when the city of Pittsburgh lights up all their Christmas displays. Juliet is really looking forward to seeing all the pretty lights and colors, and maybe checking out some music and festivities, too!

Just a few more days until Thanksgiving. Juliet knows that she has a lot to be thankful for - particularly extra time with her mommy and daddy next week.

Dear Juliet 11/13/09

Dear Precious Juliet,

Last night, you were asleep in the car about 5 minutes after you left grandma and pa-pa's. You didn't even need a pacifier. You didn't even need to hold my hand. You were clearly exhausted, even though it was only 7:30 at night. I think that, because it gets darker earlier, your brain is now more likely to make you feel sleepy earlier at night. I believe that to be the case because I feel that way too. When I got you home, you did not even stir as I carried you up to your room. You barely even flinched as I took off your shoes and your coat. And you settled into your crib without so much as a peep.

Since I knew that it was an early bedtime for you, I was prepared to hear you fuss a little bit during the night. So when I heard you stirring at about 10:30, I was not completely surprised. i went into your room and you were standing up in your crib, calling for us.

I tried to lay you back down. You stood back up. I tried again and again, but you would not stay lying in your crib. I tried rocking you. You closed your eyes, and I put you back in your crib. You stood back up. I even tried taking you downstairs and letting you cuddle with me on the sofa. Your eyes still opened back up.

It is times like these when I want so badly to get frustrated. I want so badly to be mad at you. I want to ask you what I am doing wrong, what am I doing to keep you from sleeping. I even want to ask you why you don't love me enough to sleep when it's time to sleep and I am so, so tired.

But I don't do any of those things. Because I know that you are as frustrated as I. I know that I am doing nothing wrong and that you do love me, that part of the reason that you are awake is because you want to play with me.

And yet, I felt so helpless as the clock ticked all the way to 12:30. I really did not know how to help you. Fortunately for both of us, we have your daddy. He thought that you might be thirsty, so he got you a bottle of water. You drank about 6 oz. of water, then I laid you back down. I stroked your head with one hand and held your hands with the other. Within a few minutes, you were asleep. You did not even wake up at all until it was time to leave in the morning.

Princess, I know that it is often hard to sleep when the big world is out there, waiting for you. And you are so willing to explore all the time. But at night, your mind gets a chance to dream. It comes up with all the wonderful new ideas that will shape your future and help you create a better world for yourself. You need to sleep, to give your body the chance to re-charge and your mind the chance to blossom.

So, forgive me when I get frustrated when you wake in the middle of the night. Know that it is only because you are so special to me and I want us both to be wide-awake during the daytime, when we can do all the things you have dreamt of as you slept.

The Caretaker

Today, Juliet is 13 months, 30 days old. It is the last day in Juliet's 14th month. She cannot believe all the things that she has learned and all the tough challenges that she has overcome. In just the past 2 months, she has begun walking, then running. She knows how to climb the steps while holding onto a railing. She is very good at showing people what she wants. She is also very good at feeding her toys! She recently got a toy kitchen set from her mom-mom, and she has loved playing with it. Juliet likes to put the plates and pans on the toy range top or in the microwave, then take them out and feed her toys with them. Juliet always makes sure that all of her toys get to eat - from her Snow White doll alll the way down to her little rubber duckie. Since they cannot eat on their own, Juliet makes chewing sounds for them so that they can enjoy their meals.

Juliet loves taking care of all her toys. She hugs them, kisses them, and carries them around very carefully. It is her way of showing all the people who have similarly cared for her in the past 14 months that she has learned from them how to take care of the things she loves.

Getting Ready For A Trip

Juliet is now 13 months, 29 days old. She can't believe that it is November already. It has already been almost two whole months since she celebrated her first birthday. Yet, it was such a good time that it seems as though it happened only yesterday. Juliet is happily thinking about her next big event: Thanksgiving. Now, the day of Thanksgiving itself is pretty exciting. There are lots of people around and lots and lots of good food to eat! But, more than this, Juliet is anticipating her second trip to Columbus, OH. Her mommy and daddy have been making a Thanksgiving weekend trip out there since before she was born. Last year was her first time with them, and it was fun - even though she really didn't have too much of an idea of what was going on! She spent most of her time being carried around in the baby harness, but she did get a feel for all the holiday excitement. She saw Santa there, heard carolers singing, and smelled the yummy smell of kettle corn and cinammon nuts.

This year, Juliet is glad to realize that she will get a much better understanding of the trip. It will be a lot of fun to check out some place new and enjoy the holiday spirit

To Mr. Rogers

Today, Juliet is 13 months, 28 days old. She had a special visit to the WQED studios where they used to film Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood. It was set up just like the neighborhood of Make Believe that she has seen on TV. All the characters were there - King Friday, Queen Sarah, Daniel Tiger, Henrietta Pussycat, and Lady Elaine. It was a lot of fun to see what a real TV set looked like, particularly one where they filmed such a great show.

Juliet was not born when Mr. Rogers was alive, but she has heard that he was a very nice man. She wished that she could have met him. If she had been able to meet him, she would have said something like this:

Dear Mr. Rogers, you make me feel as though I am an important person. More importantly, you make all kids feel that way. I think that all kids are special, and it is very important that they know that. I enjoy watching your show, because you teach me all kinds of things. I also really like seeing the trolley. That is my favorite part. I hope you know how much you mean to kids everywhere. Thank you for making us feel so special.

Love,

Juliet

Juliet's Many Books

Juliet is now 13 months, 26 days old. She has been keeping up with a hobby that she has enjoyed since she was a baby: reading. Juliet now has a collection of about 50 books. Some of them are kept in the bookshelf, but the ones that she reads most often are kept in a cardboard box in the living room. Juliet knows to go over and choose a book from the box and carry it over to her mommy or her daddy. She then likes to sit on their laps and listen to the stories. Some of her current favorites are the same ones she enjoyed months ago: The Foot Book, the Peter Rabbit lift-a-flap, and Princess Baby. But she has also been loving B is for Bear, Baby Einstein First Words, and My Name Is Dug. Juliet is sure to spend at least an hour each day reading her books.

Today, she went to the bookstore. It was a lot of fun for her. She had a wonderful time walking around and around in the kids' books section. She must have picked out 10 books to look at while she was there. In the end, her favorite was a Snow White book and a Disney pop-up book. She did not buy them today, but she knows what she can ask Santa for Christmas. Juliet cannot wait until she learns to read herself, but until then, she will be happy listening to stories in her many books.

The Verse That Runs Through My Mind Each Morning...

But soft, what light through yonder window breaks?

It is the east, and Juliet is the sun!

Arise, fair sun, and kill the envious moon

Who is already sick and pale with grief

That thou her maid art far more fair than she.

Be not her maid, as she is envious.

Her vestal livery is but sick and green

And none but fools do wear it. Cast it off!

It is my lady; o! it is my love

(O that she knew she were!)

She speaks, yet she says nothing. What of that?

Her eye discourses; I will answer it.

I am too bold; 'tis not to me she speaks.

Two of the fairest stars in all the heav'ns,

Having some business do entreat her eyes

To twinkle in their spheres 'til they return.

What if her eyes were there, they in her head?

The brightness of her cheek would shame those stars

As daylight doth a lamp. Her eyes in heav'n

Would through the airy region stream so bright

That birds would sing, and think it were not night.

Play Date

Today, Juliet is 13 months, 24 days old. Yesterday, she spent her early evening over her friend Emily's house for a play-date. It was a wonderful time! For starters, Emily had some of the same toys that Juliet does, so Juliet knew exactly how to play with them. The first thing that Juliet recognized was the Snow White doll that Emily had. Then she saw the miniature Snow White doll. Juliet was so excited to see the dolls that she held them both and was carrying them around as she explored the living room. Emily also had many toys that were new to Juliet. Juliet liked learning how to play with the new toys. She liked the Polar Bears and Penguins game and the toy shopping cart and the new books. Then, she and Emily both had a little pizza for dinner. Emily was also nice enough to share her favorite kind of food with Juliet: grapes!

After all that playing, Juliet was exhausted. She fell to sleep shortly after she got in the car. But she was awake when her daddy came home, so she had about an hour's worth of playtime with him before she finally went to bed.

Happy Halloween

Today, Juliet is 13 months, 23 days old. She had a fantastic Halloween this year. Last year, she dressed as a bunny. It was fun, but she does not really remember too much of it. She was still adjusting to the big new world, so Halloween was a bit overwhelming for her. This year, she was much more aware of what was going on. She got to put on her beautiful Snow White dress, that looked exactly like the one Snow White wore in the movie. She also put on a wig so that she could have black hair like Snow White does. It was a little itchy, but after a while, Juliet did not even mind it. After taking many pictures, it was time to head out!

At first, Juliet was happy to be carried from house to house. She was not even sure about taking the candy that the nice people offered her. Soon, however, Juliet was walking by herself and heading right up to all the houses. By the end of the night, she was taking candy and dropping it right into her pumpkin. She must have visited about 15 houses that night. She was so tired when she got home, but also very happy.

Juliet feels so lucky to have a family that treats the holidays as special times. It makes her life a lot of fun. She is so happy that this is only the beginning of a wonderful holiday season.

Dear Juliet 11/1/09

Most Wonderful Juliet,

I was sitting with you in my arms after your bath tonight.

I was tired from all the chasing after you I did this weekend.

I was irritated about the mess I knew that I would have to clean up after you went to sleep.

I was nauseated by the scent of your spit-up still in my hair.

I was damp up to my elbows from trying to keep you seated in your tub.

I was wearing a bathrobe because you had peed on my clothes.

I was just sitting with you in my arms after your bath tonight, thinking about all those things.

But the one thing that I was thinking about the most

Was not the chasing after you,

Was not the mess downstairs,

Was not the spit-up,

Was not the damp elbows,

Was not the pee on my clothes.

It was how very, very, very lucky I was to be sitting with you in my arms after your bath tonight,

Tired,

Irritated,

Nauseated,

Damp,

In a bathrobe -

The luckiest, happiest, most loving-her-daughterest mommy in the whole world.

Excerpt from "A Prayer For My Daughter" by Willaim Butler Yeats

May she be granted beauty and yet not
Beauty to make a stranger's eye distraught,
Or hers before a looking-glass, for such,
Being made beautiful overmuch,
Consider beauty a sufficient end,
Lose natural kindness and maybe
The heart-revealing intimacy
That chooses right, and never find a friend.
Helen being chosen found life flat and dull
And later had much trouble from a fool,
While that great Queen, that rose out of the spray,
Being fatherless could have her way
Yet chose a bandy-legged smith for man.
It's certain that fine women eat
A crazy salad with their meat
Whereby the Horn of plenty is undone.
In courtesy I'd have her chiefly learned;
Hearts are not had as a gift but hearts are earned
By those that are not entirely beautiful;
Yet many, that have played the fool
For beauty's very self, has charm made wise.
And many a poor man that has roved,
Loved and thought himself beloved,
From a glad kindness cannot take his eyes.

May she become a flourishing hidden tree
That all her thoughts may like the linnet be,
And have no business but dispensing round
Their magnanimities of sound,
Nor but in merriment begin a chase,
Nor but in merriment a quarrel.
O may she live like some green laurel
Rooted in one dear perpetual place.

Celebrating Fall

Juliet is 13 months, 18 days old today. She is very excited about Halloween. She has been enjoying all the fun parts of autumn. She loves to pick up the many different colors of leaves. She especially likes finding things like acorns and buckeyes. She also really likes her pumpkins. Now, she has 2 big pumpkins and two very little ones that she can carry around. Tomorrow, she will help turn the pumpkins into jack o' lanterns. It sounds like a lot of fun.

Today, she went to North Park and saw the ducks. There were 4 or 5 little ducks floating on the lake. Juliet was very excited to see them. She had been afraid that all the little ducks had left for the winter. She enjoyed pointing to them and saying, "Duck! Duck!" She also showed the hand motions for the "5 Little Ducks" song that she knows. She is very happy to be able to communicate in so many ways.

Soon it will be Halloween and Juliet knows that it will be so much fun. She can't wait until she sees all the kids in their costumes. She's sure that she won't be too scared.

It's The Great Pumpkin, Juliet!

Juliet is now 13 months, 16 days old. She watched the show "It's The Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown!" for the first time tonight. It was really nice to just relax and watch the show with her mommy and daddy. The show was pretty funny too: all about kids going trick-or-treating, except for Linus, who was waiting for the Great Pumpkin. Juliet felt sorry for Linus, because the Great Pumpkin never came. She hopes that he will not give up, though. She remembered how she felt before she learned to walk. She thought that the day would never come! And finally, it did. So she thinks that, finally, the Great Pumpkin will show up for Linus. She also felt bad that Charlie Brown only got rocks when he was trick-or-treating. He seemed very unhappy. Juliet would be happy with those rocks! She loves picking up stones and rocks to investigate them. Now she is really looking forward to trick-or-treating. She hopes that she gets lots of rocks and pacifiers and toys that she can shake and make noise. That would make this the best Halloween ever!

Showing The World To Those Who Show It To Her

Today, Juliet is 13 months, 15 days old. Happy 13 1/2 month birthday, Juliet! She has many remarkable gifts. One of them is the ability to make people around her see things differently. There are so many people who have been touched by the sunlight that Juliet brings. People who may have had a rough day suddenly see things in a much happier light when they see Juliet. But Juliet can even have an effect on her mommy. Since her mommy had the day off today, it was a nice day for the two of them together. They went to Starbucks together today, like they used to when Juliet was just a tiny infant, and like they did over the summer. Juliet enjoyed eating a little yogurt and pineapple bites while her mommy had her coffee. They had a nice time just talking about what Juliet saw around them. At one point, Juliet pointed up towards the ceiling. Her mommy looked up and saw that the ceiling was actually very pretty, with designs and two big windows on a green background. Juliet's mommy had never looked up at the ceiling before and was very grateful that Juliet brought it to her attention. Juliet loves showing new things to the people who work so hard to show her new things every day.

Loving To Laugh

Juliet is 13 months, 13 days old today. Some people think that 13 is an unlucky number, but Juliet did not have an unlucky day at all today. She went to a Pitt football game and had a great time. She even managed to get some naptime while she was at the stadium, despite the loud cheering for Pitt. The day was made even more special because her mom-mom was in visiting. Juliet does not get to see her mom-mom very often, so she had a wonderful time showing off all the new things that she has learned and all the toys that she has accumulated.

Juliet is obviously a very unique girl. For one thing, she enjoys being tickled. She enjoys playing, "There was a little birdie and he sat right there, and he hopped, and he hopped, til he got up there!" At up there, she gets tickled on the neck. Juliet loves to play that game, especially because sometimes her mommy surprises her and tickles her knee, armpit or belly. She also likes doing "So Big!" because when she lifts her arms, her mommy and daddy tickle her. Sometimes she will lift her arms even if her mommy and daddy don't ask, "How big is Juliet?" She just likes laughing when she gets tickled. She enjoys it so much that sometimes she laughs before anyone even tickles her. Juliet has so much happiness inside that she needs to laugh so that she can share the feeling with everyone.

An Early Trip To School

Juliet is 13 months, 11 days old today. She is a very brave girl. Today, she stopped by her daddy's school during musical auditions. She didn't like sitting still, so her mommy took her outside. Juliet loved being outside! She ran around so fast that it was hard for her mommy to even keep up with her. Juliet had a great time picking up smooth stones and pretty leaves. She also enjoyed investigating kids' bikes and skateboards. She even figured out how to hold onto a railing to help herself walk upstairs.

Juliet also made some friends. She was very curious about all the middle school kids. She walked up to them and showed off the neat stones she found. She also loved looking at their colorful backpacks. The kids were very nice to her and liked talking with her, too.

Juliet really liked meeting all the older kids and finding out about them. She was not scared at all. She can't wait until she can be in school and learn all the wonderful things that they are learning.

Dear Juliet 10/21/09

My Dearest Juliet,

There are so many reasons why your daddy and I got married. First of all, we both liked to make each other laugh. We knew that, if we got married, our lives would be filled with laughter. And we were right.

Secondly, we were committed to working hard to keep our lives comfortable. We knew that we wanted to handle our finances sensibly, and that we could build a good life together. And we were right.

Next, we were best friends. We felt as though we could tell each other anything. We knew that we could share our interests and that we would never be bored together.

And we were right.

But most importantly, the biggest reason that we got married was to bring you into the world. Right from the start, God had a plan for your daddy and me. He thought that bringing us together would eventually bring great happiness into the world through you.

And He was right.

An Autumn Weekend

Juliet is 13 months, 8 days old today. She had a wonderful weekend. On Saturday, she returned to the Aviary for the first time in a while. She saw all of her favorite bird friends there. There were also many kids there. That was because Mr. McFeeley from Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood was at the Aviary to celebrate X the Owl's birthday. Juliet got several pictures with Mr. McFeeley, who was very nice.

Afterwards, Juliet went out to dinner with her grandma and pa-pa. They went to a nice new restaurant, and Juliet tried some chicken and vegetables. After her healthy dinner, she had some apple cake from Dozens cupcake shop.

On Sunday, Juliet went out to Reilly's Summer Farm to pick out a pumpkin. She took a hayride out to the pumpkin patch and she picked out 3 pumpkins: one big one, one medium-sized, and one tiny baby pumpkin that she could carry around with her. She also enjoyed some of the fun activities, like the big pumpkin inflatable room that was filled with balloon, the bean-bag toss game, and the petting zoo. Juliet was really curious about petting the sheep, goats, and cow. She thought that they reminded her of big doggies!

What a nice way to spend an autumn weekend

"To My Future Children" - March, 1999

(Written in March of 1999 - almost 10 years before Juliet was born)

To My Future Children

by Christine Rogalski

I shall some day be less of this person
And lines and rhymes that rang so
Sensibly in my ears will be utter insanity
So I write (while still at least fractionally
a child) so as to be a reflection
Of the world in which I have commenced
I do not envy you, you who must endure
The grotesqueness and the gravity
That the world serves upon its little
Silver platter
I have lived it and have grown to find connectedness
Within it and because of it
You will not be raised correctly (God knows
if you will ever be raised at all)
For I am a selfish ugly person
(The world is full of selfish ugly people)
And as of yet, I still bask in immaturity
And I shall forever bask in immaturity
You (if you are born someday) will
Not be granted a fair world, not one
That boasts citizens of rationality
You will not succeed at most things
And you will be spat upon more than
Kissed
But you will be given a chance and a
Will
That is all I can offer; that is all that you need.

From A Favorite Book

Today, Juliet is 13 months, 5 days old.

"I want my daughters to be beautiful, accomplished, and good; to be admired, loved, and respected; to have a happy youth, to be well and wisely married; and to lead good and pleasant lives, with as little care and sorrow to try them as God sees fit to send...

Leave these things to time; make this home happy, so that you may be fit for homes of your own, if they are offered you, and contented here if they are not. One thing remember, my girls: Mother is always ready to be your confidante, Father to be your friend, and both of us trust and hope that our daughters, whether married or single, will be the pride and comfort of our lives."

-Louisa May Alcott, Little Women

Energy Up and Down

Juliet is now 13 months, 3 days old. Sometimes, she wears herself out with all the energy she uses up just being Juliet. Last night, after she got done with her dinner of an egg, some carrots, and some applesauce, she wanted to play. She ran around the second floor of the house, going into every area that was accessible to her. She made about 20 laps around, into the living room, the kitchen, the dining room, and the hallway. She was not even disappointed that she could not make it downstairs or into the bathroom. She was enjoying running around too much. Occasionally, she would stop to play with some of her toys or pick up a book. She would even pick up a book and give it to her mommy or daddy to read to her. But soon after, she was off again!

Juliet was so tired that she started to get cranky around 8:10 at night. Her feet began to drag and she didn't quite have the energy to climb onto her ride-on car toy. This made her frustrated and more cranky. So while her mommy went up to draw a bath, her daddy just held her downstairs. By the time everything was set for her bath, Juliet was already fast asleep. So she just skipped the bath and had a pretty pleasant night's sleep.

Off Limits?

Juliet is 13 months, 2 days old today. She does not like to be held back. Recently, her mommy and daddy have been putting a gate up to make sure that she does not fall down the steps. If her mommy and daddy are getting dinner ready in the kitchen, they put the gate up right at the entrance to the living room. This means that Juliet can only play in that one room. Now, Juliet loves the living room. She has most of her toys there, including her favorites, like her sing-a-long microphone, her ride-on car, and her ball popper. Typically, she would be perfectly happy to just stay in there and play for hours, especially if her mommy and daddy were nice enough to put in one of her favorite Baby Einstein DVDs. But, since the gate is up, Juliet all of a sudden really wants to wander around the kitchen and dining room! Suddenly, those rooms seem so much more interesting and exciting. Juliet will sometimes bang on the gate because she gets so mad! But then, when her mommy and daddy come back in, she goes back to happily playing with all of her toys in the living room.

Little "Snow White" Fan

Juliet is now 13 months, 1 day old. She has been enjoying spending time with many members of her family. Today, after she spent the morning with her grandma as usual, Juliet spent some time over at her great-grandma's apartment. She loves being there! First, there are many older people living there, and they are all so excited to meet a little girl like Juliet. They make a fuss, and Juliet loves to make new friends. Second, since her great-grandma's apartment is small, Juliet has almost a free reign. She investigates every corner and doesn't sit down too often. Finally, her great-grandma plays her favorite movie: "Snow White". Juliet watches it every time she visits her great-grandma. In fact, as soon as Juliet gets in the door, she heads right to the tv and points to it, to let everyone know that it is time to put in "Snow White". She loves the movie because it has wonderful music and lots of friendly animals. All in all, Juliet has many wonderful reasons to look forward to visits with her great-grandma.

Juliet's Fall Weekend

Today, Juliet is 13 months old. Happy 13 month birthday, Juliet! She spent the weekend out in the Laurel Highlands. Yesterday she was at Seven Springs. They did not have skiing there like they usually do. Instead, they had their Autumnfest. Juliet loved looking at the crafts, warming up by the bonfires, listening to bands play, and playing with the many pumpkins around! Her daddy even bought her 2 mini pumpkins to play with. Juliet had other plans: she tried to eat them! She decided that they would taste better cooked!
Today, Juliet went to Ft. Ligonier for their big festival. She saw many people and all kinds of neat crafts. She most enjoyed just walking along the street, taking in the beautiful fall weather.
It was a wonderful weekend and Juliet is happy that she got to enjoy it.

Lovely Fall Day

Juliet is now 12 months, 27 days old. She is looking forward to being outside today. It is a beautiful, sunny day in Pittsburgh and just the right temperature: in the upper-60s. She can't wait to spend her day outside. She will be playing in her grandma's yard for most of the day, and then tonight, she will go to the playground to swing and slide. It will be a great day.

Juliet realizes that soon it will not be so easy to go play outside. First of all, it is now getting dark earlier. Whereas just a month or so ago she could stay at the playground until 8:00, now she can't even see the slide at 7:30. It just gets too dark. Secondly, it will start to get colder soon. It has already been chilly this year, and Juliet knows that, as winter sets in, it will be even colder. And while she is looking forward to playing in the snow a little this year (last year, she was just a baby, after all), she will not be able to spend hours playing like she does now.

So, Juliet will do everything she can to enjoy the lovely fall weather while it is here.

Sweet Dreams, Interrupted

Juliet is 12 months, 25 days old today. She has been having a little trouble sleeping. For many months, Juliet went to bed right on schedule. Sometimes, it was a bit of a battle, because Juliet wanted so badly to stay up and try out all the new skills she had been working on. But, in general, Juliet would fall asleep before 10 o'clock and still be asleep when her mommy and daddy woke her at 6:30.

Recently, however, she has been waking frequently at night. Everyone has a theory. Some people say that it is her teeth. Others say that her diaper rash is bothering her. Others say that she may get chilly at night. Still others say that she needs to nap better during the day. And still others say that she is too wound up thinking about her new abilities to sleep well.

Juliet is not really sure why she has been waking up. All she knows is that sometimes she stirs at night and when she opens her eyes, everything looks dark and scary and there is no mommy or daddy around to tell her everything is OK. So she cries until someone comes in to let her know that nothing is wrong. But she has been working on keeping herself calm and getting herself back to sleep at night. And soon, Juliet feels confident that she will be able to wake up in the dark, and just smile, knowing that just because she can't see the people who love her, they are still there. And she will go right back to having sweet dreams.

Dear Juliet 10/5/09

My dearest princess Juliet,

I have been so proud of you every moment of your life. It seems that every day, you find a way to try something new or figure something out. You have just been so amazing. And, on top of that, you are such a pleasant little girl. You seem to be delighted when you can make others smile or laugh. I love when you do silly things and then look around to see the reaction you get. You are the greatest joy in the world.

I even love that you get upset when you do not get your way. You show frustration and disagreement when things do not happen the way you want them to. And, while it may not be a happy experience for you, you are learning that the world will not always act the way you want it to. There will be plenty of times when bad things will happen, and it is OK to be upset by them. There will even be times when you will need to summon your frustrated, disagreeing feelings to fight back and not let other people push you around. These temper tantrums are part of you learning how to express yourself and recognize that you have a right to have things go your way. You will quickly learn that temper tantrums do not work, and this will lead you to explore other ways to get what you want. It is all a part of growing up.

Every day gets more exciting. Every day, I am so glad to see how much you have learned. You have done such a good job at figuring out how things work and how to treat the people around you. And I am so proud of you.

Nothing Holds Juliet Back

Today, Juliet is 12 months, 18 days old. She is really taking advantage of her new-found ability to walk. She wants to walk everywhere and explore wherever she can. Nothing holds her back. Last night, her mommy and daddy wanted her to remain in the living room while they finished eating their dinners in there. They put dining room chairs in the doorway to keep Juliet from getting out of sight. But the legs of the chairs were widely-spaced, so Juliet was able to crawl right through and continue exploring the house. She never lets anything stand in her way.

Juliet also had a good time at the park yesterday. It was a chilly, windy day, but her mommy and daddy thought it might be nice to get Juliet out of the house for a while. Despite the miserable weather, Juliet had a great time. She walked all around the park, across the little bridge and up the steps on the play yard. She even went down the slide all by herself twice. The slide is quickly becoming Juliet's favorite part of the playground. If the weather is nice, Juliet hopes to go back to the park today. If not, she may just need to settle for some time at the indoor playground at the mall.

Drinking From A Cup

Juliet is now 12 months, 17 days old. She is getting very good at using a cup by herself. She is best when she has a straw. If the straw can come out of the cup, Juliet loves to remove it and put it back in. If the straw is stuck in the lid, then Juliet is a pro at drinking all of her milk or water on her own. She also likes to drink from a water bottle or from a cup. Those two vessals are also fun for her to play with. She enjoys shaking the water bottle and letting the water splash everywhere. She also likes to reach into the cup to get her hand wet. In the bath, she even likes filling up a cup and drinking out of it.

It is really good that Juliet likes using cups so much. She usually sticks with the cup and straw, because otherwise, there would be more water on her clothes, in her hair, and on the floor than there would be in her mouth!

A Morning With Daddy

Today, Juliet is 12 months, 16 days old. Weekends are always a big deal for Juliet. Since she only gets to see her mommy and daddy for entire day-long periods on the weekend, she really tries to make the most out of them. Yesterday was another great example of a fun weekend. What made it most fun of all was that she got to spend a good amount of time with just her daddy.

Juliet does not always get to spend as much time with her daddy as she does with her mommy. Her daddy has to stay at work longer most days and has more obligations that he has to deal with. So, when she gets to spend an hour or two playing with her daddy, she is so happy. Yesterday morning, Juliet's mommy went to do a race. Since it was rainy, her daddy did not want to take Juliet to the race to watch, so they stayed at home. Juliet had so much fun showing her daddy how to play with her toys and watching the Baby Einstein videos that she got for her birthday. Her daddy even gave her a bath.

Later, Juliet went to a parade and then to the Children's Museum. She had a good time playing with both her mommy and her daddy, but she was very grateful for a morning spent with just her daddy.

Up For A Walk

Juliet is 12 months, 14 days old today. Happy 12 1/2 month birthday, Juliet! Juliet has something else to celebrate, too. She is a walker! She has been walking with a little bit of help for a while now, but she never felt comfortable letting go. It was as though she were waiting for just the right moment. And yesterday, the right moment came. She was up in her mommy and daddy's room, standing by the bed. She was cruising along, with one hand holding onto the bed. Then, she simply let go and walked into the bathroom next door! Then, her mommy took her downstairs and stood her up in the hallway. She walked right into the living room to see her daddy! She was very excited and proud of herself. She decided to spend most of the afternoon walking around the living room, just to show off a little. She also did a lot of laughing, because she was so pleased that she had it out.

Juliet can't believe how many things she has learned in the past 12 1/2 months. It is very exciting and she gets braver each day. She grows more and more interested in accepting new challenges. And now, she will get to take on those challenges on her own two feet!

Dear Juliet 9/24/09

My Beautiful Juliet,

I am always so excited as we near the weekend. I cannot wait to have two days just to enjoy spending time with you. During the week, there is always so much to get done and I never feel as though I can really give you the attention that I want to. But when Thursdays roll around, I start to feel happier. I think, There are only 2 more days left in this week. Then, I can just be with my Juliet.

I am very lucky to have a job where I can have two days each week to just be home, and even luckier to have the whole summer. But, it is never enough. I know that I am showing you how much I love you by working hard to keep our family on the right track and that I am setting a good example that girls can do anything they set their minds to.

Still, it is hard each and every morning when I have to say good-bye. I wish I could do both, but thank you for being such a good girl and making those weekends that much sweeter.

Dancing Baby

Today, Juliet is 12 months, 11 days old. She is re-discovering her love for 3 things: dancing, and her doggie friends Magic and Scout. Juliet has liked music for quite a while. When she was little, David Cook's music was the only thing that could calm her when she was upset. When she got a little bigger, she liked her Disney Princess CD player. Recently, she has loved listening to her music boxes - one that she got for her birthday and one Christmas music box. She got back into dancing last night as she watched Dancing With The Stars. She was bouncing right along with the dancers. Since then, she has been showing off her dance moves more and more.

She has also become good friends with Magic and Scout. Juliet loves to follow them around and then pet them very gently. Sometimes, the dogs do not know to be gentle with Juliet, and she gets a wagging tail in the face! But the dogs do love her right back, especially when she is feeding them some of her food at dinner.

Disney Girl

Today, Juliet is 12 months, 10 days old. She was very excited to take a trip to the mall today. Usually, Juliet doesn't mind going to the mall. It is a chance for her to play in the playground with the other kids. Now, sometimes that experience is a little scary. The kids are mostly bigger than she is and they don't always look where they are going. Sometimes, they almost run right over Juliet. But usually, Juliet thinks of going to the mall as a nice, fun time.

Today was even more fun than usual. Today, the Disney Store opened. Juliet is just over 1 year old and already, she is a big Disney fan. She really enjoyed looking at all the Halloween costumes and the different cups and dishes and all sorts of things. Her favorite part was the stuffed animals. She saw toy Mickey and Minnie and Dumbo and Wall-E. But her very favorite was a toy Marie the Cat. It was a pretty white cat and Juliet did not want to put it down. The store was having a 2-for-1 deal on stuffed animals, so Juliet also picked out a soft Pooh Bear. She was very happy with her new toys. She also thinks that her mommy and daddy might have gotten her something for Christmas, but she is not sure.

It is a lot of fun to have a new Disney Store so close to her house. Juliet knows that she will be back soon.

Adventurous Eater

Juliet is now 12 months, 9 days old. She loves to try all different things. Her favorite meal is usually breakfast, and she really enjoys eating all kinds of breakfast foods. Juliet especially loves to eat eggs. She has had eggs scrambled and in omelets. This morning, she had a little of her daddy's eggs and toast, and also a little pancake from her mommy. It was so good! Juliet also drank regular milk for the first time. Her doctor said that it was now ok to drink it, and Juliet really enjoyed it.

Juliet also had some milk with her lunch, and then she had a good dinner. Her favorite part of dinner was the home-made applesauce. Juliet ate a lot of that. Then, she ate a good deal of bread, too. Bread has been Juliet's all-time favorite food for many months now. In fact, if she spots the bread on the table while dinner is going on, she will get very upset and cry until she gets some. If Juliet is out at a restaurant, she will sometimes see bread on other people's tables, and she will still get upset!

It has been fun for Juliet to try new foods. She does like the kinds of foods that all babies like: bananas, apples, milk, and bread. But she also has a few unusual favorites. She likes pickles, black olives, and sauerkraut! It may seem odd, but Juliet is very happy to be an adventurous eater.

Juliet Speaks Up

Juliet is 12 months, 8 days old today . She is very good at expressing herself. Nobody is ever confused about how Juliet feels about anything. Sometimes, Juliet gets frustrated that no one can tell exactly what it is that she wants. No one is ever unsure , however, as to whether Juliet is feeling frustrated at those times!
Juliet has been getting better at expressing herself in words. For a long time, Juliet knew 2 words: da-da for her daddy and bur for anything up in the sky, especially birds. Today, Juliet introduced a new word. She was in a silly mood as she left the Pitt game. Her mommy was sitting in the back seat with her, playing with her and giving her snacks. Juliet, who was very happy to be playing and having snacks, giggled and delightedly said, "ma-ma!" It was the first time she had ever said the word. Juliet is looking forward to all the other words she will be learning to say soon.

Play Date

Juliet is 12 months, 7 days old today. Tonight, she had a play date with her friend Wes. Juliet has had play dates with two friends at this point, and she really has a good time playing with the other kids. She went to Wes' house and met his mommy and his dog, Annie. Wes had a lot of toys to play with. Some of Juliet's favorites were the little activity table that had a book to look at in the middle of it and his rocking horse. Juliet really loves rocking horses; she enjoys her own at home very much. Juliet was also very grateful that Wes let her hug his stuffed doggie Stella. Recently, Juliet has loved hugging soft things. She hugs the stack of blankets in the living room almost every day! Stella was very soft, so Juliet was happy that she had the chance to hug her. Wes was also good at showing Juliet all kinds of neat toys, like trucks and trains and other machines. The two then crawled/walked around the downstairs area over and over again. When Juliet got home, she was exhausted. She went right from her carseat into bed without even stirring.

Juliet feels that she is so lucky to have friends who are about her age to play with. They can show her all kinds of new things and she can help them have fun too. Juliet says thank-you to Wes for sharing all of his wonderful toys with her and she hopes to see him again soon.

Brand New Teeth On The Way

Juliet is 12 months, 6 days old today. She is starting to get some new teeth. She was getting very used to only having 4 teeth. She had figured out how to chew all that she needed to and her gums were very comfortable. Now, she is back doing all the things she was 3 or 4 months ago: biting on everything, putting everything in her mouth, and drooling a lot. She has also been struggling with biting her tongue sometimes. It is not fun, but she is excited about getting a few new teeth to use.

Juliet also found out that there is a bird nest in the back of her grandma's house. Juliet has loved birds since she was very little, but she has never seen a mommy bird with her babies. Maybe soon she will get to see the mommy bringing some food to the babies. Until then, she will keep looking out for birds whenever she is outside.

Making Music

Juliet is 12 months, 5 days old today. She is so curious. Her whole day is devoted to figuring out how things work. And once she figures something out, she wants to do it over and over again. She recently figured out how to play the music on her fairy walker and she loves to press the button over and over again. She also likes others to experience the happiness she feels when she has mastered something. As she played the fairy walker music, she pet her toy dog Dug. She wanted him to share in her enjoyment of the music.

Juliet really loves music. She still loves just listening to it, but now she loves making it too. Two of her favorite activities are playing her xylophone and singing into her toy microphone. She also received Baby Einstein baby orchestra for her birthday, and she is looking forward to listening to that as well. Music has always made Juliet feel happy. She wants to continue making it and listening to it all her life.

Dear Juliet 9/14/09

Dear Wonderful Juliet,

Mommies cry such silly tears.

Before I put you in your crib tonight, I held you, just like I always do. In that moment, it was as though your entire future flashed before my eyes. I imagined you all grown up, getting ready for your wedding, then having your own child. And, all of a sudden, I was desperate to cling to the moment. I wanted to keep you in that little moment forever. And the fact that I could not, the fact that I could feel the moment slipping through my fingers even as I tried vainly to grasp at it, brought me to tears.

These tears are so silly, Juliet. Here you are, still a baby. Still just falling asleep in your crib as you always do. And I am missing you already.

I want you to grow up. I really want you to have the chance to take on the world and see what you think of it. I want you to undertake challenges and make mistakes and learn about yourself. It would be selfish for me to want you to stay the way you are forever when there is so much for you to discover.

But please, Juliet, just stay this way for a little bit longer. I will miss you some day.

I really do cry such silly tears.

The Big Weekend

Juliet is 1 year, 2 days old today. She has had the most wonderful weekend. She spent Friday at the zoo with just her mommy and daddy. It was a cool, comfortable day, so all the animals were active. In fact, the lion was up and roaring the entire time she was there. She could hear him roaring throughout the entire zoo. She also saw elephants, otters, giraffes, zebras, sharks, sting rays, and a polar bear swam right up to her and gave her a snort!

Later, Juliet had her birthday dinner with her mommy, daddy, grandma, pa-pa, mom-mom, pop-pop, her great-grandma, her great-pop-pop, Uncle John, and Aunt Reenie. It was her favorite dinner or spaghetti and meatballs. Juliet loved her dinner, and she especially loved her little piece of apple pie to celebrate her birthday.

On Saturday, Juliet went to McCandles Day. It was a big festival at North Park, where Juliet likes to go around the lake in her stroller. There, she ate corn on the cob, saw greyhound dogs, and won some little prizes in the rubber duckie game. She also got 2 balloons, and she was happy to see her pa-pa's name on them! Later she went out to dinner and saw her Uncle Mike and Aunt Lindsay.

Today was Juliet's big birthday party. It was at the National Aviary - Juliet's favorite place. She got to see her other great-grandma, her great-aunt Carolyn, her aunt Lisa, her Uncle Bobby, and her cousins Will, Bobby, and Ella. She also got to see her friends Wes, Emily, Phoebe, and Darren and their mommies and daddies. The biggest treat was when the penguin named Elvis came in to her party and painted her a picture with his feet. He was a very friendly penguin and Juliet now has an original piece of artwork to hand in her room. Juliet also received many, many wonderful presents, including fun toys and beautiful clothes.

It was the most exciting weekend Juliet has ever had. She wishes that she could relive it over and over, but she knows that each time she plays with one of her birthday toys or wears one of her birthday outfits, she will think of all the fun that she had and all the people who love her.

Juliet Is One Year Old Today!

There once was a newborn Juliet,

The most beautiful baby seen yet

With each tear we'd dry,

We'd know even more why

Those early days were ones we wouldn't forget.

Now Juliet is a whole one year old,

Still just as much of a joy to hold,

Now she has new steps to walk

And more words to talk;

She is worth more than her weight in gold.

Soon she will be a small tyke,

Learning to cartwheel and ride a bike,

We'll just watch her grow,

And still love her so,

As she learns lots of new things to like.

One day, she won't be a child,

She'll have her own life, her own style,

Though she'll be out on her own,

She find our love's only grown,

To help her endure any trial.

Juliet, we would just like to say,

Our lives have improved in every way,

To our lives, you've brought light,

And, come sun or come night,

Your light just gets brighter each day.

Happy Birthday Eve, Princess

Dearest Baby Girl,

It is almost nine-o'clock on the eve of your birthday. It is the first game of the Steelers' season. I am sitting at the computer, getting ready to make your bottle. One floor above me, here in Linden Court, you are causing quite a ruckus. When Mummy gets you ready for your bath, you can be a very cranky girl; however, you're always happy once you get in.

This has become our routine. At 8:45, you say goodbye to your downstairs toys, have a story read to you, and go upstairs for a bath. I hang behind and make you your bottle. Then, I join you and Mummy in the bathroom. It seems so simple, but it is one of many routine the things that we do that I look forward to every day.

Earlier in the evening, when we were jogging in the South Side, mummy told me that these have been the happiest 364 days of her life. I couldn't agree with her more. Its hard to image that just one year ago, I was driving home from Meet the Team Night at Quaker Valley. On that night, I picked up dinner from The Cheesecake Factory. When we were eating, Mummy said that she has having a bit of pain in her back. As I fell asleep in the living room, I thought to myself, Juliet might be here tomorrow.

Thank God that you were! Having to live one more day without you would have been unbearable. You have enriched and enhanced our lives (Mummy's, my own, and everyone else's) in every way possible. Dinners are better now that you are here. Penguin games are more fun with you. Even going to the movies, although more difficult, is better (we do this at the drive-in; we learned from our mistake with BOLT! last Thanksgiving).

I hear the water running upstairs, and I am neglecting my baba duties. Hopefully, I'll make it up there in time to watch you put your friends in the cup and get a special Daddy goodnight hug; they are the best kind.

Thank you so very much for making everything worth it.

We love you more than you will ever know.

Yours always,

Daddy

Juliet's Wish List

Juliet is now 11 months, 28 days old. She has a big day coming up, and she is excited. She is really looking forward to seeing all her friends and family this weekend. It makes her feel so special to know that so many people are planning to spend her birthday with her, and that even more people will be thinking of her on her special day.

There is not too much that Juliet wants for her birthday, but she has come up with a list of things that would really be wonderful:

Sunny skies, so she can play outside, especially at her grandma's house,

Lots of walks under bridges, so she can hear her voice echo,

Birds all around her - in the air, in trees, or hopping along the ground,

Plenty of fun stones to pick up and examine,

A chance to play in the water every day,

Music that she can dance to,

Books, so she can read a story every day,

As much time as possible to spend at special places like the Aviary, the Children's Museum, and her home,

All the love in the world for her family and friends.

Learning How To Walk

Juliet is 11 months, 27 days old today. She really liked playing at the playground today. She met another little girl there who was 21 months old. Juliet followed the girl around and wanted to do everything she did. She even went down the little slide almost entirely by herself. She had so much fun, but then again, she always does when she is at the playground.

Juliet has been working really hard on learning to walk. She is doing very well. She usually takes a few steps by herself, then sits down. Most of the time, Juliet holds onto someone's hand and walks around very well. Sometimes, however, Juliet lets go a little too quickly. She has fallen and bumped her head a couple of times - and always in the same place! This had led to a little bruised spot on her forehead. Juliet does not mind it much, though. She thinks of it as a mark that shows how hard she is working on learning how to walk.

Dear Juliet 9/7/09

Dearest Little Princess Juliet,

We are at the end of our long weekend together. Your daddy and I had been looking forward to this time for quite a while. We were both a little sad when school started up again, but we knew that, at least, we would be able to share the Labor Day weekend with you. And now it is ending, and we are so grateful to have been able to do all the things we wanted to with you.

We visited with your friend Wes on Friday. It was wonderful to watch you interact with another baby. You are so social and you have so much fun playing with others. Then, we took you to the Disney store to look for your birthday. We ended up getting you a Birthday Pooh Bear, and we gave it to you right then! We didn't want for you to wait. You are always so excited to hold new stuffed animals.

On Saturday, we went to the Pitt game. You were very good, but it got a little loud when the crowd would cheer. Soon you will realize that the cheering is a good thing and you will not be afraid. Hopefully, the football team will give the fans lots of reasons to cheer. After that, you spent time with your great-grandma. She said you were so good and you brought so much joy to the hearts of the people at the retirement home. Please remember to be that generous with your time and your love with your elders all your life.

On Sunday, we had an easy day. We ended it at Hartwood Acres, listening to a concert. You spent the whole time walking around, saying hello to people and their many dogs. Everyone thought you were charming and amazing. Nobody could turn down waving right back at you.

Finally, today you saw your first Labor Day Parade. Last year, you were just about ready to be born when we went to that parade. This year, you were very happy to see all the band and all the nice people waving to you. You didn't even mind the drizzle. We ended the weekend by watching "Mary Poppins" together. One of the last scenes you watched before bed was the song "Feed the Birds". I will always love that scene because I used to sing that song to you when you were a tiny baby. Now that you are a big girl, I think of you because you love to see birds. Maybe you will come to love that song as much as I do someday.

Juliet, when people ask me about you, I say that you are the air that I breathe. It is so simple. You are crucial to my life, and I am so very, very grateful for you. I love you so very much.

New Ways To Play

Today, Juliet is 11 months, 25 days old. It is the beginning of her last week being less than a year old. Since it was her first year ever, she was really amazed at how much there was for her to learn and to do. At first, the world seemed like a big, scary, confusing place. She knew her mommy, then her daddy, and then she got to know most of the rest of her family. As time went on, the world seemed to make a little more sense. She learned what to do when she was hungry, or uncomfortable, or tired (and it was the same thing for all three problems!) And finally, she learned how to play. At first, she would just play by swatting at shapes or grabbing onto toys. For a while, her favorite thing to do was just to stare at the picture above the sofa. Now, she gets to play with all kinds of toys. There are toys that make music and toys that make funny noises. She has toys to throw and to hug. Every day, Juliet likes something different in her toys. The one kind of plaything that she has never gotten tired of is books. She reads many, many books, and she has at least 4 or 5 favorites. The ones that have pages that she can touch and feel, and ones that have flaps she can open are definitely the best, but she also likes Dr. Seuss and other reading books.

Juliet is glad that she has figured out so much of the world. Next year, she will try to solve even more problems and have even more fun.

A Lot To Learn

Today, Juliet is 11 months, 24 days old. She had dinner with her friend Wes tonight. It is always nice for Juliet to spend time with babies who are a little bit older than she is. She gets to see what big changes she has to look forward to. Wes did things like nodding yes, shaking his head no, and giving fist bumps. Juliet is still happy with her ability to give high fives and play "There was a little birdie". She also likes to play "5 little ducks". She was especially excited to see 5 real little ducks at the park last night. There is so much she has learned. But Juliet is glad that she has friends who are a little older to show her how much there is still to learn.

Big Kids Love Juliet

Juliet is now 11 months, 23 days old. She likes making new friends. Last night, she stopped by a playground on her way home. As she climbed around with her mommy, a little girl came up and started asking about her. She wanted to know Juliet's name, how old she was, and what she was able to do at the play ground. Then the girl walked around with Juliet and her mommy and showed Juliet how to do neat things, like climb to the top of the play area. The little girl really enjoyed watching Juliet play. The girl also had a little sister, who was also interested in Juliet. Big kids always seem to want to teach Juliet how to play, and Juliet is grateful, because she really wants to learn!

As she was leaving, Juliet became interested in the pebbles in the path back to the car. The little girls thought it was funny how intrigued Juliet was with the pebbles. The girls took handfuls of pebbles and held them out to Juliet. Juliet played with the pebbles and laughed as the girls moved their hands. The little girls were so happy that they could make Juliet laugh.

It is so nice that people seem to want to be very kind to Juliet. Their kindness is teaching Juliet to be kind as she grows up. Even though they aren't reading this, Juliet would like to thank Natalie and Claire for playing with her yesterday. Juliet loved having fun with you!

God's Gifts

Today, Juliet is 11 months, 22 days old today.

God talked to four young couples,

Who hoped to have a child.

God asked them what kind of baby

Would make their lives worthwhile.

The first couple's lives were hectic;

They had headaches every day.

So God gave them the quietest baby,

And sent them on their way.

The second couple were so busy,

They had little time to give.

So God gave them the most content baby

And sent her with them to live.

The third couple was quite nervous

And thought the world was too rough.

So God gave them the shyest baby,

And they said she was enough.

That left a final couple

Whom God gave the same kind of choice.

He offered them a quiet baby,

But the couple longed to hear her voice.

So God brought another baby,

The most content and calm he could find.

But the couple again said no, thank you.

They would rather she speak her mind.

He said they could have a shy baby,

And brought them a timid girl.

The couple, again, was grateful,

But wanted their child to explore the world.

So God thought more about it,

And knew just what He'd do,

He gave them the baby most full of love.

And that is how He blessed us with you.

I love you, Juliet!

Simple Pleasures

Today, Juliet is 11 months, 20 days old. Among her favorite toys are some little wind-up toys that hop around. She has a wind-up bunny at her grandma's house and she has a wind-up bunny, chick, and penguin at home. The bunny and chick hop across a flat surface, and the penguin can flip over backwards. Juliet can spend 15 minutes just watching her toys hop around. They are very silly little toys, but Juliet thinks that they are wonderful.

It is nice to have big, fancy toys, too. Juliet has toys of all kinds and she likes to play with them all. But sometimes, the simple, little toys are really the best. They are silly and fun and do not require much other than winding them up and watching them go. And in her heart, Juliet is a girl who likes simple pleasures.

Steel City Baby

Juliet is 11 months, 19 days old today. She enjoyed her first Sunday of the fall. She started her day by spending some time in the Strip District. There is always a lot to see there. There are people selling food and clothing and flowers and fruits and all sorts of things. Juliet never knows where to look! She was in the market for her first Steelers jersey, but she did not see one today.

Pittsburgh is a nice town for Juliet to grow up in. It is a big city, but not too big. It is easy to get around, so Juliet can easily go from the Aviary and Children's Museum to the South Side in one afternoon. Also, Pittsburgh has many little, interesting neighborhoods. She has been to the South Side, the Strip, the North Side, the North Shore, downtown, uptown, Oakland, Squirrel Hill, Shady Side, Polish Hill, Bloomfield, East Liberty, and lots of other areas of the city. There is so much to explore.

Maybe some day, Juliet will live somewhere other than Pittsburgh, but for now, she is very happy to grow up in the Steel City!

Relaxing Today

Juliet is 11 months, 18 days old today. She is happily relaxing today. She often spends so much time and energy playing that she does not always remember how important it is for her to get some rest. If it were up to Juliet, she would play all the time. She would just walk, and walk, and walk, and keep walking. But on days like today, when it is a little bit rainy outside and nothing much is going on, Juliet is content to take a long nap and enjoy a relaxing day.

Sleepy Girl

Today, Juliet is 11 months, 17 days old. She has made it through her first week of fall. Fall does not officially start for another 2 weeks or so, but it has felt like a big change. Yet it has not been as difficult a change as she had thought. Juliet has loved being with her grandma, great-grandma, and, today, her pa-pa again. She has felt happy and right at home.

Juliet has been a little sleepy by the time she has gotten home at night. The change in schedule during the day has been a little rough. She is used to getting up around 7:30, and she has been waking up at least an hour before that all this week. Her schedule is also a bit thrown off at her grandma's, just because she had felt comfortable with her old routine. Now, she is often very tired at night. She still likes taking her bath and splashing around, but she is much quicker to want to get out and go to bed.

She had good reason to be tired tonight. She went to her last church festival of the year after dinner. She rode the merry-go-round twice. Once she rode on a giraffe, then on an elephant. After that, she went into the petting zoo. She pet some chickens and enjoyed looking at the ducks. She liked seeing the little cow, donkey, llama, and goats as well, but she was hesitant to pet them. Before she left the festival, her daddy won her a Dora the Explorer doll.

It was a great night. Juliet will sleep well.

Juliet The Disney Princess

Juliet is now 11 months, 16 days old. Happy belated 11 1/2 month birthday, Juliet! She was just enjoying her dinner of chicken noodle soup tonight and watching the most wonderful movie. It was an informational movie about taking a trip to Disney World! The movie talked about all the great things there were to do in Disney World. It showed rides like Dumbo and Haunted Mansion and It's A Small World. There were many rides that Juliet thought looked like fun. She wants to ride them all! She also was very interested in the princesses. They were so beautiful. Juliet thinks it would be fun to be a fairy-tale princess, even though they always seem to have an evil step-mother or witch mad at them!

Disney World seems like a magical place. Juliet hopes that she will get there some day, but it is ok if she does not. She knows that her family does its best to make Juliet's life as magical as possible every day.

Juliet Goes Back To School

Today, Juliet is 11 months, 14 days old. It was back-to-school day! Juliet is not quite in school yet, although she really can't wait to start going. But it was time to go back to school for her mommy and daddy. Since they both teach, they have both been enjoying spending the entire summer with Juliet. It was a nice, long time to be together as a family. Juliet thinks that this is the greatest part about having a mommy and daddy who both teach - they all get to be home together in the summer. But summer is only 2 1/2 short months long, so now it is time to get back into her school-year routine.

Even though she was sad to not have her mommy and daddy with her all day, Juliet was very excited to spend the day with her grandma and great-grandma! They spent lots of time playing in the grass out front, reading stories like "The Princess and the Pea", and watching two of Juliet's favorite movies: "Snow White" and "Sleeping Beauty". And because Juliet's grandma always has good food in the house, Juliet got to snack on lots of delicious fruit today. In fact, she ate 2 peaches, some Mandarin orange, some cantaloupe, and some blueberries. She felt like a very healthy girl after eating all that fruit, but she still saved room for potatoes with peas and corn at dinner, as well as a little bite of her great-grandma's lemon cake!

The summer may be over, but there are lots of exciting things on the horizon for Juliet. That's why Juliet refuses to see this as the end of a fun summertime, but to see it instead as the start of many wonderful times to come.

The Best Summer Ever.

Today, Juliet is 11 months, 13 days old. It has been the greatest summer ever. Juliet has done so much. She has been on stage at the Penguins' victory parade. She has met many of the players on the team. She has visited Brigantine and Atlantic City. She has seen Fourth of July fireworks. She has visited Stone Harbor. She has gone to several drive-in movies. She has gone to Pirates' games. She has visited the Aviary and the Children's Museum many times. She has been to Kennywood and Waldameer parks. She has started to crawl and walk. And she has made friends with many people, at playgrounds, at restaurants, and at parks.

Juliet is so glad that she was able to share her first summer with many of the people in her family and many of her friends as well. She feels that she is a very lucky little girl and she is looking forward to making her second autumn the best autumn ever.

Lake Visit

Juliet is 11 months, 12 days old today. She just took a wonderful trip to Presque Isle in Erie. She had a great time. Even though it was not the ocean, there was still a great beach right on the lake. Juliet spent her time crawling through the sand and playing with it. The sand was a bit heavier and more gravely than ocean sand, so it was fun for her to toss around and put on her toes. She even splashed around in the lake for a while. She also loved looking at all the sea birds. She hadn't seen them since she left Stone Harbor and she missed them.

After lunch, she went to Waldameer amusement park. She walked around the park, pointing at all the birds and flowers that she could see. She also got to ride on the carousel and the kiddie big rig ride. The nicest part was that she got to see her aunt Lisa, great-aunt Sue, and her cousins Will, Bobby, and Ella, who were also visiting Erie.

On the way home, they stopped off in Shadyside for a street festival. There were many people there, and Juliet got nervous. She just wanted to cling to her mommy and not visit with her mommy and daddy's friends who were there. So they went home.

Juliet likes taking nice little trips, but she is always happiest at home.

Big Girl Rides

Juliet is now 11 months, 9 days old. How time flies. She went to Kennywood for the second time yesterday, and she had a lot of fun. The first time she went was over 2 months ago, and she liked the park, but she could not do much. She only rode the railroad and sat in her stroller most of the time. This trip was much better. She did go on the railroad again, and it was still a lot of fun. But she also got to ride the Kangaroo - which travels around on a track and has one big HOP! She wasn't sure about it at first, but then she really liked it!

Juliet also visited Kiddie Land. There, she rode the baby tilt-a-whirl and the baby turtle, which is a miniature roller coaster. She was still too little to ride on anything all by herself, so she got to ride with her mommy and daddy and uncle John.

Finally, she rode Ghostwood Estates, which is a haunted house/shooting gallery ride. She was worried that it would be scary, but it really wasn't. She liked watching all the things popping out during her trip.

Juliet is so glad that she is growing up and getting to do new things every day. She is excited about doing even more as she gets bigger.

Almost A Year

Today, Juliet is 11 months, 8 days old. She is steadily getting closer to her first birthday. She can hardly wait. It has been quite a year. For Juliet, it has been a long year! When your whole life is just one year, each day seems like a big chunk of time! For everyone else, however, the year has flown by so quickly that everyone is amazed that we are getting ready for Juliet's first birthday already.

Juliet has still been doing what she does best - discovering. Yesterday was her first trip to the Carnegie Museum. She spent most of her time in the Museum of Natural History. It is full of animal displays. Juliet liked the displays of jaguars, bears, and dinosaurs. Everyone visiting and working at the museum was very amused to see this little girl holding onto her daddy's hand and walking around everywhere. She was very difficult to keep up with, because she kept seeing something else that she could explore, and her mommy and daddy could only follow along to see where she was going next.

Juliet rounded out her day with a trip to PNC Park to watch a baseball game. They sat in the bleachers, so Juliet had plenty of room to walk around between the benches. She even got to see some fireworks when the Pirates hit home runs.

By the time Juliet got home, she was very tired. It was the best kind of tired though - the kind of tired a baby feels when she has a busy day.

Jazz Concert

Juliet is now 11 months, 6 days old. She had a fun night last night. She went out to Hartwood Acres. It is a beautiful, big park not too far from her home. Her mommy and daddy brought a big blanket and set it out on the grass. Then, a jazz band began to play up on the stage in front of her. It was a really good band, and Juliet liked dancing along to the music. When she got fussy, her daddy took her for a long walk around the concert venue. She walked most of it herself, so it took a while. What made it take even longer was that Juliet stopped to see all the dogs that people had brought with them to the concert. Juliet thinks that outdoors concerts are great, because people can bring their dogs with them and she can visit them.

Later on, she went up to get her picture taken with Kevin Eubanks, the leader of the band. He is also the leader of the band on the Jay Leno show on TV. But at that point, Juliet was so tired that she did not want to be too far from her mommy or daddy, so when she sat down with Kevin, she started really crying! She felt bad, but she was just so tired and crabby.

The summer is a wonderful time. Just when Juliet thought that she had done all the fun things possible, she gets to do something else neat, like going to a concert. She has been so happy spending this summer with her family.

Dear Juliet 8/16/09

My Precious Juliet,

A mother's heart is like a camera. It captures snapshots of moments that a mother never wants to forget. In sudden, unanticipated flashes, a mother's heart tries to gather in all the love that she feels for a child in each moment and never let go of that instant. In a way, she wants to be able to abide in that moment and never let it go. Those moments when a mother's heart captures these snapshots are so precious that they are filled with an almost unimaginable joy and gratitude; yet, they are sad, because a mother knows that, no matter what, she will never be able to capture the full wonder of the moment, and she will be left with a memory that is sure to fade with time.

The most wonderful thing about this ability of a mother's heart is that these moments are not necessarily those that are written about in baby books. While a mother surely remembers her child's first laugh or first steps or first word, these are not the moments a mother's heart seeks to retain in those beautiful, frozen instants. Instead, her heart captures silly little snippets of her child's life. She has a snapshot of you waving at birds on the back porch at grandma's house. She has a snapshot of you reading a Dr. Seuss book on daddy's lap. She has a snapshot of you eating blueberry yogurt in her lap at the pool. She has a snapshot of you trying (with varying success) to put your shoes on your feet at Hartwood Acres tonight. And she has a snapshot of a random weekday, of you crying in her arms as she rocked you and rocked you when you were but a newborn.

The story of the Epiphany in the Bible contains a line that some mothers might recall. It says that Mary kept all these things that happened to her new son and pondered them deep in her heart. Before you, my wonderful child, I did not really appreciate that text. But now, I realize that it is exactly what I do with all these silly, seemingly unimportant moments. I keep them. I ponder them deep in my heart.

On Her Feet

Juliet is 11 months, 4 days old today. Her newest, most favorite thing in the world is walking. She still is not steady enough to do it on her own all the time, so she walks holding on to her mommy's hand, her daddy's hand, or both. She always wants to be on her feet, and she can get a little upset if she is being held or pushed in a stroller too much.

Yesterday, Juliet went to the pool at Kiwanis Park. They had a baby pool with a big, mushroom-shaped fountain in the middle. She spent most of her time at the pool walking around and putting her hands (and head) under the fountain. She even liked practicing walking up and down the steps into the pool. Every time she was near the steps, she wanted to step out of the pool, and then she wanted to step right back in. In any case, she did not want to sit down for one second to just passively enjoy the water!

Later, Juliet was walking through the South Side after dinner. Her daddy was carrying her, but Juliet wanted to walk. So she held her mommy's and daddy's hands and walked down the street. She even wanted to walk across the roads. Her daddy picked her up, since many drivers might not see such a little girl crossing the street. When Juliet started to fuss, the woman driving the car at the intersection waited for Juliet to be put down and walk across the street on her own feet. The woman said that Juliet could take her time and walk if she wanted to. It was very nice of her!

Juliet can hardly wait until she is able to walk by herself with no help at all. But for now, she is getting all the practice she can holding on to hands.

PS - Juliet would like to wish a Happy Birthday to her Great-Aunt Lanet!

The Busiest Baby In Town

Juliet is now 11 months, 3 days old. She had a really big day yesterday. First, she went to Gymboree. Juliet loves going to Gymboree music class. She gets to do neat things, like bang on a big drum, dance to different music, and even play with instruments. So far, her favorite instruments are the maraca and bells. This week's theme was Elvis Presley music, so Juliet liked hearing all the fun songs and dancing.

Afterwards, she ate her lunch. It was just Rice Krispies and cherry vanilla pudding, but it tasted really good after moving around so much at Gymboree. She even had a few Cheerios as her mommy finished her coffee. Then, she and her mommy walked down to Once Upon A Child and looked at the stuff they had for sale. Juliet was really interested in some of the exersaucers, but since she doesn't use the one she already has, she did not get one. She did, however, get a little track suit and some jeans to wear in the fall.

After all that, Juliet had to go to the eye doctor to check that she did not have a blocked tear duct. Juliet's eye has been watery on and off for months, and she just wanted to have it checked to see that nothing was wrong. Juliet did not like getting dye indicator and solution put in her eye, but she did like some of the toys they doctor had in his office, and she really liked the little video that he would put on for her when he wanted her to focus. It was a video of little wind up toys like dogs, chickens, and elephants. It was a lot of fun to watch.

Finally, Juliet went to pick up her daddy from work. Then she went shopping to buy food for dinner, and she had her dinner and watched Blue's Clues when she got home. It was a busy day, and most of it was very fun. She just may be the busiest baby in town.

Crabby Mood

Juliet is 11 months, 1 day old today. She woke up in a little crabby mood this morning. She was not happy playing with her toys, or reading her books, or going for a ride in the car. Juliet is usually very happy in the morning. Her mommy and her daddy know she is awake because, most of the time, she is happily babbling and talking to her toes in bed. This morning, though, she spent a lot of time crying and fussing.

It is sometimes hard to know what Juliet wants when she is upset. It could be any of a number of things. Sometimes she is uncomfortable, or hungry, or sleepy. Or sometimes, like today, it could be all three. The first thing that made Juliet feel better was that she drank her bottle. She had only had a small one last night before she went to bed, so she woke up hungrier than usually. Then, Juliet had a big poop! She got rid of the spaghetti in meat sauce that she ate last night, so that made her feel a lot better. Finally, after she took her bath and relaxed a bit, Juliet took a little nap.

No wonder Juliet was not happy! She was hungry, uncomfortable, and sleepy all at the same time. Afterwards, she was her happy self again!

Rainy Day

Juliet is now 11 months old. Happy 11-month birthday, Juliet! She has enjoyed many sunny days in her life. She has spent time in the sun all over Pennsylvania and even in Ohio and New Jersey. She always wears sunscreen, but she loves soaking in the sunny weather. Today, it started off sunny. She went to the park with her mommy and got to ride on the slide and the swings. It was a lot of fun. Later on, however, it started to rain.

Many people get down on the rain. They say that it is not fun and that it is miserable. Even one of her favorite books is about two kids who are unhappy and bored on a rainy day (until a certain Cat in the Hat teaches them how to have fun). Juliet, on the other hand, enjoyed seeing the rain. She stood by the window to the patio just watching the rain fall. She thought it was actually very beautiful. It was fun, too. She would touch the raindrops on the other side of the glass with her finger and follow it down as it trailed down to the ground. She did not even mind when she got drizzled on later on in the night when they stopped by a church festival.

Rain is nice. It helps things grow. It also makes for a nice afternoon, when little girls like Juliet are cozy and comfortable at home. Whatever the weather, Juliet finds a way to make the most of her time.

First Little Steps

Juliet is 10 months, 30 days old today. Yesterday was a big day for Juliet. She took her first steps! All evening at her grandma and pa-pa's house, she was trying to walk on her own. She was barely holding on to anybody's hand as she walked. She really couldn't practice walking inside because the floors are hardwood, and she would get hurt if she fell. So her mommy took her outside to walk around and play in the grass. Juliet stood on her own on the grass, and her mommy showed her how to move her feet. Then she stood in front of Juliet and held out her hands. Juliet thought about it and considered how she would move over to her mommy. Then she reached out and took three little steps!

Since then, Juliet has not really taken steps again, but that first time was just practice. She now knows that she can walk if she wants to, but she has plenty of time for that later. For now, she will just feel proud that she was able to take those first little steps.

Water Baby

Juliet is 10 months, 28 days old today. Since her umbilical cord fell off, Juliet has absolutely loved baths. When she was only a few weeks old, she still had to take sponge baths. She did not like them at all. Her mommy would try to distract her by singing to her or by showing her the butterflies on the shelf above her changing table, but Juliet usually still cried. When she began to take baths in the tub, everything changed. Juliet found out that she loved the water! She was not even afraid of the sound of water rushing from the spigot. She just really enjoyed splashing and getting wet.

Today, it is still her favorite part of the day. She now has a bigger tub, but it is really good for splashing around. She loves to watch the water run into the tub, and she really likes putting her hand in the stream or using it to wet a washcloth or bathe her toys. She wants to stand up in the tub and bang on the wall or sometimes try to control the water by turning the knob. Every time she reaches for the knob, however, her mommy turns the water off. So she is now learning that she cannot play with the water. She might change the temperature and make it hot enough to burn her or cold enough to make her shiver.

Juliet is glad that baths are one part of her routine that will not change, no matter how big she gets. True, she may stand up in the shower as she gets older, but every day she will have to get in the water to clean herself, and that is just fine by Juliet.

Take Juliet Out To The Ballgame

Today, Juliet is 10 months, 27 days old. She is getting ready to go to her first baseball game. She has already been to some hockey games and a few college football games. She does not really remember the football games too well, because she was only a few weeks old when she went. The hockey games were really fun, though. The best part was when she got to bang on the glass.

Juliet really likes sports. There is a lot of movement and teams wear colorful uniforms. Tonight, it is pleasant and sunny, so it is the perfect night to go to a baseball game. Juliet is especially looking forward to seeing the pierogies running around the park. She has never seen food run before! That should be really fun. Also, she heard that crowds do not get too loud at these games, so she will not need to cover her ears like she did at the hockey games.

Juliet feels so lucky that she gets to do so many neat things, things that other babies may have to wait years to try, or may never get to try at all. It makes her feel like she will keep on wanting to try exciting things as she gets older.

New Things To Discover

Juliet is now 10 months, 26 days old. Playgrounds are some of her favorite things. She gets excited every time that she is even near one. Today as she was in her jogging stroller going through North Park, she watched all the playgrounds that they went by. She became a little upset as she passed by each one. She thought that it was not fair to see all these great playgrounds but be unable to play in them. The only thing that made her happy was that her mommy and daddy promised her that they would go to a playground later. So all day, she looked forward to the playground.

Finally, after dinner, her mommy and daddy stopped at a nearby playground. It had lots of neat rides, including two big slides. She went down one with her mommy and one with her daddy. She also liked just walking around and exploring all the different parts of the playground. Unfortunately, the playground did not have swings. So they stopped by the playground nearest to their house so Juliet could ride in a swing. She rode for a few minutes, then tried out the helicopter-shaped see-saw and the big tire swing. After that, she walked about halfway home while holding onto her mommy and daddy's hands.

Juliet really loves exploring. Each day, she looks forward to finding new things to look at, hear, taste, feel, smell, and climb on. She hopes that she never runs out of things to discover.

Fun With Her Family

Today, Juliet is 10 months, 25 days old. She just had a wonderful visit with her mom-mom. She is sad that she lives so far away from her mom-mom, but it is always nice to see her when she comes to visit. They did all sorts of things together. They visited Juliet's favorite place: the aviary. They also went to the Children's Museum, and Juliet got to show all the great things she has been learning, including standing, crawling, and getting into everything around her. She also ate out with her a few times and just spent some time playing with her toys around the house.

It is always so wonderful to see people that Juliet doesn't often get to see. And now, Juliet shows that she remembers the people who love her even when she doesn't see them everyday. She did this by holding out her arms and blowing kisses. She was just so happy to see her mom-mom again. Juliet can't wait for another month to pass by so she can see all the people she has been missing at her first birthday party. It will be at the aviary, and it will definitely be a lot of fun. She can't wait to share her favorite place with her friends and family.

PS - Juliet wants to say "Happy Birthday" to her Great-aunt Reenie!

Eating Her Vegetables

Juliet is 10 months, 23 days old today. Yesterday she had breakfast at her great-grandma's apartment. Everyone was eating things like eggs, potatoes, and bacon, but Juliet does not eat any of that. Her great-grandma made her a special breakfast of peach pancakes. She really loved the breakfast and she ate most of it. Then, this morning Juliet had another pancake for breakfast. She tries all sorts of food. For dinner last night, Juliet had chicken and stars meal, some cucumber, some green pepper, applesauce and crunchy snacks. She ate most of the chicken and stars, and then her mommy and daddy let her have some of the other food.

It is important for Juliet to try all kinds of food. She likes to keep her options open so that as she gets older, she will like to eat different things. Many babies like to eat all sorts of food, but as they get older, they begin to dislike vegetables and other healthy foods. Juliet never wants that to happen to her, because she likes eating her vegetables. They are so good for her, and they taste really good too!

Not Shy At The Playground

Juliet is 10 months, 21 days old today. She loves going to the playground. There are always at least a few other kids there, and Juliet likes watching them run around. She waves to them as they run by, and many of them wave hello back. Some kids are shy and do not wave. This just makes Juliet wave more. Juliet is definitely not a shy little girl. Well, maybe once in a while. But if Juliet is too shy to wave hello to someone new, she will certainly wave bye-bye. She is never shy for long.

Juliet's favorite part of the playground is the swing. Today, the sun was so warm that the seat of the swing got very hot, and Juliet was wearing a dress. So as soon as they got to the swing, Juliet's mommy turned them around to go back to the car. Juliet was so upset that she cried. She had been very excited about riding a swing. But they quickly went right back to the swing. Her mommy was just getting an old t-shirt for Juliet to sit on as she rode the swing. Then she was happy.

Juliet also played on the bouncy rubber turf around the playground. It was so bouncy that she could practice walking and not get hurt. She came very close to letting go while she was walking, but then she got nervous and just sat down. She knows that everyone is excited that she will soon take her first steps, but they will just have to wait until she is ready!

Dear Juliet 7/31/09

My dearest Juliet,

It takes my breath away sometimes to think of how far you have come. Every time I see a new mommy and daddy with a newborn baby, I think of you in those first few days and weeks of life. You slept all the time and cried the rest of the time. It was so hard to know what you needed or wanted, but at the same time, all I wanted in the world was for you to be happy. You were so tiny and helpless. You could not move around on your own or feed yourself or even smile at us. Then, magically, one day you did smile, and it was the most glorious thing we had ever seen. Shortly thereafter, you giggled for the first time, and I never knew how beautiful a sound could be. The only thing I had ever heard that was so beautiful was the first moment you cried, when I heard your voice for the very first time. I still cannot believe how happy I become each time I hear your little voice.

And now you are standing and cruising and crawling, and it is hard to keep up with you. Each day, I try to find more and more new things to interest you. It is sometimes difficult, because you are constantly learning and constantly curious about the next thing you see. I hope that you can be patient with me, because as you are learning about the world, I am also learning about the world - this time, through your eyes. And there is so very much to discover.

Gymboree

Juliet is 10 months, 19 days old today. Today was her first visit to Gymboree. She attended a Family Music class, and it was so much fun. Juliet was the youngest child there by a few months, but that did not bother her at all. The instructor Tina really paid a lot of attention to her and helped her to do all the activities. Juliet bounced on her mommy's lap, clapped her hands in time to the music, and pounded on a big drum with her hands. Then, the instructor brought out sheer scarves to wave around. The instructor played peek-a-boo with Juliet and she loved it. After that, she got to pick instruments from a big box. She chose a jingle-bell and a maraca. Juliet loved shaking them and making all kinds of sounds. The instructor even showed her some different instruments that made new noises. Finally, Juliet danced to polka music and walked around in a circle in time with the music. She had a wonderful time playing, listening to music and interacting with other children.

Juliet loves to experience new things. It is so much fun to try out new ideas and go new places. She can't wait to try some other new things tomorrow.

Waving Hello And Bye-Bye

Juliet is 10 months, 18 days old today. She enjoys meeting new people. She waves at almost everyone she sees, whether while walking down the street, riding in her stroller, or sitting at a restaurant. She waves even if they do not wave back. In fact, she waves even harder at the people who don't wave back. She just figures that they must not have seen her the first time.

Juliet likes to be a friendly baby. She spends most of her time out smiling at people. Often, even people who are in a bad mood, or who seem very busy will smile back at her. This is Juliet's special ability: she brings a little ray of sunshine into people's lives. It is hard to stay angry, or upset, or worried, or unhappy when Juliet is smiling at you. Sometimes, people will feel so good after seeing Juliet smile or waving at her that they walk over to visit with her. People are always coming up to talk to Juliet, and she really enjoys their conversation.

Even if Juliet does not wave hello to someone, she almost always waves bye-bye. It is her wave of telling them that she liked seeing them and that she hopes that they stay as happy as they felt while they were visiting with Juliet.

Relaxing Day

Juliet is 10 months, 17 days old today. Juliet spent today playing. She played with all her toys this morning. One of her favorites is her new toy xylophone. It is shaped like a little alligator and Juliet loves to pound on the keys and make music. She has always loved music, and now she is glad to have her own little instrument to make music on. She also likes her little stroller. She is starting to get good at pushing her baby doll around the room by herself. It is making her a better walker every day.

Later, Juliet went to the park. It was so nice just to sit in the grass. She even stood up by herself and clapped when she heard some birds in the trees. Then, she saw a ladybug. Her mommy held it for her and let her watch until it flew away.

Today has not been a big, exciting day. But it was very nice to have a day to relax and enjoy the summer weather.

Juliet Stands Alone

Today, Juliet is 10 months, 16 days old. She loves learning how to do new things. Today was her first trip to Sandcastle waterpark. She was not quite big enough to go on all the exciting water slides, but that was ok. She will be back again when she gets bigger. She did, however, get to play in two different baby pools. One was just a shallow pool with a few little water slides and animal fountains for children to climb on. She went down one of the slides with her daddy, but what she really enjoyed was the crab fountain. Juliet loved sitting on the fountain and sticking her hands, feet, and even her face in the water! It was her favorite part of the day.

After lunch, she went on the Lazy River with her mommy and daddy. They got a double raft and floated along the long river path. It was so peaceful and relaxing that Juliet actually fell asleep! She did not wake up until after the ride was over. They were all walking under a water slide and some water splashed down and got Juliet wet! She was not happy about being awakened in this way!

Then, Juliet got to play in another children's pool. This one had a lot more big kids playing in it, so she only played in the water streams and fountains a little. She did meet another little baby who was just her age. Juliet liked chatting to the baby and splashing around with her for a while. Now, this baby was managing to stand on her own. Juliet wondered how she was doing that. So later on at home, she was holding onto her mommy to pull herself up, and she suddenly let go! She was standing by herself! She even did it several more times. It was very exciting! Juliet was hesitant to take a step without holding on, but standing gave her the confidence to explore the entire first floor holding onto her parents' hands and the walls. It is so nice to learn how to do new things!

Juliet's Two Moons

Today, Juliet is 10 months, 15 days old. Happy 10 1/2 month birthday, Juliet! She has a neat toy in her room. It is a toy sea turtle that lights up and projects stars on her ceiling. It is really nice. The light keeps her company at night and she likes seeing all the different stars on her ceiling. She has had it since Christmas, so she has grown very attached to it. Now, she can stand up in her crib and grab the turtle to get a better look at it in the day time.

Juliet is too little to really wonder why the stars are up in her room. She is also to little to be confused why there are two moons when she looks up. Someone might say that it is because there are two different lights shining through the turtle and the lights project the picture of the moon twice, but when Juliet is a little older, she will here the real reason for the stars and the moons in her room. It is because all the stars she sees are people who love her, and are watching over her, helping her sleep well and have sweet dreams. When she is older and having trouble sleeping, she can count the stars, and for each one she sees, she will think of someone who loves her. If she cannot think of any more people for the stars, she can make up names for them...because there will surely be more people who love her in her life - far more than she can imagine. And the two moons? They are for the two people who love her most: her mommy and her daddy.

Splashing Around

Today, Juliet is 10 months, 14 days old. She really loves being around water. Yesterday, she visited the top floor of the Children's Museum. It is full of big tubs of water for kids to play in. There are lots of simple machines to scoop up the water and move it around. There are also lots of toys to play with, and Juliet enjoyed playing with the ducks and buckets. There is even a section where the water comes up in fountains, and kids can play in the water or add pipes and sprinkler heads to the fountains. Juliet had a good time sticking her hands in the water and making it go everywhere! She left the museum a little damp, but she was very happy.

Juliet is hoping to visit a church festival tonight. Sometimes, the festivals even have rides that she can go on. At the last festival she visited, she rode the Dizzy Dizzy Dragons. They did not spin around too fast, so she did not get dizzy. Every once in a while, someone will win her a stuffed animal at a game, and Juliet enjoys getting new stuffed animals. It has been a nice summer so far. She has really liked all the neat things she has gotten to do. She thinks that she is a very lucky little girl.

Aviary Visit

Today, Juliet is 10 months, 12 days old. She had a very enjoyable day yesterday. After taking a long nap, she headed out to the aviary again. It is definitely her favorite place besides her home. One special treat was that the caretakers were feeding the birds while she was there. Her daddy even got to feed one of the birds a piece of blueberry. Juliet got to get up very close to the bird, and she thought that it was very nice! She then sat by the penguins exhibit and spent about 5 minutes just watching the penguins swim by the window. They moved very quickly, and it almost looked like they were flying through the water. A few of the penguins even stopped at the window to say hello to Juliet.

Juliet always enjoys her trips to the aviary. She really loves animals, and she especially loves birds. There are so many different kinds, and they come in so many different colors and sizes. Juliet is so happy that she is a member at the aviary, so she can go as often as she likes.

Bath Time

Juliet is 10 months, 11 days old today. Ever since she got to start taking a real bath instead of a sponge bath, Juliet has loved bath time. When she was very little, her mommy and daddy had a little bath that reclined at an angle with a big sponge for her to lie on. Juliet could just lean back and relax on the sponge and enjoy getting a warm bath. As she got bigger, her mommy and daddy took the sponge out so she could fit. She still liked relaxing in the tub, although she was more curious and started to play with toys like her rubber ducky. Then, Juliet got too big for the small tub altogether. Now, she has an inflatable pink ducky tub. It sits inside the grown-up tub and gets filled with water. Juliet can splash around all she likes, and now she has lots more toys to play with, too. Funnily enough, her two favorite toys are a washcloth and cup! She likes wetting the washcloth and cleaning her own feet...and sometimes the tub itself...with it.

Juliet really likes her tub because it quacks. She doesn't know too many people who have bathtubs that talk back to them! She really has fun with it. Sometimes she gets so curious or excited that she pulls herself up and stands in her tub. This seems to happen when her mommy is rinsing her hair. The water on her head is such a surprise, that Juliet stands right up. She loves standing and looking around, although it makes it much harder on her mommy to finish the bath and keep Juliet safe at the same time.

Soon, Juliet will be ready for the big-girl tub, or at least a bath seat. No matter what kind of tub she is in, Juliet will enjoy splashing around at bath time.

Movie Night

Juliet is 10 months, 10 days old today. Last night, she did one of her favorite things to do - she went to see a movie. She did not go to a theatre, though. There was only one time when she went to an actual theatre to see a movie, and her mommy and daddy left quickly because they knew that it would be too loud for her in there. Since then, Juliet has enjoyed going to movies at the drive in. So far, she has seen "Star Trek", "Terminator: Salvation", "Up", and last night she saw "Harry Potter". The only one out of all the movies that she managed to stay awake for was "Up", but that was because the movie had three of her favorite things: dogs, birds, and balloons! The other movies were not really made for a little girl, so she had no problem taking a nap during them. And last night, she did not even manage to stay awake for the opening credits! She was a tired little girl!

Juliet has also seen many movies at home. She really likes "Snow White", "Sleeping Beauty", "Beauty and the Beast", "The Little Mermaid", and "Wall-E". Her favorite, though, is the Pixar short that came before "Up" and it is called "Partly Cloudy". It is a short movie about clouds making the little baby animals for the storks to bring down to the mommies on earth. It is Juliet's favorite movie, and she gets very excited when her pa-pa puts it on for her.

Juliet is looking forward to seeing many more great movies in the future.

Cruising, Playing, Eating

Today, Juliet is 10 months, 9 days old. She has been trying to do absolutely everything. She is becoming really good at cruising along furniture, and she can make it around the room doing a combination of crawling and reaching for furniture. She also really enjoys playing with all her toys. She can sit and play for a while at a time now, and every time she does, she figures out something new. One of her favorite new games to play is "Drop The Toy". Juliet drops the toy she is playing with, somebody picks it up for her, and she drops it again. Her daddy plays it differently. He bends down while holding Juliet and has her pick it up!

She has also been trying more and more new food. Today, she decided to give avocado another try. The last time she tried it, she didn't like it at all. But today, she kept reaching for it until her daddy gave her a bite. She still did not like it and spit it out. Then, she wanted to try her mommy's avocado. She thought that maybe it would taste different. It did not! So she will keep trying all kinds of new things...but maybe no more avocado.

Juliet's Second Vacation

Today, Juliet is 10 months, 8 days old. She has just returned from a wonderful trip to Stone Harbor with her mommy, daddy, Uncle John, grandma, pa-pa, great-grandma, and her friend Ralph. It was beautiful weather almost the entire time she was there, so she did a lot of playing at the beach. She spent most of her time there playing in the sand, splashing in the water, jumping over waves, and digging for seashells. When she was not at the beach, Juliet enjoyed riding around in her stroller and meeting all the nice people in the town of Stone Harbor. She also visited Wildwood and Cape May, and she had a lot of fun checking out both places. She even liked just hanging around the house with her great-grandma and Magic and Scout. It was so much fun to have the dogs around to play with, too!

Juliet loves going to the beach. Her daddy builds her sandcastles and she gets to walk around in the soft sand and make a mess at the ocean's edge. It is the best conditions for her to practice walking, because she does not get hurt if she tumbles! However, the best part about the beach, in her opinion, is all the birds that live there. She saw many, many birds this week! One day, her daddy brought some bread to the beach and fed it to the birds. There were so many birds going after the bread and Juliet was very excited!

It was really nice to have the opportunity to visit the shore twice this year. Juliet also got to see her mom-mom, great-pop-pop, great-aunt Reenie, great-aunt Debbie, and great-aunt Joanne on the trip, so that was really wonderful. Juliet is looking forward to many trips down the shore in the future. She really had a fantastic time.

Going Away Again

Today, Juliet is 9 months, 29 days old. Happy early 10-month birthday, Juliet! Juliet is celebrating her 10-month birthday on her blog today because she will be on vacation starting tomorrow. She is going down the shore again, and she is really looking forward to it because the last time she went she had so much fun. She is looking forward to seeing the ocean again and splashing in the waves. She is also excited about building another sandcastle. And she can't wait to see all the birds that live down near the ocean. They look different than the birds around here do, so she wants to get as much of them as she can while she is down there.

Juliet had a busy day yesterday. She went to the park, went shopping, and had a birthday dinner with her Uncle John. Then she went back to the festival and got a beautiful old rocking horse at the flea market. Do you believe that she didn't even see any fleas? Juliet wonders why in the world they would call it a "flea market".

Everyone always says that the summer is supposed to be the calm, relaxed time of year, but that has not been Juliet's experience. It has been exciting and lots of fun. Every day is a new adventure.

The Children's Museum

Today Juliet is 9 months, 28 days old. She visited the Children's Museum for the third time yesterday. It was a lot of fun. The two areas that Juliet enjoyed the most were Mr. Roger's Neighborhood and the Nursery. In Mr. Roger's Neighborhood, she played dress-up in King Friday's Castle, talked with Daniel Tiger and Henrietta Pussycat puppets, looked at the fish, played with Trolley, and watched the player piano play. It was fun, but a little crowded because there was a youth group there and the bigger kids were not paying too much attention to a little girl like Juliet. She still really enjoyed herself.

Next, she went up to the Nursery. That was the most fun because it is a room made just for little girls her size. She rode on a see-saw built for babies and toddlers. She also went in the soft play area, where she could cruise along the ledge and play with the many different kinds of toys. She particularly liked the little toy xylophone. She loves to make music. The Nursery also had a big fish tank, and Juliet spent about 10 or 15 minutes just talking to the fish and pointing out all the different kinds she could see. She also played with some blocks, read a book with her mommy in a rocking chair, and made her initials in the giant Lite-Brite.

At the end of their visit, Juliet and her mommy got their pictures taken in an automatic photo booth. It was a perfect way to remember their special visit to the Children's Museum.

P.S. Juliet would like to wish her Uncle John a Happy Birthday!

The Wave Pool

Juliet is 9 months, 26 days old today. Yesterday was her first day at the wave pool at Settler's Cabin. Her mommy and daddy got everything ready to go. It takes a lot for Juliet to get packed up for a day out. She needs a bottle with formula, cereal for lunch, snacks, diapers, a blanket for changing, a change of clothes just in case, her eyedrops (the doctor thought that she might have a little infection in her eye), Children's Tylenol just in case, and toys and books to play with. Since she was going to the pool, Juliet also needed a hat, sunscreen, her cover-up, and a towel. It was exhausting before she even left the house!

Juliet really liked the wave pool. It was like being in the ocean, but she couldn't eat any sand! She enjoyed splashing at the edge of the pool and jumping in the waves. The water was a little chilly, but that did not bother her at all. She was sad when they had to leave, but another baby had an accident in the pool, so everyone had to get out!

She then went to dinner at the "Little Burger Joint", as her grandma and pa-pa like to call it. She ate some of a grilled cheese, and then the waitress brought her some strawberries on a plate. Juliet really loved the strawberries and enjoyed taking big bites with her new teeth.

Juliet is truly enjoying her summer. She can't believe that it is already July, but she knows that she still has some nice weeks ahead of her.

Juliet's First Fourth

Today, Juliet is 9 months, 24 days old. Last night was her first 4th of July fireworks display. She spent the daylight hours at her great-great-aunt Nancy's picnic, where she visited with her family and got to know her little cousin Chaz. Then, her mommy and daddy took her to Kiwanis Park in Shaler to see the fireworks. At first, Juliet was excited to see so many people and so many things going on. There were lots of balloons and food booths and there was even a band playing. Juliet was enjoying the music and the fun atmosphere. She was very wound up by 9:30 and was bouncing around and trying to walk all over the place.

Then the fireworks started. Juliet had never seen anything like that! There were huge bursts of light all over the sky. And there were so many colors! Juliet saw reds, greens, blues, whites, pinks, purples, and oranges. They were all very beautiful. She didn't even mind the loud booms and crackles that accompanied each firework. She could not take her eyes off the sky the whole time and she left the park feeling very happy.

Juliet fell asleep shortly after her family got back to their car. She did not even wake up as her daddy carried her in the house and her mommy changed her diaper to get her ready for bed. Instead, she stayed asleep and dreamt of fireworks all night.

Dear Juliet 7/4/09

My Dearest Juliet,

It seems appropriate that I am writing to you on this, your first Independence Day. This is because I am amazed at how much more independent you are becoming day by day. Now that you are well on your way to walking around all by yourself, soon you will not need me to do so much as hold onto your little hands as you explore the world. You are also finding your own way to communicate. Sometimes when we are on a run or when you are in your carseat, I can hear you babbling away. You are not speaking to me, or to your daddy. You are simply expressing your thoughts on what you see around you.

I am so amazed at how much you have learned. Sometimes, I am at a loss to explain how you know what you do. I am constantly thrilled at the way you clap your hands when I sing "If You're Happy and You Know It", even before I say, "clap your hands." I am excited to see you wave your hands like a bird flapping its wing whenever you see a bird. I don't even always see the birds, but you can somehow pick them out way up in the sky. I am glad that you like animals. It shows that you have a good heart, and that is why I am most proud of you.

Juliet, my precious girl, keep your heart good and kind. I can't offer you a world where people will always have good and kind hearts. Many times, these people will test the limits of your goodness, and, as I have already said, you are becoming more independent by the day and I will not be with you to keep such nasty people at bay. But if you maintain the belief that all people deserve dignity and respect, that all people were once as you are now - little babies who need their mommy's love, then you will emerge as the wonderful person I can see now in your little face.

I love you always,

Mommy

Moving Right Along

Today, Juliet is 9 months, 22 days old. She loves to move. Every day, she is getting closer and closer to being able to walk. Right now, she likes to grab onto whatever is handy and pull up, then reach for the next piece of furniture to move around the floor. Sometimes, she is happy to grab onto her mommy or daddy's fingers and walk around the room. Her best move right now is the side-step, and she gets around pretty well with that.

Juliet is working on learning what is stable enough to use to walk and what is not. Sometimes, she will try to pull up on a small toy, and it can't counterbalance her, and down she goes! She doesn't usually cry, though; she just looked for something else to climb on. She now has a toy stroller that she can use to walk behind and push her babies. Juliet is not quite sure about it and often wants to hold onto her mommy's finger with one hand and push the stroller with the other.

Juliet is getting so good at moving around like this that her mommy and daddy put a foam border around the coffee table. This way, Juliet can walk along it and not worry about bumping her head. It also means that all the picture frames that were on that table are now off, and have been replaced by toys that Juliet can reach for and play with.

Juliet Rides In Style

Today, Juliet is 9 months, 21 days old. She had a big day yesterday. It was the day that she got her big-girl carseat. Her mom-mom bought it for her and it is really nice! Juliet was excited because she figured that soon she will be able to sit facing the front, and that was a pretty big deal. Unfortunately, the guy at the baby store said that that was not the case. According to new research, little girls like Juliet now have to sit facing the rear until they are about 2 years old! So Juliet was a little disappointed, but safety is more important than being able to look out the front of the car. She will just have to enjoy her fancy new carseat in her usual way. Oh well!

A Pleasant Day

Juliet is 9 months, 19 days old today. She had a much better day today. Her fever was down and she felt a lot better. All morning she played with her toys and read books, including "Mommy Hugs", "The Hungry, Hungry Caterpillar", and "My Name Is Dug". Juliet absolutely loves reading books. She likes pictures and she likes to point out what is going on in the story. When she reads "My Name Is Dug", Juliet loves to point out the bird on the pages, especially because Dug never seems to be able to find it!

Juliet spent some time at the playground today. It was very nice because the weather was pleasant, and Juliet was unable to really enjoy the nice weather yesterday. Her favorite ride at the playground is still the swings, although there is a new ride at her playground that is a see-saw shaped like a helicopter, with steering wheels and buttons inside. Juliet likes to pretend that she is driving, so she enjoyed this new ride quite a bit.

Juliet was in a very happy mood during and after dinner. She was laughing and playing with her new walking toy. It was easy for her to fall asleep tonight, and she will be dreaming about another fun day tomorrow.

Juliet, the Champion

Juliet is 9 months, 18 days old today. She is a champion! She had a big triumph over illness today. It started last night when Juliet woke up around 1 a.m. crying. She was crying a very sad, miserable little cry and it kept her up until 3 a.m. She then woke up at 6 and finally for good at 7 a.m. She felt so warm and uncomfortable. Her daddy took her temperature twice and both times the thermometer read over 100. Her mommy and daddy were worried, so they made a doctor's appointment.

Juliet was pleasant at the doctor's office...until the doctor looked in her ears. Then, Juliet started to cry. It turned out that she had an ear infection. The doctor prescribed medicine for her and Juliet took her medication. But she still was hot and not very interested in eating. So her mommy just gave her bottles of formula to keep vitamins and fluids in her.

Juliet was miserable even when her mommy and daddy took her outside to enjoy the beautiful weather. She liked looking at the birds, but she was still not happy. She didn't even like having bites of Gus and Yiayia's shaved ice, and she usually loves that. That was when she knew that she was really sick.

She napped through the afternoon, and every time she woke up, she cried a little bit. When her daddy got back from picking up some Infant Tylenol, she tried to eat a little supper. Soon after, she began to perk up a little. She had some brown bread and formula, and soon, she was babbling and clapping and waving, and doing all the things that she usually does.

Juliet is in bed right now, and her forehead is cool as a cucumber! She is happily dreaming about the nice day she will have tomorrow after beating her sickness today.

Book Smarts

Today, Juliet is 9 months, 17 days old. She enjoyed seeing both of her great-grandmas today. She saw them tonight at dinner at her grandma's house. Juliet even had some delicious chicken stew for dinner. She really had a nice time, showing off all the new things she has learned, like clapping, doing "So Big", and waving bye-bye. She is getting so good at clapping that she looks forward to singing "If You're Happy and You Know It, Clap Your Hands". She starts to clap even before the "clap your hands" part comes up. She just gets so excited that she can't wait to clap!

It has been very nice being at home. Juliet has loved playing with all her old toys. Her daddy even got her a new balloon yesterday. Of all her toys, the balloons are her favorite. She also likes books. She can read her "Good Egg" book over and over again, even though some of the pop-up pictures have been ripped out. She is hoping to get a new copy of that book (maybe at the aviary), and maybe some other books soon.

Juliet Is Back From Vacation

Juliet is 9 months, 16 days old today. Happy belated 9 1/2-month birthday, Juliet! She is finally back from her wonderful vacation in Brigantine, NJ. She experienced so many firsts on this trip. It was her first time away from her house for such a long period of time. It was her first time in New Jersey. It was her first time meeting her Aunt Phyllis and Aunt Debbie. It was her first time seeing and playing in the Atlantic Ocean. And it was her first time eating Mack and Manco's pizza on the boardwalk!

Juliet is still thinking about how much fun she had. The ocean was definitely the best part of the trip. Even though it rained a lot of the time, she found lots of opportunities to enjoy the water. She especially loved sitting at the water's edge and splashing around in the waves. She even tasted the sand! The waves were so much fun that she didn't mind one bit that the water was a little cold.

Also, Juliet loved seeing all the birds. She saw lots and lots of seagulls, especially on the Atlantic City boardwalk. Juliet has always loved birds and spent much of her vacation pointing out all the birds she saw and flapping her arms like wings to pretend that she was a bird.

Of course, the very best part of her trip was all the time she spent with her mommy, her daddy, her mom-mom, her pop-pop, her Uncle Mike, her Aunt Lindsay, her grand-pop-pop, and her great-aunt Reenie. She enjoyed chatting with them and showing them all the neat things she has learned in the past few months, including clapping, doing "So Big!", and cruising around the room. She also liked sharing her Princess music with them.

Last night, Juliet finished her trip by chasing fireflies outside. She saw lots of them, including some baby ones. Her mommy told her never to hurt those bugs because they are very nice and they don't do anything other than fly around and flicker. Juliet is looking forward to chasing them more now that she is back home.

Juliet hopes that everyone she loves is able to have a nice, relaxing vacation this summer. She is so happy that her first summer has started off so perfectly!

Getting Ready To Walk

Juliet is 9 months, 7 days old. She had a pretty laid-back day today, since it was just she and mommy. She had breakfast, took a nap, and headed out to Target to do some shopping for her trip down the Jersey shore this weekend. Then she went to Starbucks and shared a marshmallow square with her mommy. She was very excited to learn that Starbucks now has highchairs, so she had somewhere to sit! Also, the marshmallow square was very good!

Later she had dinner with her grandma and pa-pa.

It may sound like a very easy day, but Juliet was actually very busy. She is learning to walk, so she is trying to climb on everything she gets her hands on. Juliet even has a hard time settling down while she is having her diaper change or taking a bath. She wants to be up and standing all the times. She is still not enjoying crawling, but she is getting better at it. The only thing is that she wants to straighten her legs and walk on her hands and feet!

It is a very exciting time to be Juliet, and a very exciting time to be her mommy, since her mommy has to follow her around to make sure that she doesn't get hurt as she tries to climb on everything. By the end of the summer, Juliet hopes to be a walking little girl.

Dear Juliet 6/17/09

Dear Juliet,

This is the 100th entry in your online journal.

Sometimes I get frustrated because I don't know how to make you happy. Usually, it is pretty easy. You are a very happy, wonderful little girl and it does not take much to keep you happy. Often it is something as simple as holding your little hand or giving you a toy you like. Sometimes it means giving you your bottle of sunblock...I don't even know why you like it so much! But I am very glad that you like having sunblock on. Most of the time, it is something so simple that will calm you down.

Last night was one of the times when I got frustrated. I took you up to bed and I gave you your bottle. Then I rocked you and rocked you and rocked you. Your eyes closed but your legs kept kicking and your hands kept grabbing. I decided to put you in your crib and see if you would calm down and get yourself to sleep.

After a few minutes, you were still kicking, and moreover, you were trying to push yourself up in the crib. Then you would cry. I didn't know what to do, so I picked you up and carried you into my room. I was determined to stay up all night, if that's what you wanted, since you clearly weren't tired.

I put you down to sit on the bed in the dark. You just looked at me and held your arms up. I picked you up against my shoulder. You hugged me and put your head against me. Then you fell right to sleep.

Precious Juliet, my lovely baby girl, I will remember this lesson you taught me. It is at the times when we are both frustrated and uncomfortable that we most need a hug from one another.

Serendipity Strikes Again.

Juliet is 9 months, 5 days old today. She had another exciting day yesterday. Her family went to the Stanley Cup Victory parade downtown. They got there at 9:15 and got a great position not too far from the main stage. Juliet was a very good girl, especially considering that the parade didn't start until noon and it was pretty warm. She drank formula and lots of water to keep herself hydrated, and she ate yogurt bites and played with her toys as well. Everyone around her was so nice and so excited to see such a little baby at the parade. A newslady even noticed Juliet and filmed Juliet and her daddy for the news. It was on tv twice yesterday! Juliet's mommy is trying to get a copy of the report so it can be on the website for everyone to see!

At the end of the parade, Juliet's mommy and daddy went to leave, but they found a shady spot and decided to hang out for a bit, since Juliet was comfortable. Then, Juliet's daddy was able to get her right up to the stage! She got her jersey signed by Sid and the Penguins' coach Dan Bylsma held her on stage for a picture. It ended up being a very exciting day!

Good things seem to happen to Juliet. Her daddy says that she has some serendipity about her. Juliet thinks that that's just a fancy word for having people who love her enough to make good things happen for her.

What A Weekend

Today, Juliet is 9 months, 3 days old. She has had a whirlwind of adventure the past few days. First off, she enjoyed a nice day with her mommy yesterday. She had lots of big plans, but she got a little sleepy around noon and had to take a nap. When she woke up, it was already after 1:30, so she and her mommy headed to the park for a run and then some time on the swings at the playground. Afterwards, Juliet went home to have a late lunch. When she was almost done her peaches and cereal, her daddy called on the phone. He said that the Pittsburgh Penguins were in the South Side right now! So Juliet and her mommy drove in to see if they could catch a glimpse of the team and the Stanley Cup. Not only did they get a glimpse, but Juliet got close enough to touch the beautiful, shiny cup! Then, nice Max Talbot, one of the Penguins players, held Juliet while her mommy took a picture. Juliet rounded out her day by seeing the movie "Up" at the drive-in. She loved all the balloons, birds, and dogs - three of her favorite things to see.

This morning, the newsman said that the Penguins had a team meeting at Mellon Arena, so Juliet headed out to that. While she was there, she had her picture taken with Mike Ziggomanis, Kris Letang, Jordan Staal, Marc-Andre Fleury, and Ruslan Fedotenko. They were all really nice about holding Juliet, but some were nervous. After all, those guys are pretty young and most of them don't have babies of their own at home!

So, tomorrow Juliet will take in the victory parade after she sees the doctor for her 9 month checkup. She is probably the busiest little 9-month-old girl in the world.

Wonderful Summertime

Juliet is 9 months, 2 days old today. She is happy to be at the beginning of her summer with mommy and daddy. She began it yesterday, when she went with daddy to a Penguins rally. A man from the newspaper took her picture, but Juliet has not yet seen it appear in the paper. Then, she went with mommy and daddy to North Park, where she had a nice run around the lake. Finally, Juliet went out to Magoo's restaurant. She tried some pasta, but she did not enjoy the texture, and kept spitting it out. So, she instead ate her old favorite: bananas and apples in rice cereal. She stayed at the restaurant for 2 periods of the hockey game, long enough to see Max Talbot score two goals. Then she got drowsy, and they went home and she went to bed.

She was so happy to wake up this morning to find out that the Penguins had won the Stanley Cup! It is so exciting! This is the second big win that Juliet has slept through the end of during the past few months. But that's ok, because Juliet is happy to take part in all the excitement before and after the win.

As for today, she will head out to the Strip District and the Arts Festival. Then, after her daddy is done work, she might go see "Up" at a drive-in.

Wonderful, wonderful summertime!

It Weighs Twice As Much As Juliet, But It Takes A Team To Lift It

Juliet is now 9 months, 1 day old.

She is sleepy right now, because her favorite team has just won the Stanley Cup.

She will have more to say tomorrow.

Good night, everyone!

Juliet Is Happy And She Knows It

Juliet is 9 months old today. Happy 9-month birthday, Juliet! She had a nice time out at dinner last night. She liked eating her fruit for dinner, but she was distracted by all the people walking around. Now that Juliet is more mobile and more observant, she can't help getting distracted by all the new people and things to see around her. She also likes discovering what things around her make noises. Two things that she has recently discovered make noise are her hands. She has found that when she claps her open hands together, they make a nice sound. Now she gets excited each time she claps her hands.

Juliet is also getting better at picking things up. She can hold small objects between her thumb and forefinger now. The best part about it is that she can feed herself puffs and yogurt bites. She loves being a little independent girl and each day she finds new ways to do things on her own.

Making New Friends

Juliet is 8 months, 30 days old today. She enjoys making new friends. So far, she has made friends with a girl named Emily and a boy named Wesley. Last night, she got to meet another little girl named Ella. Juliet's mommy and daddy went over Ella's mommy and daddy's house to watch the hockey game last night. It was nice, because Juliet got to meet Ella and play with her. Ella was so nice that she shared all of her toys with Juliet. Juliet especially liked a little smiley face that rattled when she shook it and Ella's doll house. Ella also had a table with lots of things to play with on it. Juliet enjoyed trying to pull herself up on it, but it was a little too unstable, and Juliet kept tipping over. But that was OK, because there were plenty of other things left to play with.

Juliet went to sleep pretty quickly by the time everyone got home. Unfortunately, something bothered her during the night, and she woke up around 2. Her daddy brought her into mommy and daddy's room and, after a little while, she fell asleep and her mommy took her back to her crib. Maybe she was just a little excited that tomorrow is daddy's last day of regular work and she will have a nice day with him on Friday!

Bathing Baby

Today, Juliet is 8 months, 28 days old. She loves the warm weather. She can be outside, playing in the grass, watching birds all day long. More than this, Juliet loves the warm weather because it means that she can go swimming! She has been to the pool twice, and it has been so much fun! Juliet already knew that she loved being in the water. She likes taking her baths, especially now that she has her big rubber duckie bathtub. It is a lot of fun to splash and play with her little bath toys.

The pool is like the tub, only better! She loves just sticking her toes in the water and feeling the water ripple around them. She really enjoys sitting in the shallow water where she can splash around as much as she wants. Finally, she loves when mommy or daddy plays with her in the deeper water. They blow bubbles in the water, move around in circles, and lift Juliet high in the air and then quickly dip her in the pool! Juliet thinks that she is the happiest baby in the world when she spends time in the swimming pool.

An Exciting Life

Juliet is 8 months, 26 days old. Most babies seem to lead pretty quiet lives. They spend a lot of time around the house, maybe in the yard. They live most of their baby lives not too far from their homes, perhaps going to the store or to the mall or occasionally to the zoo or museum. That is a very nice way to live because those babies always know what to expect.

But that's not the way Juliet likes to live. She has been a busy baby almost from the start. She has already been on a plane, and will be on another one within a few weeks. She has also been on car trips to places like Columbus and Altoona already. She has been to several hockey games, and even sat right on the glass for one of them. She has been to the zoo, the Children's Museum, and a Pitt football game. Juliet also loves to go to the Aviary. Now that she is a member of the Aviary, Juliet can go there all she wants. Today, she just stopped by for a quick run through, and it was so nice! All the birds were active, including Juliet's favorite - Oscar. He is an Oscillated Turkey, and Juliet got to get a good face-to-face experience with him today. She also got to see the penguins close-up, too.

Next, Juliet went to the Arts Festival. That was fun too, but pretty crowded. At least there was a lot to look at.

Everyday, Juliet gets a good night's sleep. That's because she gets worn out living her exciting life.

Let's Go Pens

Juliet is 8 months, 25 days old today. Last night was a big night for her. She went to the Stanley Cup Finals game for the Penguins. First of all, Juliet got lots of looks and smiles as her daddy carried her on his shoulders through the busy downtown to get to the arena. People were very impressed that a girl so small was wearing a signed Sidney Crosby jersey! Then she got to her seat. Once the game started, the building got very loud. Juliet didn't really mind, though. She was more interested in looking around at everyone who seemed to be so excited and having such a good time. The young man sitting next to her daddy told all his friends that he spoke to on his phone that he was really sitting next to a little baby at the game! He was just amazed that Juliet was being such a good little girl. The man behind her mommy said that Juliet was so very alert for being only 8 months, 24 days old! But it was hard not to be alert when so much was happening. Then, a lady across the aisle had spotted Juliet from a ways off and said she had to come over and see her. She commented on what a pretty, sweet baby Juliet was!

Juliet only got scared once, and that was after Jordan Staal scored the Penguins' second goal. The arena really erupted, and Juliet started to cry. But her mommy took her for a walk and a diaper change, and she was fine after that. She even started to doze off a little during the third period.

This was the biggest sporting event Juliet has ever been to. She can't wait to go to more...especially if her team wins the way they did last night. It was so exciting that Juliet slept soundly and had lots of dreams until her mommy and daddy woke her up this morning.

Baby of Fortune

Today, Juliet is 8 months, 24 days old. She used to be miserable when she went out to eat. She always felt like getting fussy and wanted to grab all the food that everyone else was eating. Now, she enjoys going out much more. Last night, she went out to dinner with her mommy, daddy, and Uncle John. They ate at Fuel and Fuddle, which is her daddy's very favorite restaurant. She sat in her high chair and enjoyed banging on the table for a while. Then, she ate a good deal of her carrots for dinner. She really likes carrots because they are a little sweet. Juliet enjoys eating things that have just a touch of sweetness. Then, she ate a cookie for dessert. The cookies are good too, because they are hard enough that Juliet cannot bite right through them, but they also dissolve easily in her mouth.

What was really funny was the fortune Juliet got after dinner. At Fuel and Fuddle, the waiters always give out fortune cookies when they bring the check. Juliet's fortune said, "Take the first step today". Well, Juliet couldn't quite make that happen, but she knows it is coming soon! Maybe the waiter just got mixed up and meant to deliver that fortune next month!

Lots Of Toys

Juliet is 8 months, 23 days old today. She has been on her very best behavior recently. She has not even minded sitting in her carseat. One reason is that she gets to play with some of her favorite toys while she is taking a trip. She really loves playing with her new rattle/teether. It vibrates when she bites on it and it makes her gums feel better. She also thinks that the vibration helps those teeth push through. She also has a bunny that she can bite on and squeeze. It is really nice to play with as well.

When she is at home, she still loves to play in her exersaucer. Juliet really enjoys it at night before she settles down to bed. She can bounce away in it as much as she likes. Sometimes she will even get to play with a piece of paper, and that is the best! Juliet loves to see how many times she can rip the paper until it is too small to rip again. And at dinner time, she likes to try to feed herself, but she usually just ends up playing with the spoon (and making a bit of a mess!)

Finally, at night Juliet has a stuffed bunny in her crib. He is very soft and she likes to stroke his fur as she falls asleep. Most mornings, she will wake up to find herself cuddling him. It makes her feel very nice and secure that her bunny stayed with her throughout the night.

Independent Girl

Today, Juliet is 8 months, 22 days old. She has been so excited about her ability to pull herself up and stand. When she gets up in her crib, she loves to bounce up and down. It is a time when she is completely happy. Now, she will even walk her hands along the side and back of her crib and shuffle her feet. It will just be a matter of time until Juliet walks, and it seems as though it is coming fairly soon.

Juliet also liked bouncing in her exersaucer last night after dinner. She had some turkey and rice for dinner, and she loved it. Juliet likes to grab the spoon and try to dip it in the bowl to feed herself. She is proud that she can be so independent, but she does make a huge mess! Last night she was almost completely covered in orange-brown turkey and rice puree. She had to sit pretty still to finish her dinner and get cleaned off, but then she really got wound up in her exersaucer. She was bouncing and chatting in there until almost 9:00. Her mommy and daddy thought that there was no way she would calm down to go to bed, but she did.

After she fell asleep, Juliet woke up a few times before 11:00. The first time, her daddy just went to check on her and then left her room. After that, Juliet just fussed a little, but got herself back to sleep each time she woke up. She realized that there was nothing to be scared of and that her crib was comfortable enough to get a good night's sleep.

It is so nice to be growing up into an independent, playful, and resourceful little girl.

Dear Juliet - 6/1/09

Dear Juliet,

You are 8 months, 21 days old today. It is days like this that it really takes my breath away how much I love you. It is Monday, one of the last 2 Mondays that I will have to say good-bye to you in the morning until the end of summer. Mondays are always really tough for me. I enjoy the weekends so much and they seem to fly by so quickly. I will never forget the look on your little face when you saw the two families of geese swimming by on the lake. You were excited and started bouncing up and down. I'm sure that if I did not have a hold on you, you would have gladly jumped in the water and swam over to the geese just to pet the babies. It makes me unbelievably happy to find new things that interest and excite you. It is the most completely rewarding job in the world - discovering what makes you happy.

Also, I am glad that someday you will not remember the pain you are feeling now while you teethe. Last night, you had such a hard time falling asleep. I think being on your back was putting pressure on the back of your head, and that seems to be where you are feeling the pain of your teeth poking through. Every time I put you down while not fully asleep, you would start crying, or even screaming, and no matter how long I held your hand, you could not calm down. So there we were, the two Forrest girls, sitting downstairs at 1:00 a.m., watching "Kennywood Memories". You kept wanting to sit up, and you were calm if I let you. So I sat behind you, working as hard as I could to stay awake. Finally - finally you started to nod off while you were leaning against me. I did not want to pick you up and wake you, and moreover, I was too tired to carry you. So I lay you down on the sofa and snuggled beside you. We slept like that until daddy awoke around 2:00 a.m. and came down to check on us. He carried you up to your crib and I dragged myself to bed. When I woke you up around 6:15, you were happy again, and I was so glad that you felt a little better.

My precious Juliet, there will be times when you think I am a mean mommy or an unfair mommy, and maybe sometimes you will be right about that. But please remember that I would be willing to stay up all night if you need me to, or read you a million bedtime stories, or change a million diapers, or even walk on water.

Anything, for you.

If Juliet Were A Goose

Juliet is now 8 months, 20 days old. It has been another nice weekend. The weather has been wonderful, and Juliet has been enjoying some time outside. She has been in a good mood because she had a great time visiting with her great-grandma on Thursday and Friday. Yesterday, she was at her house again, having breakfast, but this time her mommy, daddy, and Uncle John were there too.

Today, she went out to breakfast and then had her first fishing trip. It was just to North Park Lake, and Juliet didn't catch any fish, but it was still a nice day. She got to see two families of geese and lots of fluffy baby geese. Juliet was so excited to see these families. The little baby geese reminded Juliet of herself...if she had fuzzy feathers! They did seem to like swimming almost as much as Juliet does.

Finally, Juliet is proud to be sporting not one, but two new teeth! They have not broken through her gums yet, but they are poking away! Juliet can't wait to get to try them out on some crunchy food!

Hooray For Fridays!

Juliet is 8 months, 18 days old today. She had such a nice day yesterday. She got to play with her great-grandma. She took a nice bath at her apartment, had some yummy food, and talked with all the other nice people who live there. She also went for a shortened run at North Park with her mommy. Then, she went to the library and the grocery store...and got home just before it really started storming out!

Juliet did not get to see her daddy too much yesterday because he was very busy, but she was very happy to see him this morning! She smiled and bounced and was very excited. She knows that tonight she will get to see more of him, and she will also get to see her friend Wes, who is now 14 months old.

Juliet says, "Hooray for Fridays!"

Start Spreading The News

Today, Juliet is 8 months, 17 days old. She is ready for an exciting few days coming up. Her grandma and pa-pa are taking a trip to New York, so Juliet is spending Thursday and Friday at her great-grandma's apartment. Now, Juliet is sad that she will not be able to see her grandma and pa-pa until Saturday night, but she is looking forward to spending some time with her great-grandma. She will visit with all the nice people who live in her great-grandma's building. Many of them have not seen a baby in a while, so it will be almost as if Juliet has dozens of great-grandmas and great-grandpas. She is especially looking forward to going out on the balcony and peeking out at the world from West View Towers. Maybe she will even get to see the apartment where mommy and daddy used to live before she was born.

Juliet hopes that her grandma and pa-pa are having fun in New York. She can't wait to see them on Saturday and hear all about the big city!

Getting Messy

Juliet is 8 months, 16 days old today. Yesterday, she went for a little run with just her mommy. The sky was a little grey, and it got a little windy, but that was ok. Juliet actually loves the wind in her face. It always makes her smile! When she got home, she has some apple-granola and a yummy breadstick. She made a big mess, but Juliet thinks that we should all be comfortable with making a mess from time to time. Learning to do new things takes practice and no one should expect to do things correctly on the first try. So when it comes to feeding herself, Juliet doesn't mind sticking her hand in the bowl and grabbing some of her food, no matter how messy it is. How else will she learn how to get the food from the bowl to her mouth? As much as she would like to have mommy or daddy or grandma with her for every meal her whole life long, she knows that that would not be a good idea. Juliet has seen bigger boys and girls out at restaurants, and very, very few of them have their mommies and daddies and grandmas feeding them! They probably made a mess at some point and learned to feed themselves.

Juliet will just keep on making messes, then. She will happily be a messy baby while she can.

Rain, Flowers, and Sneezies

Today, Juliet is 8 months, 15 days old. Happy 8 1/2 month birthday, Juliet! It is rainy today! Rain is usually no fun; Juliet cannot go out and play like she likes to do. She can't sit in the grass, or touch the leaves on the trees, or watch the birds as she goes around North Park Lake. In fact, the rain even interrupted her first day swimming the other day. But Juliet does not get depressed when she sees it is rainy outside. First of all, she can find lots of things to do inside. She plans on spending her "inside time" walking around in her walker and investigating what is in her grandma's living room drawers. Then she will sit in her crib and play with her toys as her great-grandma and grandma handle things around the house. And second of all, Juliet would miss all the beautiful green plants outside if it stopped raining for a while. She just started seeing all the pretty flowers come back to life in the last month, and she would miss them if they were gone. She is looking forward to seeing more flowers and maybe even trying a honeysuckle (Juliet has seen that they are almost in bloom!

The only problem with flowers is that they give Juliet allergies. Yesterday, her little eyes and nose would not stop running! She was just so itchy. Maybe as she grows up, she will be able to enjoy the flowers all she wants without worrying about the itchiness!

Going For A Ride

Juliet is 8 months 14 days old today. It has been an exciting Memorial Day. Today was Juliet's first visit to Kennywood. She went there with her mommy, her daddy, and her great-grandma. The weather was wonderful, and the park was not too crowded, so Juliet could really enjoy herself. She got to ride on the carousel twice and take one ride on the Kennywood railroad. The rest of the time, she either rode in her stroller or was carried around the park. She even took a few naps.

Juliet was a little jealous that the bigger kids got to go on more rides. But when she looks at herself, she is amazed at how big she has gotten already. Next summer, she will be ready to take on every ride in the park...or at least in Kiddie Land!

Making A Splash

Juliet is now 8 months, 13 days old. It is finally Memorial Day Weekend! Juliet has been patiently watching the calendar, waiting for the next time she will get 3 whole days with her mommy and daddy, and it's finally here! It has been so much fun so far, and it is only half-over. On Friday, she went to the drive-in movies. She sat outside for a little while, while mommy made her a necklace out of daisies. But it got very buggy! After her mommy and daddy got bitten by mosquitoes, they said that enough was enough, and they watched the movie from inside the car. That was fine by Juliet, because it was comfortable and she fell asleep.

On Saturday afternoon, Juliet went to her favorite place in Pittsburgh - the National Aviary. She saw so many birds. She saw a flight show, where different birds flew overhead, then she went inside and saw the new penguin exhibit. She got to be right up-close to the penguins in their tank. Juliet even woke up a sleeping penguin. She decided that his naptime could come later. She also visited Oscar the Turkey, who is her favorite bird at the aviary! Then, she went in to see the lories, who are beautiful birds that she was able to walk right up to.

After she left the aviary, Juliet went for a run around the North Shore. She made a stop at the fountain near Heinz Field, where she splashed around for a while. Next stop was Gus and Yiayia's for a water ice, and then off to the South Side for dinner and to watch some of the hockey game.

This morning, Juliet went out to breakfast and had some yummy bread. When she got home, she went up to the pool for the first time. She loved it! She splashed around and laughed and had the greatest time ever! Too bad it started to rain and she had to cut her swim short. But she will be back again a lot during the summer!

Nothing To Fear

Today, Juliet is 8 months, 11 days old. She is a real force of nature! Anything and everything that Juliet sees, she wants to get her hands on. She is particularly fascinated with paper. It is makes a crinkly noise and she is able to tear it apart. Last night, her mommy and daddy let her have an old magazine, and Juliet had a good time tearing the pages into smaller and smaller pieces. She has been designated as the unofficial shredder for all sensitive documents at her house. Maybe a mechanical shredder could get the paper into smaller pieces, but Juliet doesn't think that a mechanical shredder would have anywhere near as much fun doing it as she does.

Juliet has also been enjoying all the new sounds she has figured out how to make. She says a lot of "Dada", "Up-up", and "Baba", but not just when she sees her daddy or wants to be picked up or wants a bottle. Juliet figures that she shouldn't limit herself, so she says "dada", "up-up", and "baba" for everything! Even at night, when she usually is starting to go to sleep, she can't resist having her little conversations with the stars on the ceiling of her room or with her stuffed bunny. That's because Juliet remembers feeling a little scared at night, the way she felt a few months ago. She just thinks that, now that she is getting to be a big girl, she needs to tell her toys that there is nothing to be scared of at night.

Dear Juliet - 5/21/09

Dear Juliet,

You are 8 months, 10 days old today. I made this webpage for you so that I could keep note of all the wonderful things you do everyday so that all the people who love you will be able to see. It is amazing how much I always seem to be able to write, even on days when not much seems to happen. I always think about a new sound you made or how you were able to reach something you hadn't before. Like yesterday, when you just took your bottle out of the pouch on the stroller and drank! You have never done that before. And how you poked at soap bubbles as I blew them while we were at the playground. And how happy you were before you went to bed, when I would just blow a little air on your face, and you would get so excited. I know you won't remember, but I let you stay up a little late last night because I was just having too much fun with you. Now, it led to you tossing and turning a little before you settled down to sleep, but you eventually did sleep, and you slept well.

Little Juliet, my sweetheart, my joy, my whole world. I love you more than you could imagine. I can't wait for the next few weeks to pass, when I will see you as much as I want to. It is what will make these past 6 1/2 months of missing you on weekdays worthwhile. I hope that you will like spending your summer with me. I will try to be the best mommy I can for you, because you have been the best daughter in the world for me.

Love,

Mommy

PS - Juliet says "Happy Birthday!" to her aunt Lindsay!

Vote or Cry!

Juliet is 8 months, 9 days old today. She was a busy girl yesterday. She played outside for a lot of the morning and afternoon, and in the evening, she went everywhere! She started by loading into her jogging stroller, with puffs and a bottle in tow, and with plenty of sunscreen on. First, she went over to Northway Elementary School. It is the school Juliet would attend in 5 years if her mommy and daddy and she stay living where they are now. It was the polling place for the primary elections yesterday. The election officials made a big deal over Juliet! They were all so impressed that it was already Juliet's 2nd election! She will be going to plenty more. She can't wait until she is 18 and gets to vote on her own. Her mommy and daddy, however, are definitely glad to wait!

She then went over to the mall and strolled around Dick's and Borders. The last time that her mommy strolled Juliet from home to Borders, Juliet cried and cried and they had to leave. This time was much better, as Juliet just chatted with her mommy about everything she saw.

Soon after, Juliet was home having some apricot and rice cereal for dinner. Later that night, she enjoyed a very good night's sleep.

Taking Care Of Herself

Juliet is 8 months, 8 days old today. She was out running again yesterday. Her mommy and daddy took her to North Park so that Juliet could enjoy a nice run around the lake. It was pretty warm, but Juliet still wore her yellow sweatpants and a hoodie to keep from getting chilly. She also wore sunscreen. Juliet knows that her baby skin is very sensitive, and that the sun could easily burn her. She sees lots of people sitting out in the sun, getting suntans. They think that they are doing something good, but she know that they are not! She wants to keep her skin very healthy so that it will always be soft and smooth, like it is now.

She then had some sweet potatoes and cereal for dinner and watched the hockey game. Juliet is a big fan of hockey, particularly how there is constant motion across the bright white surface. She only gets scared once in a while - not when the other team scores, but when the Penguins score! People can be loud when they cheer, and Juliet is not too fond of loud noises. But she knows that the more she hears mommy and daddy cheering loudly, the better the mood they will be in, and the more fun they will be!

Why Do We Fall?

Juliet is 8 months, 7 days old today. She is getting to be a very strong little girl. She is very good at pulling herself up, whether in her crib, on her exersaucer, or at the playground. She is brave, too. Sometimes she tries to let go with one hand. Most of the time, Juliet is pretty good at balancing while only holding on with one hand. But sometimes she loses her balance. When she falls down, she typically falls right on her backside and it is always onto a soft surface where she cannot get hurt.

It is scary to fall down. Juliet know that even the bravest skydiver is scared of falling once in a while. And since she is just learning to stand upright, it can be very frustrating to fall over and over again. What makes Juliet special, however, is that she is always ready to reach out and pull herself up again. She is never down for long and she knows that it is important to keep trying, even when things get difficult.

Juliet knows that there is a reason that we fall. It's so we can learn to pick ourselves up.

Unexpected Weekend

Today, Juliet is 8 months, 6 days old. Sometimes a weekend goes by so quickly that Juliet can't believe that it is already over. The weekends go by especially fast when she doesn't think she has anything to do, but then she gets a lot done. Yesterday, Juliet started off traveling to Oakland, just to get out and grab some breakfast. When she got there, there was a Children's Festival going on! Juliet got a balloon doggie and visited a petting zoo. The lambs and goats and ponies were so cute and Juliet loved seeing them. Later, Juliet went to her first drive-in movie. There was even another baby in the next car over and Juliet waved to him before the movie started. She couldn't stay up for the whole movie, but it was a nice time all the same.

Today, Juliet went to a birthday party. It was so much fun to visit with other little boys and girls, and she even got to play in the playground.

Juliet did not know that she would have such a big weekend on Friday, but she is so glad that she got to do so much.

Getting Used To Things

Juliet is 8 months, 4 days old today. She is usually very good at trying new things. She shows very little fear and is almost always excited to do something new. The other week, she did show that dandelions made her a bit nervous. She didn't have any real problems with dandelions while they were yellow, but when they were white and puffy, she did not like them. In fact, Juliet really shuddered when her mommy and daddy would blow on the dandelions and make the little seeds go everywhere. They would never blow them towards her face, but Juliet did not like them, just the same. At first, this nervousness even meant that Juliet did not want to go near the roses in her grandma's house. But now, Juliet is much more comfortable with flowers of all types. Sometimes it just takes some getting used to.

Juliet also spent last night at dinner trying to get used to avocado. It is a soft, squishy food, just like bananas, so her mommy and daddy thought for sure that she would like it. She did not. She made a face each time they gave her a piece and actually gagged on it. So maybe she will not be a big avocado fan. That is OK, because there are so many other neat things still left to try in the world.

Juliet would also like to wish her great-grandma a happy birthday, and say that she loves her very much.

Look Out World

Today, Juliet is 8 months, 3 days old. She has been sleeping a little bit better. For many months, she had no problems with sleep at all. She would go to bed around 9 o'clock and wake up around 6 or 6:15. Then, suddenly she began to have difficulty. She would wake up a few times during the night. Most of the time, she just needed someone to give her a pacifier, or hold her hand, or stroke her head, but sometimes, she needed to be rocked. Her mommy never minded doing this, even if it made her tired the next morning. It was more important for Juliet to know that she was not alone at night.

The past few nights, however, Juliet has slept almost straight through the night. She has awakened and let out a little cry once in a while, but she has been asleep again by the time her mommy got in to check on her. And then, when she wakes up in the morning, she is happy and playful, and cheerfully babbling away. It is her way to greet the new day and say, "Look out, world! Here comes Juliet!"

Getting Comfortable

Juliet is 8 months, 2 days old today. She went for a run around Oakland yesterday. She was sleepy at the start of the run, so she stayed in the carseat and faced backwards in the stroller. When she woke up, she was happy that she could keep an eye on her mommy and daddy as they were running. Sometimes, Juliet likes sitting directly in the stroller more. She can face forward and look at the world as they go. It is so nice to have such beautiful weather outside. She went on two trips in her stroller yesterday, one through Oakland and one around Ben Avon, where her grandma, pa-pa, and Uncle John live. The fresh air is so nice and Juliet loves feeling the breeze in her face!

Juliet had another chunk of bread at dinner last night. She really enjoyed it - even if it did make another big mess. After she had eaten enough, she danced in her bedroom for a little while, then had a warm bottle and went to bed. She only woke up once. Her mommy thought that she might be chilly, so she gave Juliet another soft blanket and rubbed Juliet's little tummy. After that, Juliet slept right through the night.

It's nice that Juliet always has people finding ways to make her feel as comfortable as possible.

Making A Mess

Today, Juliet is 8 months, 1 day old. She always tries to make the most fun of anything she does. Yesterday, she was eating a piece of brown bread after she had her dinner. Juliet does not have any teeth yet, so she wasn't really tearing off chunks of bread. She was just gumming the big piece. When one side would get too mushy to feel good on her gums, she would shift the bread to a firmer side. She was really enjoying herself, not paying much attention to her mommy, daddy, or uncle John, and they were just keeping an eye on her - not too worried. When they went over to play with her for a while, they found that Juliet had crumbs everywhere! They were in all the little crevices of her exersaucer, in the base of the exersaucer, on the floor around her, in the pouch she sat in, and all over her face. But Juliet was not miserable (although she does enjoy getting clean in a bath). Instead, she just looked at everyone and smiled! Then, she was very patient while her mommy wiped her face with a damp cloth. She even had fun touching the cloth with her tongue. Even though Juliet knows that it's important to be clean in order to be healthy and happy, she also knows that sometimes it just feels good to make a mess!

Happy Mommy's Day

Juliet is 8 months old today. Happy 8-month birthday, Juliet! Her weekend was half-doing fun things and half relaxing. She was very happy to have lots of time to visit with her mom-mom. They played together at home, went out to the store together, went to the mall together, went out to dinner together, and rode around in the car together. Juliet even spent most of the morning on Sunday with her mom-mom. It was a lot of fun! They played with Juliet's many toys, and then Juliet had a bottle and took a nap. By the time she began to wake up from her nap, her mommy and daddy were home from their race. Everyone then had a relaxing afternoon before getting all dressed up and going out to a nice dinner.

Yesterday was the first time Juliet celebrated Mother's Day. She got her mommy, her grandmothers, and her great-grandmothers nice cards, which she signed herself! It was a very special day for Juliet's mommy, because it was the first time she was a mother on Mother's Day. The fact that Juliet is the reason that her mommy could celebrate Mother's Day is not so strange, really. Actually, Juliet is the reason that mommy celebrates every day. Because everyday is an amazing and special day because she gets to be Juliet's mommy.

Relaxing Weekends On The Horizon

Juliet is 7 months, 27 days old today. She is happily heading for the weekend! It will be a very nice weekend, with lots of things to do. Her mom-mom is coming in for a visit today, and on Sunday she will celebrate Mother's Day with her mommy, grandma, mom-mom, and great-grandmas - along with the rest of her family - out at dinner. She may even stroll in the Race for the Cure Sunday morning if the weather is nice enough.

Juliet's weekends are often pretty busy. That is because her mommy and daddy don't get to see her as much during the week, so they like to do as many fun things as possible with her on the weekends. Sometimes, they will even get in little family moments at night. Last night, mommy, daddy, and Juliet went for a little walk around 8 o'clock, right before Juliet went to bed. They just walked up to the playground and looked at some flowers. It was a very nice way to end the day.

Juliet's weekends are about to get a little less busy in a few weeks. The school year is winding down and mommy and daddy will get to see her during the week as well as on weekends. Juliet is looking forward to busier weeks and more relaxing weekends.

Away and Home

Today, Juliet is 7 months, 26 days old. She knows how to be independent. Yesterday, she went without seeing much of her mommy and daddy all day. First, her mommy and daddy had to work, like they usually do. So she didn't see her daddy until about 3:30...and her mommy until about 4:30. After that, her mommy and daddy went to a hockey game. Usually, they would take Juliet with them. She was good luck for the Penguins at the last game she attended - when she got to sit up close on the glass. But since last night's game was an evening game, and since it was a playoff game and would be very loud, her mommy and daddy decided that Juliet would be much more comfortable with her great-grandma for a little while. Besides, Juliet is just getting over a cold and the rainy weather and crowded arena would not help her get any better.

Even though she was not in her usual situation, Juliet had a very nice time. She chatted and played with her great-grandma. She had a bottle and did just fine. And she was so excited to see her daddy when he came to pick her up. When she got home, she went to sleep very quickly; she was so exhausted from the day! But it was nice to snuggle up to her mommy at bedtime and enjoy finally being home with her family.

The People We Need

Juliet is 7 months, 25 days old today. She is a very good little girl. Yesterday, she spent the afternoon riding in a wagon in the mall, visiting with the ladies where her great-grandma lives, walking around in her baby walker, and playing at home. She learns so much everyday and loves to have fun.

Juliet may be almost 8 months old, but her mommy still remembers when she was just 8 weeks old - right around her baptism. She was every bit as sweet, but she just cried a lot more! Her mommy even remembers when she was just 8 days old. She slept much of the day and was so tiny and helpless that she needed her mommy for everything. Now, she needs her mommy less and less as she finds out how to do new things every day. And soon, Juliet will be 8 years old...then 18 years old. At that time, she will be making most of her decisions on her own. She might not want her mommy to do things for her, and she might not need her mommy very much at all.

But her mommy will need her. Always...always.

Juliet Takes A Stand

Juliet is 7 months, 24 days old today. She did a lot of playing yesterday. She played in her exersaucer, she played with her purple puppy, she played with her learning puppy. Juliet even played with the mail! When she was eating, she played with her bread too. She is always looking for the fun she can have with everything.

While she was having fun, Juliet found out how to do something new. She was playing peek-a-boo with her mommy while she was sitting in her crib. Juliet peered over the edge as her mommy popped up and said, "peek-a-boo!" Then, Juliet grabbed onto the rail of the crib and pulled herself right up so that she was standing! It was very exciting. It was not exactly the first time she had tried it; earlier in the day, she pulled herself up while she was playing with her grandma and Uncle John.

Juliet is happy that she figured out how to stand. It will only be a matter of time before she is walking around everywhere!

Too Excited

Juliet is 7 months, 23 days old today. She gets very excited over everything. Last night as she was eating dinner, she could barely remain in her high chair as she was eating. It was so exciting to be able to sit with everyone and enjoy lots of yummy food. She tried peas, corn, potatoes, and bread. She could not wait to have her next spoonful. She was also very good at making sure the dogs got to try some, too. Juliet left quite a few chunks of bread and pieces of corn on the floor under her chair for the dogs to eat.

Later, she was too excited to go to sleep. There was simply too much to look at and talk about and point to. Finally, her mommy took her into the bedroom and let her lie on the big bed. It was very dark and Juliet could not see enough to point to anything. So after a few minutes of touching the pillow and stretching, Juliet fell asleep and was carried into her own bed.

It is a very exciting world, and sometimes there is just too much to look at. It can be hard to settle down and get some sleep. But Juliet knows that a good night's sleep will just mean she will have more energy in the daytime, when it is light out and she can see lots of things to point to.

On The Go

Today, Juliet is 7 months, 22 days old. She likes being an on-the-go girl. Yesterday she was very lucky. She got to go to not one but two different parks! Not only that, but she also got to play on not one, but two different swings. Juliet really loves swinging. She just hangs on tightly to the baby swing and enjoys flying. Sometimes her mommy or daddy will play peek-a-boo with her or try to grab her toes as she is swinging. Then, Juliet laughs. It is nice to be able to have fun outside.

Today, her mommy, daddy, pa-pa, and Aunt Lisa ran in a relay for the Pittsburgh Marathon. Juliet did not have to sit and wait for them to finish. That would have taken over 3 hours, and it was chilly and rainy out today! So she stayed behind with her grandma and Uncle John, then she went to pick everyone up. After that, she went out to breakfast and had some wheat toast.

Juliet is looking forward to running in a marathon some day. She gets plenty of practice in theory as she goes for runs in her stroller. But for now, she is busy practicing rolling onto her tummy from her back. She really doesn't like being on her tummy. She would much rather sit up and pull up to stand, but she still has to practice crawling for at least a little while.

Juliet has also figured out how to use her index finger to point to things she likes. She wishes that she could point to all her family and friends who read about her everyday!

Cold Number 2

Today, Juliet is 7 months, 20 days old. She has a little cold again. It is so frustrating for her because this cough is interrupting her fun time. Nothing is nearly as much fun when Juliet has a cough. And she was so excited about having a nice weekend out with her mommy and daddy. After all, last weekend she had such a good time. Unfortunately, Juliet will have to be stuck inside this weekend. Maybe she will catch up on some Disney movies and play with her many, many toys. Sometimes Juliet likes a soft toy, like her stuffed puppies, teddies, and bunnies. Sometimes, she likes something she can bang on, like her stacking cups, stacking rings, or locks 'n' latches. Whatever kind of toy it is, Juliet appreciates being busy. Being bored is absolutely no fun! That is why she is a little disappointed that she caught another cold.

Juliet just got done talking to the doctor. He told her that she does indeed just have a cold. In fact, she can expect to have about one a month! That is so many! But every cold she gets builds up her immune system a little more so that she does not get very sick as she gets older, so in that respect, these little colds are good for her.

But that doesn't mean that they are any fun!

Pretty Music

Juliet is now 7 months, 19 days old. She has always loved music. Maybe this is because her mommy used to put headphones on her belly for Juliet to hear all different kinds of music. Juliet used to hear a lot of Beatles and Disney music. One of her favorites before she was born was "Part of That World" from "The Little Mermaid". Juliet would kick and kick away when she heard that song! She still likes listening to the song now, and she was very happy to hear it with pictures when she and her mommy watched the movie together a few months ago.

After that, Juliet became a fan of David Cook, who won American Idol last year. Even when she was at her most upset, within a few notes of "Always Be My Baby", Juliet was calm and happy. She also enjoyed having people sing to her. Actually, Juliet still enjoys the singing. She tries to sing along and gets better at it each time.

Music really helps Juliet sleep, too. She usually listens to Disney lullabys when she goes to bed. She also has a light-up music box on her crib that plays pretty music. Juliet hasn't heard it much recently because it needed new batteries. Fortunately, yesterday her mommy found some, so it works again. It was a good thing, too. Last night when she fell asleep to the sound of her music box, Juliet had the best night's sleep she has had in a long time!

Nice Surprises

Juliet is 7 months, 18 days old today. She loves surprises. This is obvious because she loves to play Peek-a-Boo so much. Whether it is just using a blanket to cover her face, or someone hiding in the doorway, Juliet is delighted when somebody shouts, "peek-a-boo!"

Juliet also received an extra-nice surprise yesterday. Her mommy came home to a box on the doorstep. It was a package from Juliet's Uncle Mike and Aunt Lindsay! Juliet peered in the box and found all sorts of goodies. She saw lots of new clothes in all sizes and a set of new bibs. She also saw a Smurf doll and stacking cups. Juliet started playing with the cups right away. She does like to see how they fit together, but she really loves knocking them together and hearing the noises they make. Later, her mommy put some Cheerios in the cup and Juliet ate her cereal while she was playing in her exersaucer.

Juliet always appreciates nice gifts like these, but she doesn't just expect them. The only thing that she has come to expect is that her family loves her and she loves them.

Having Things Just So

Today, Juliet is 7 months, 17 days old. She is almost always a happy girl in the mornings. Even when she does not get a good night's sleep, Juliet wakes up smiling and happy. She always has a big smile on her face when her mommy and daddy wake her up because she is excited to start another fun day. She likes to sit on the bed as they get ready. She usually plays with her Learning Time Puppy. He teaches her colors, body parts, her ABCs and other little songs. All Juliet has to do is tug on his hand or foot or ear, and he sings to her. It is one of her very favorite toys.

Juliet also likes playing in her exersaucer. There are so many knobs to turn and buttons to push. Her favorite activity on the exersaucer is the teddy bear switches. Juliet is very particular about them! Every time somebody pushes them so that the teddy bears pop up, Juliet has to push them back down again! She will often stop whatever else she is doing to check on the teddy bears if she hears someone pop them up. Juliet likes to make sure everything is exactly the way she wants it!

Juliet hears other mommies and daddies bragging about their good babies, and how the babies will go along with anything and are very calm. Juliet thinks that it is nice that those parents love their babies a lot. But Juliet is also happy being herself, even if it means liking everything just so. At least her family still loves her no matter what, and that is what is important.

Saying "I Love You"

Juliet is 7 months, 16 days old today. She has been having a nice time with her Uncle John. The best part about the end of April coming around is that she can spend more time with her uncle. He is done with classes at Pitt right now. He is lucky, because a lot of students are not done for another couple weeks! That means a lot of uncles and aunts and brothers and sisters are still not able to spend time with their nieces and nephews and brothers and sisters. But Juliet counts herself lucky that Pitt lets out early. So even though her mommy and daddy are still working, at least now she has someone new to play with during the day.

Family is very important to Juliet. Right now, she is the only baby in the family, and she feels special. She gets lots of attention and love. She can't wait until she is better able to give the rest of her family all the love back. She does her best now, with little smiles and giggles and hugs, but soon she will be able to tell everyone that she loves them by herself!

Exploring The World

Today Juliet is 7 months, 15 days old. Happy 7 1/2 month birthday, Juliet! She had the most wonderful day! What she loved the most was exploring the world in the warm weather. She walked along the rivers for the last two days. Today, she was on the North Shore, walking around the stadiums. The river walkway connects Heinz Field to PNC Park, and Juliet really enjoyed spending her time there. She even stuck her toes in the fountain there. It was nice and warm and there were lots of other people just hanging out there having a nice time. Later, she had some Gus and Yiayia's water ice. She ate a little of her mommy's banana ice and a little of her daddy's rainbow ice. She was not sure at first, because it was so cold! But then she really liked it!

It is so nice to have the warm weather back. Juliet is a real out-doorsy kind of girl, so she is overjoyed. She just hopes that it stays nice so that she can spend lots of time exploring the world.

What To Do When It's Warm In Pittsburgh

Today, Juliet is 7 months, 14 days old. She has been enjoying the wonderful weather that has been prevailing in Pittsburgh. Today, she went to went to the mall for a little while. She got a new hat to keep the sun out of her eyes and new sandals to keep her feet cool. Then she headed down to Point State Park. Lots and lots of people were there enjoying the warm temperatures. Juliet sat on the wall facing PNC Park and ate her lunch and had a little apple juice. It was really good!

Next, Juliet watched the hockey game in the South Side. It was really exciting, but a little scary! Whenever the Penguins scored, everybody cheered very loud! Juliet had to go outside and take a little walk to calm down when that happened, but that was ok, because it was so nice out.

After the game, Juliet went for a run through the South Side with her mommy and daddy. She ended up falling asleep during the run. She only woke up when her mommy and daddy tried to take off her Sidney Crosby jersey, since it was so warm. After all that, she had dinner at Cheesecake Factory. Everyone working there was so nice and they brought her a special meal of bread and bananas! Juliet must have eaten a whole banana during the course of dinner, and it was delicious!

Juliet is exhausted now. She hopes that she will get a good night's sleep so that she can have another fun day tomorrow.

Excited About Her Day

Juliet is 7 months, 13 days old today. Last night she had a tough time falling asleep. She is usually in bed by 9:30, but last night, she didn't fall asleep until 11. She was just too excited to sleep. She had a very fun day and she did not want to miss a moment of it! Juliet even got to try some of her great-grandma's split-pea soup at dinner time. It was a real treat for her and she loved it. Juliet loves getting to try new food. Tonight, she had some avocado. She really enjoyed it too. She cannot wait until she gets to eat everything that the grown-ups eat.

Juliet also went to the park today. It has been a long time since she has run around the lake at North Park, so she was so happy that the weather was nice again. It was actually very warm, and her mommy and daddy stopped halfway around and gave Juliet some pear juice. That was a good idea because Juliet was thirsty.

After a nice day of playing with her grandma and great-grandma, riding around the lake, and eating some delicious avocado, Juliet was really worn out! She was excited about her day, just like yesterday, but today she decided it was more important to get a good night's sleep so she could enjoy tomorrow all the more.

Clapping And Playing

Today, Juliet is 7 months and 11 days old. It was Earth Day today, and Juliet celebrated by looking outside at the pretty weather and watching the trees blow in the breeze. It was a little too chilly to enjoy the outside today, but Juliet liked looking at it nonetheless.

Juliet loves surprises. One of her favorite games is "Peek-a-Boo!" and sometimes, nobody even has to hide to get her to laugh. If they just look away and then turn back to Juliet saying "Peek-a-boo!", Juliet laughs and laughs. She also likes hearing the people she loves make funny noises and faces. Today, her mommy pretended to munch on Juliet's hand, and then said, "Mmm-mmmm!" and Juliet also thought that this was hilarious. When she's not playing peek-a-boo or laughing at funny noises, Juliet also likes "Patty Cake". The original way ended with "mark it with a 'B' and put it in the oven for baby and me!" Juliet has her own version. It ends with "mark it with a 'J' and put it in the oven for Juliet - Yay!" Of course, Juliet also likes making mommy or daddy's hands clap instead - they are much louder than hers.

Dining Out

Today, Juliet is 7 months, 10 days old. It was another dreary weather day. Juliet does not mind playing inside, but she misses going outside. She misses going for strolls and playing on the swings and looking at birds and dogs along her walks. But she has heard that all that will change this weekend - it will be bright and sunny and warm! She can't wait for the nice weather! She will go to the park - maybe even take her first trip to Kennywood! She will just have to wait and see.

Tomorrow is her day to have dinner with her mommy and daddy and Uncle John. Juliet does not really like sitting in restaurants. For one, she feels jealous that she can't eat all the yummy food everyone else eats. How come she can't have some nachos too? Sometimes she is being held and her mommy or daddy lifts up a nacho chip, and Juliet opens her mouth, because her mommy and daddy are always the ones to feed her! But the nacho never ends up in her mouth. She wonders where it goes! The second reason Juliet does not like restaurants is because there is not much for her to do there. She is used to having all her toys and plenty of places to maneuver around and explore. But she can't do that at a restaurant! She end up stuck in a high chair or being held or in her car seat. It's really not all that much fun.

This will be the last time she only being seeing Uncle John on a Wednesday, because he is done school next week. She will have lots of time to spend with him and her grandma. She is so excited! It is nice to know that she will have one more person to play with all day long.

Enjoying A Little Movie Time

Today, Juliet is 7 months, 9 days old. She has had a very nice last few days. Today, she got to see her grandma and her great-grandma. Her great-grandma bought her a little outfit with watermelons on it. She is so excited to wear it! It will be nice to have a cute new outfit to wear when the weather gets nice. Today was not a good day for it. It was rainy and chilly. But even though the weather was not pretty, Juliet still found plenty of ways to have a good time.

When Juliet got home today, she watched a movie with her mommy. The movie was called "Wall-E" and Juliet liked it a lot! It was bright and colorful. She really enjoyed the way the robots danced around the screen and all the nice music in the movie. It was a lot of fun to just watch a movie until dinnertime.

Sometimes it is very nice to have a relaxing afternoon. After a busy weekend, it was so lovely to have some quiet time with just Juliet and her mommy. It made Juliet excited to think about how close it is to summertime, when she will have plenty of time to relax, especially in the baby pool. That will be really fun for Juliet - just like a big bath!

A Wonderful Weekend

Juliet is now 7 months, 8 days old. She had a wonderful end to her weekend. This morning she had some oatmeal out at Marge's Restaurant with all of her grandparents! It was so nice. Then, she checked out her mom-mom and pop-pop's hotel room, and it was a really nice place. She had a great view of the Ohio River. It made her so happy that she napped the entire way home, and for an hour afterwards. When she woke up, she watched some hockey, played, and ate a pretzel.

After all that, she had dinner with grandma and pa-pa. While she was there, she showed off how she can do "Juliet is SO BIG!" She also played a lot and had some pear juice. Once she got home, she cuddled with her mommy and daddy. She is the world's best cuddler!

Tomorrow is Monday, so she will be back to her normal routine. But it was so nice to have an exciting weekend and try lots of new things!

Juliet's Lucky Day

Today, Juliet is 7 months, 7 days old. It seems as though it should be her lucky day, what with all those 7s! Unfortunately, Juliet has had problems with her Shutterfly site, so the past 2 days have not been so lucky, but today has been a full day! She has been visiting with her mom-mom and pop-pop and having a wonderful time! First, her mommy came to pick her up early from her grandma's house, which was a treat in and of itself. Next, she ate some puffs at Panera and played for a while at the playground. After that, she stayed in with mom-mom and pop-pop while her mommy and daddy went out. It was tough because Juliet is so used to having her routine, but she surprised everyone and fell asleep early and slept through the night.

Today, she went out to breakfast and ate oatmeal and bananas. Then, she went out to the zoo! It was her first time visiting the zoo, and it was really exciting! She saw lions and giraffes, and lots of monkeys and fish and penguins. She even saw elephant families with baby elephants! She was so good and did not cry the entire time she was at the zoo.

Dinnertime was a little more rough, although Juliet did eat a lot of sweet potato. Finally, she made her way to CMU's carnival, where she rode the merry-go-round on a pretty pink horse and her mom-mom won her a purple dog in the balloon-pop game.

Juliet is exhausted! What a weekend - and there is still one day left! It is amazing that such a little girl could have such big adventures.

Playing And Sleeping

Today, Juliet is 7 months, 4 days old. She has been having such a nice time. Yesterday, she spent the day with her grandma, and they had a lot of fun together. They read and played in her walker, and played with Magic and Scout. Then when she got home, she danced to music in her Exersaucer and played with her balloons. She loves trying to say balloon! Right now, it sounds like "ba-lthhhh!" but she is getting closer! She also played peek-a-boo for a while. Juliet loves peek-a-boo. Before, she really thought that people were going away when they hid from her, but now she is beginning to remember that they always come right back again. And when they come back, it always makes her laugh! Nothing in this world sounds quite as wonderful as Juliet laughing.

After all the fun, Juliet slept pretty well last night. She woke up a few times and just let out a little cry, but all it took was her mommy going in, giving her back her pacifier, and stroking her head, and Juliet was right back asleep again. A few times, her mommy didn't even have to go in. Juliet got back to sleep on her own. This is a good thing for Juliet to learn - as much as her family is always and forever willing to help her with anything, sometimes it is really good to learn how to do things on her own, including falling back asleep in her crib.

Tough Times

Juliet is now 7 months, 3 days old. She is finally (probably) starting to get her first tooth. It has been a long time coming! 2 months ago, her mommy thought that she saw a tooth coming through, but she was mistaken. Just recently, however, her pa-pa thought that he definitely felt a little sharp spot in her upper gum. Then last night, Juliet was fussy after dinner for no real reason. Her tummy was full, her diaper was changed, but she was still upset. She did not even want to have her cookie, and Juliet loves cookies! But her mommy and daddy figured that the hard cookie might be painful on her gum, so they gave her a frozen teething ring. That did the trick! Juliet settled down as she chewed on the teething ring. After that, she drank a few ounces of cool, diluted pear juice and was a happy girl again.

Growing up is such hard work. Juliet has had to learn so much in only 7 short months, and now she is expected to do really hard things, like crawl, pick things up with her thumb and forefinger, and say words. On top of all that, she has a sore mouth! What a tough time for little Juliet! But tough times call for tough little girls, and Juliet is definitely that!

A Happy Easter

Juliet is 7 months, 2 days old today. She had an absolutely wonderful Easter! She started the day by going to church at St. Sebastian's. They had a crying room, which came in handy because Juliet got a little fussy about half-way through mass. She was unhappy because she missed her morning nap and it made her cranky.

After church, she went to grandma and pa-pa's for the Easter Bunny hunt! The Easter Bunny had left her clues about how to find her Easter basket. She followed all the directions and was able to find her baskets and toys. That bunny left her a lot of goodies! She got stuffed animals, books, a new bowl and spoon, light-up rubber duckies, and a kit to make a hand print for her mommy and daddy. She even got toy drums, which she loved to bang on!

It was a nice Easter dinner, too. Juliet enjoyed munching on some bread from Oakmont bakery. When she finally got home, she was too excited to sleep. She stayed up for a while watching "The Sound Of Music" with her mommy and daddy before drifting off and sleeping through the night!

Juliet is home with her mommy today and they are planning on going to the baby lapsit in Oakland soon. The only thing missing is her daddy, who had to go back to work today. She is looking forward to seeing him tonight.

Hippity-Hoppity, Easter's On Its Way!

Today, Juliet is 7 months old. Happy 7-month birthday, Juliet! What a nice day she had! She started her day by having breakfast at JoJo's in the Strip District. Then, she walked around the Strip. She got a lot of attention, as everyone commented on what a sweet baby she was! She even got to see one of the Easter Bunny's helpers at Mancini's. She let him know that she was being a good girl and that she couldn't wait to meet the Eater Bunny tonight!

Juliet took a nice long nap and then headed out to the park. It was a nice, sunny day, although the breeze was a little chilly. Juliet played in a swing all by herself and even went down a slide with mommy!

After her trip to the park, Juliet went out with her grandma and papa. She had a nice time and she was trying to settle down to sleep, but it was not working. But soon after her mommy and daddy picked her up, Juliet was nestled snugly in her crib, waiting for the Easter Bunny to arrive.

Right now, Juliet is dreaming of soft, downy chicks and furry, hoppy bunnies. What a nice holiday!

Happy At Home

Today, Juliet is 6 months, 30 days old. She enjoyed yet another relaxing day at home. She played at home, ate some rice cereal, watched Sesame Street, and took a few naps. She did go to Borders Books for a while and then went for a ride around North Park - in the car, for once! It was a miserable, rainy, chilly day, and Juliet just wanted to stay indoors because it was not a nice day to be outside.

Juliet's mommy and daddy were considering letting her sleep over her grandma's and pa-pa's house tonight, but they decided to just stay home instead. No matter what, they are always happier being with Juliet than without. She makes whatever happiness people are feeling seem a million times happier. So Juliet's home is a very happy place tonight.

Juliet is also excited because she thought she heard Easter Bunny hops earlier. He is on his way! It is sure to be the greatest Easter ever for all those who love Juliet. There will be so much to celebrate this year because Juliet is sweeter than any candy in the Easter basket!

Relaxing At Home

Juliet is 6 months, 29 days old today. She has been with mommy and daddy all day! It is like a weekend. She slept in until almost 7:30 and then played all morning. She got a nice bath and then went downtown to eat at TicToc diner with her mommy, daddy, and great-grandma. There, she had her rice cereal and a few Cheerios. Everyone there was so happy to see her and one lady commented that a baby always puts a smile on her face. That's true - especially if the baby is Juliet!

The rest of the day, Juliet just relaxed. She did go to the mall for a little while to get her Easter shoes. They are pretty white shoes, and Juliet is excited to wear them on Sunday. Right now, she is spending some quiet time at home with mommy as daddy and Uncle John go to the Penguins hockey game. It is so good to have a nice holiday to spend with the people who love her!

Feeling Better

Today, Juliet is 6 months, 28 days old. She is feeling much better today. She had such a nice time yesterday celebrating daddy's birthday. She even got presents! First of all, she got a Locks and Latches puzzle to play with. It is a wooden puzzle with 6 doors that all have different metal latches to open. Juliet loves it because she can bang on it and it will make lots of noise but not break. Secondly, Juliet also got lots and lots of balloons to play with. Balloons are her favorite. She likes to look at them and tug on their strings and bat them around. Two nice kinds of presents for Juliet - and her stuffy nose and cough are also clearing up.

Tomorrow will be a lot of fun because both her mommy and daddy are off work tomorrow. If she is feeling better, she might go out to the mall with them or take her great-grandma to lunch downtown. She was hoping to get to the last Penguins game, but that will really depend on how she feels.

Life is pretty nice for Juliet. She just wishes that the weather would get nicer so that she could get back outside and enjoy nature.

Daddy's Birthday

Juliet is 6 months, 27 days old today. It is a very happy day today, because it is her daddy's birthday! She is especially glad because she gets to share most of it as just the two of them. What a special treat!

Juliet really loves her daddy. She has enjoyed playing with him since she was tiny, and now that she is getting to be a big girl, they can have even more fun. Right now, her favorite things about her daddy are:

Sitting on his lap at Penguins games

Getting carried around by him (everywhere)

Taking naps with him on the sofa

Watching him play video games

Eating with him, especially when he makes airplane sounds to get her to open up

When he says "She-uh looka like a girl!"

When he plays peek-a-boo with her

When he plays David Cook and they dance together

In fact, pretty much everything about daddy is her favorite thing. He is such a nice daddy and Juliet wishes that he has a happy, happy birthday!

A Tough Time Sleeping

Juliet is 6 months, 26 days old. She had a rough night last night. After she was so sleepy all day yesterday, Juliet thought that she would have no trouble going to sleep at night. At first, she really didn't. She nodded off around 9 p.m. and her mommy put her to bed, saying as always, "Good night, Juliet. Sweet dreams. Sleep tight. I can't wait to see you in the morning. I love you so much. I am so proud of you. You were a very, very good girl today. And I love you again" and giving her a kiss. Juliet slept very comfortably...until about midnight, when she woke up. Her mommy gave her a pacifier and rubbed her tummy until she fell back asleep. Then she woke up at 3 a.m. This time, mommy changed her diaper, took her into mommy and daddy's bedroom, and held her there. Juliet still tossed and turned and waved her arms and legs. Then mommy took her back into Juliet's room and rocked her. After a little while, Juliet fell back asleep. She then woke up at 5:30, which was fine, because mommy had to get up for work anyway.

It is so hard to get comfortable when you're sick. Even when she wasn't coughing, or sneezing, or having trouble breathing, Juliet still felt miserable. She is looking forward to starting to feel better today as she is resting at home with her daddy.

Juliet also says Happy Birthday to her great-grandma!

Keeping Spirits Up

Today, Juliet is 6 months, 25 days old. She is still not feeling 100%. She has a loose cough and a stuffy nose. The stuffy nose is the worst! She would like to have her pacifier to help her get rest so she can fight her cold, but she can't breathe when she has it in! To fix this problem, her mommy has had to aspirate her a few times, and Juliet hates that! Still, Juliet has kept her spirits up and has been making the best of things.
Juliet is keeping happy because she knows that she has a nice week ahead of her. From Monday until Wednesday, she has time with just Daddy. It has been a long time since she has had a whole day of just Juliet and daddy, so she is very excited. Then, on Thursday and Friday, she has some daddy and mommy time. She will also get to see some family members on Friday night, since everyone is gathering at Grant Bar for Good Friday. Juliet can't wait to say hi to everyone! Then, it will be her 7-month birthday, then her first Easter, then she has a day with just mommy on Monday!
After that, Juliet will get to see her mom-mom and pop-pop again on the following weekend. In between, she will have some nice time with her grandma, her pa-pa, great-grandma, and Uncle John, since Pitt is almost done.
Even when she is sick, Juliet thinks that she is a very lucky little girl to have so many people who love her.

Under The Weather

Today, Juliet is 6 months, 24 days old. She has a little cold. Yesterday, her mommy and daddy noticed that she was coughing a little. They took her to the doctor's office, and the doctor said that she did indeed have a cold. There is nothing to do about it other than wait, so that is what she will have to do!

Before she went to the doctor, Juliet did have a special day. She got to meet Sidney Crosby, the Penguins player! She went with her daddy to the Penguins practice, and afterwards, Sid was nice enough to take a picture with her and her daddy. What a nice guy! Juliet is very happy that there is such a nice person playing for her favorite hockey team.

Today, she spent most of her time either sleeping or crying. That may seem upsetting, but Juliet figures that most people spend most of their time feeling miserable or sleeping when they are sick. Right now, she is asleep and she hopes that tomorrow she will be feeling a lot better. She wants to be healthy when she helps daddy celebrate her daddy's birthday.

Children's Book Day

Today, Juliet is 6 months, 22 days old. She loves to read books. Today happens to be National Children's Book Day, so Juliet will celebrate by reading one of her favorite books. So far, she has enjoyed "God Bless Me", "Elmo Takes A Bath", "Pokey Little Puppy", "Courduroy", "The Great Bunnyville Easter Egg Hunt", "Kitten's First Full Moon", "The Princess and the Pea", "Blueberry Girl", and "Princess Baby". Nothing is quite as nice as curling up with her mommy, daddy, or grandma and reading a good book. Especially if it has lots of exciting pictures.

Books are nice because, no matter how many times Juliet reads them, they stay interesting. There is always new to notice in the pictures or a new word to think about. She is learning lots of new words each day, but her favorites are still "bird", "balloon" and "Juliet". When someone says "Juliet!" in a funny way and tickles her, Juliet thinks that it is the funniest thing in the world! She laughs and laughs. She has been laughing much more often, and she is really enjoying being such a happy baby.

In Rain Or In Sunshine

Today, Juliet is 6 months, 21 days old. It is a rainy day. For most people, rainy weather makes them feel tired and sluggish, but not Juliet! She was up this morning at 5 a.m., and no one was going to make her go back to sleep! So she played with her Learning Time puppy and listened to the radio as mommy and daddy got ready for work. Of course, her mommy and daddy also did lots of checking in - talking to her, making her laugh, and getting her ready for her day.

Yesterday was not a rainy day. It was beautiful. It was 70 degrees and sunny outside, which is exactly how Juliet likes it. After her grandma dropped her off at home, Juliet went to the playground with her mommy. They played on the swings for a while. She is still too little to sit on even a baby swing by herself, but that was OK, because mommy held her on the big-girl swing. She also played on the tire swing. She was going to go down the slide with her mommy, but it was too dirty. Then, Juliet met a nice husky dog who lives nearby and they both checked each other out for a little bit. Finally, mommy picked a crocus as they were on their way home. She gave it to Juliet to look at, but Juliet wondered what it would taste like, so she tried to eat it. Mommy had to explain to her that most of the time people eat the leaves, roots, and fruits of plants. They don't often eat the flower!

Afterwards, Juliet met up with her daddy and they had a nice run around North Park lake. Then she went home for a tasty dinner of chicken and sweet potato, with a teething biscuit to finish off the meal. She went to sleep feeling full, tired, and happy. It was so nice to enjoy a sunny spring day.

Nothing Is Impossible

Today, Juliet is 6 months, 20 days old. No one is as loving as Juliet. Yesterday, she spent the entire day playing and laughing and chatting and smiling. She enjoyed playing peek-a-boo and playing in her exersaucer. She even liked riding in the shopping cart around Michael's. It was the first time she had ridden in the front seat using the cover her Aunt Maryanne gave her. She looked at all the neat crafts and she especially loved the pretty flowers. Pink, yellow, green, purple - she saw lots of beautiful spring colors for those flowers!

Then Juliet went to the library. A couple of little girls were there getting their first library cards, and they said hi to Juliet and talked with her mommy about their baby dolls at home. Juliet really is just like a real-life baby doll, but much more fun! She then spent some time at home with daddy and mommy before eating her turkey and rice and half of a teething biscuit and going to bed!

Today, Juliet is planning on a jog around North Park, since it is so nice out. She is excited because she loves being outside. She will look for birds up in the trees and try to talk to them. She says hello by saying, "Buhrrr, buhrrr." Maybe one day they will come down to say hello back to her! Nothing is impossible with Juliet!

Lots To Look Forward To

Today, Juliet is 6 months, 19 days old. It is almost the end of March already. How time has flown! It seems like just yesterday that Juliet was celebrating her half-year birthday, and now she is almost 7 months old. She napped a lot yesterday after her tiring day on Saturday. She fell asleep in the car on her way from the mall to Borders bookstore and she even stayed asleep when her mommy took her out of the carseat and carried her into the store. Fortunately, the store had a nice reading area with rocking chairs, so her mommy just sat and rocked the sleepy princess for a little while.

Juliet really enjoyed her exciting weekend and she was in a good mood when she left her house to see grandma in the morning. She is most happy about the fact that, at the end of this week, she will have 10 days of time with daddy. He has off school the whole week before Easter and Juliet can't wait to play with him. Maybe they will go to the library or the zoo or the aviary or the park; the possibilities are endless.

Seeing the Easter Bunny really got Juliet in the holiday spirit. She has heard that he brings a basket full of goodies to good little boys and girls on Easter morning. She will try extra, extra hard to be the best Juliet she can be!

Making Friends

Juliet is 6 months, 18 days old today. She loves to meet people. Juliet brings a smile to the faces of everyone she meets. Today, she ate at the Dor Stop Diner in Dormont for the first time today. The other customers and the waitresses made a big fuss over Juliet and told her mommy and daddy how cute she was. They even thought she was wonderful when she started screaming for Cheerios!

Then, Juliet got to meet the Easter Bunny. Everyone wanted her to smile for pictures, but she was too interested in checking out this Easter Bunny character! Then she went for a ride on the Easter train with her mommy. Finally, on the way out of the mall, she met Ray Schero, the Penguins' general manager. She had her picture taken with him, too! What an interesting life she leads - she gets to go lots of different places and meet lots of people. She doesn't know any other babies who are as fortunate as she is when it comes to exploring the world around her. Juliet has been quite the socialite - meeting all kinds of different people and she has enjoyed seeing all of them.

There is one person that Juliet wished she had been able to meet - her great-aunt Anne. Juliet was sad to find out that she passed away today. It always makes her unhappy when she realizes that she will not get to know someone who loved her anyway. She will be sure to think of her and remember her in her prayers at night.

Tired Little Girl

Today, Juliet is 6 months, 17 days old. She had a very busy few days.

First, on Thursday she went to do a Shakespeare reading with her mommy. Then, on Friday, she ran around North Park Lake, went to Mad Mex (and was a little fussy there...but she did have to wait 20 minutes to sit!) and had to run inside to avoid the rain. Then today, Juliet got an early bath, went to Panera Bread, and then had a special treat - she went to the Penguins game! Somebody gave her daddy free tickets to sit right on the glass, so Juliet had a very up-close and personal experience with the players. She even got to meet Iceburgh! It was a very nice time. Then, Juliet spent some time in the bookstore, went to dinner, watched the Pitt game, and went home a very exhausted little girl.

What a busy baby! Even though not everything went as planned, Juliet had a great time doing lots of different things that even grown adults don't get to do on a regular basis. She feels so lucky that her mommy and daddy want her to do all kinds of things so that she grows into a happy young lady.

Learning About Scary Noises And Balloons

Today, Juliet is 6 months, 15 days old. She learns more and more every day. Yesterday, she learned that sometimes certain noises might scare us for whatever reason. Since it was raining, mommy took Juliet downstairs at grandma and papa's so mommy could use papa's NordicTrack machine. Juliet was playing in her walker, but as soon as the "woosh-woosh" sound of the machine started, Juliet let out a little scream and started crying. Mommy picked her up, and Juliet was shuddering and breathing hard! So mommy took her over to the machine to show her there was nothing to be scared of. As soon as the machine started again, Juliet again screamed and cried! So mommy said that Juliet never has to go near the NordicTrack machine again!

Sometimes it's hard to know what is really scary and what isn't. Juliet doesn't like the "woosh-woosh" of the NordicTrack machine, but has no problem when Magic lets out a loud bark. She is just learning about what is safe and what is dangerous in the world, and for now, that machine is in her dangerous column. She might change her mind later, but until she does, it's ok to be scared of the big machine.

Juliet learned she was scared of a noise yesterday; she also learned the word balloon! She loves to play with the blue balloon at home and the purple balloon at grandma's. When she tugs on the ribbon to make the balloon dance, mommy says, "Balloon! Ba-ba-ba-balloon!" Now, Juliet has been making "ba" and "br" sounds for a while, but she hasn't come up with any words. Yesterday, she was able to recognize the word for balloon. Whenever mommy said, "Juliet, where's the balloon?", Juliet looked up to the ceiling! Now she can't wait to learn lots of other words and look for the things associated with them.

Laughter And Tears

Juliet is 6 months, 14 days old today. Happy 6 1/2 month birthday, Juliet! She is getting a little bit better about travelling in her carseat. She still fusses once in a while when she is strapped in, but even that is improving. This is because she has figured out that she can keep tabs on everybody even while she is riding backwards in the car. When the visor of the carseat is pushed forward, Juliet can look up and see the driver or the passenger. She likes having this ability; now that she babbles so much, she can look up and see if her mommy, daddy, or grandma agree with what she has to say! And guess what? They ususally do!

Juliet also has been enjoying giggling more often. When someone makes a funny face, or plays Peek-a-Boo, or tickles her, or plays Paddy Cake, or just talks in a funny voice, Juliet lets them know how happy she is by laughing. Yesterday, she was a little unhappy, so mommy tickled her and sang to her, and Juliet laughed and laughed! But once in a while, she laughed too much and it made her cry! Sometimes Juliet just can't make up her mind.

Tonight she will snack on sweet potato puffs during dinner at Fuel and Fuddle. She can't wait to have a nice night visiting with Uncle John on Pitt campus.

Keeping Clean

Juliet is 6 months, 13 days old today. She had a very nice time with her great-grandma yesterday. First, her great-grandma babysat her for about 20 minutes while mommy and daddy went for a quick run. Then, the 4 of them went out to dinner at Cheesecake Factory. This was to celebrate her great-grandma's delicious apple squares winning a cookie contest at daddy's school . Juliet has not tried the apple squares yet, but she knows that they are very, very good. Juliet slept through some of dinner, and then woke up to have a meal of bread and bananas, which the waiter brought especially for her.

On the way home, Juliet did have a messy diaper. She cried and cried and screamed and cried. No one knew what was making her so upset. When she got home and mommy was able to give her a clean diaper, she felt soooooooo much better! She was a happy little girl again. Juliet likes to be clean. She has loved baths in the tub since she first went in (she had not liked the sponge baths!) and she likes looking at all the nice clothes hanging in her closet. Although looking pretty is not too important to her, Juliet knows that being clean is a very important part of being healthy,and she wants to be as healthy as possible.

Anything That Is Too Easy Is Not Worth Doing

Juliet is 6 months, 12 days old today. Yesterday, she went to her friend Emily's first birthday party. Juliet enjoyed playing with the other kids at the party. She also enjoyed climbing in the tree playhouse and going down the slide. She started to get sleepy towards the end of the party, so she cried to ask her mommy and daddy to take her home. She slept the entire car ride home and even a little while after that.

Juliet also tried a few cereals for the first time. She had some Cheerios and some sweet potato puffs. They were delicious. Everytime one of the sweet potato puffs dissolved on her tongue, Juliet would smile a little bit. She ate about 20 of them at dinner time because she was not enjoying her apples and bananas. Her mommy and daddy wanted her to learn how to put the puffs in her mouth by herself, but every time they would try to put a puff in her hand, she would try to eat the puff from their hands! A few times she did manage to put the puff in her mouth from her own hand, but it was not easy!

Sometimes everything does not come easily. Whether it is feeding herself puffs or trying to get a toy that is just out of reach, there are things that Juliet finds frustrating. When Juliet is fussing over being frustrated, her mommy always says, "Anything that is too easy is not worth doing." So Juliet will continue to try a little harder each day and look for greater challenges to overcome.

Juliet's Bracket

Juliet is 6 months, 10 days old today. She has not been doing too much today. She just went out for a run, then had some breakfast, then took a ride in the car. Even though it does not sound too exciting, Juliet is enjoying her quiet day with her mommy and daddy.

While she is at home, Juliet has been enjoying watching lots of basketball. It is on tv all the time, and there are lots of colors and lots of movement, so Juliet thinks it's exciting. By the end of tomorrow, there will be 16 teams left in the tournament. She hopes that Pitt will be one of the teams left. She has been a Pitt fan since she was born. She went to her first Pitt football game when she was only a few weeks old. She has not made it to a basketball game yet, but she hopes to one day.

Juliet thought she would share with everyone her elite 8 picks and her reasons for picking those teams.

1 - Louisville. Their mascot is the cardinal and Juliet loves to watch birds

2 - Michigan State. It is where her cousin Allison goes to college.

3 - Washington. It makes her think of apples, which she loves to eat!

4 - Memphis. It used to be home to a lot of great music and Juliet loves music.

5 - Pitt.

6 - Villanova. It's near where her godmother lives.

7 - North Carolina. She likes the pretty blue on their uniforms.

8 - Oklahoma. Juliet likes the song "Oh what a beautiful mornin', oh what a beautiful day. I've got a beautiful feelin' everything's going my way!"

A Beautiful Day in Juliet's Neighborhood

Juliet is 6 months, 9 days old today. It is finally Friday. Juliet looks forward to Mondays and Fridays the most. On Mondays, she gets to get back to her comfortable routine of going to grandma's house and having a fun time there. On Fridays, she is excited to have a whole weekend with her mommy and daddy ahead of her. Tonight, she is happy that she will be spending a nice girls' night in, just Juliet and her mommy. Even though she loves her grandma a whole, whole lot, she is still glad to have some time with her mommy. Juliet knows that her mommy loves her more than anything and wishes that she could be home with Juliet every day.

Juliet is extra happy because she knows what her mommy and daddy have on the agenda for tomorrow : nothing. That may not sound too exciting, but it means that they can relax and spend as much time as they want at home. Juliet will be able to play in her exersaucer or on her exercise mat, or wherever she wants as much as she wants. She can take a stroll around the mall, grab a bite at Panera, or visit Oscar the Turkey at the Aviary. It is a nice, wide-open day.

Now, if Juliet's mommy and daddy did not have to work today, Juliet would be asking to go to the Children's Museum, where there is free admission for Mr. Rogers' birthday. Juliet has seen Mr. Rogers on TV and heard him tell her how special she is, and how happy he is with Juliet just being herself. He made her feel very happy and very proud to be the person she is. Juliet wishes that she had gotten the chance to meet Mr. Rogers, but she is glad that she has the chance to watch him on WQED and visit his "Land of Make Believe" at the Children's Museum.

Not The Carseat!

Juliet is 6 months, 8 days old today. She is usually a very happy little girl. Each morning, when the lights come on in her room, she greets the day with a smile. She is always excited to start a new day and try new things. As she gets ready in the morning, she laughs and smiles and babbles. She even has a little conversation with daddy in the car on the way to grandma's house.

Juliet enjoyed being out to dinner last night. She has had a few very good dinnertime outings in a row and is feeling very proud of herself. She wanted a little snack during dinner and the waitress at Fuel and Fuddle brought saltines, but they were too flimsy and able to break off in big chunks as Juliet ate them. Mommy said no to those crackers! So Juliet made due with a bit of bottle, a couple spoonfuls of bananas and a little piece of bread. She was so happy until mommy put her back in the carseat. That's when she got upset.

Juliet has disliked the carseat since she was an infant, and recently she has really hated it. Her mommy, daddy, and grandma tell her that it is just to keep her safe and that when she's bigger, she can sit on a booster seat and then on her own. But that is small consolation for Juliet! She is aggravated that she has to be strapped in and that she can't pull herself up to see everything. For the time being, she will have to see as much of the world as she can to make up for what she might be missing while in the carseat.

See You In 3 Months

Today, Juliet is 6 months, 7 days old. She had her 6-month check-up yesterday and is happy to report that she is doing just fine. She is up to 26 1/2 inches and 16 lbs. The doctor said that she is making exactly the kind of progress he hoped for. She is sitting up, grabbing objects (all the time!), making lots of cooing sounds, laughing, and responding to her own name. She was such a happy baby at the doctor's office! All smiles to everybody who talked to her and chatting up a storm. She didn't even cry too much when she got her vaccines. Such a brave, strong little girl!

Now, Juliet does not have to return to the doctor for 3 whole months! That means that it will be June when she next sees him, and mommy and daddy will be done with school. Juliet is so excited! Summer is right around the corner. But the fact that the doctor now only needs to see her in 3 months also means little Juliet is growing up. In the beginning, she was having check-ups every month, then it was every 2 months. Now, she will be 9 months old before she goes back...and the time after that, she will be a year old! Juliet is happy to be growing up so nicely. She knows that she makes her mommy and daddy so proud every day. But she did not know that it would all go by so quickly. She hopes that she can still be mommy and daddy's baby even though she is becoming such a big girl.

'Tis A Beautiful World

Juliet is 6 months, 6 days old today. She is in a good mood because everything is back to normal. Even though she had a wonderful time having a busy day with mommy yesterday, it is good to be back on schedule at grandma's house. She even slept extra soundly last night. This afternoon, she will visit with Dr. Hyde and show him what a healthy, happy baby she is!

After her appointment, Juliet will head out to North Park with her mommy and daddy for a run. Juliet loves to get in a nice run when the weather is pleasant. There is always so much to see. She sees people smiling at her as they jog or walk by, lots of furry puppies trotting along, and some people riding on bicycles. She also gets to see nature. Juliet really loves the outdoors and learning about things like the wind, birds, trees, water, and sunshine. It is very important to her to take care of these wonderful things so all the babies of the future will have as much fun looking at the world as she has.

She is also happily wearing her "Wee One" onsie from Uncle Mike and Aunt Lindsay for St. Patrick's Day. And she is thinking of her great-mom-mom, from whom she got her middle name.

A Reason To Sing

Juliet is 6 months, 5 days old today. This morning, she visited the Carnegie Library in Pittsburgh for the first time. She joined about 20 other babies for a Baby Lapsit, where she sat with her mommy and learned rhymes and songs, and played with toys and met with lots of other little

babies. She had a very good time and learned a lot. She sang "Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes", "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star", "Patty Cake", "Hush Little Baby" and lots of other fun songs. It was nice to spend some time learning new things and meeting new people.

Juliet really enjoyed the songs today. Juliet has always enjoyed hearing people sing. Her daddy and mommy sing to her all the time, and she has also heard her grandma, great-grandma, and Uncle John sing to her sometimes. There is something very nice about hearing a person you love sing to you. Even if they do not have the most beautiful singing voice, Juliet knows that the people who sing to her are singing because they can't help how happy they feel around her. Juliet just puts music in their hearts.

So whether it is her great-grandma singing "Baby Face", her grandma singing "Don't Say Nothing Bad About My Baby", her Uncle John singing "You're a Princess", her daddy singing "Always Be My Baby", or her mommy singing "Amazing Grace", Juliet is happy to have such joyful singing in her life.

Trying Something New For The First Time

Today, Juliet is 6 months, 4 days old. Her life is full of firsts. Yesterday was Juliet's first time going to the St. Patrick's Day parade. She saw lots of people and lots of puppies in the parade. It was also her first time eating regular crackers. She enjoyed them very much. She also got to meet a hockey player for the first time, even though he was an Ottawa Senator. It was her first time watching an overtime hockey game in person. What a long day! She was out of the house from 11 am until after 9 pm.

Juliet had many firsts today, too. It was Juliet's first time running through Downtown Pittsburgh and Juliet's first time eating some of the yummy wheat bread at Jo-Jo's diner. She then took her first walk through the Strip District, as Daddy carried her through the busy crowd. Tonight will be her first Selection Sunday and she will discover whom/when her favorite team (Pitt!) will play in her first NCAA tournament.

It is a lot of fun to try lots of new things for the first time, although it can be scary and sometimes difficult. Juliet would like to remind everyone to try something new for the first time each day!

Run, Baby Forrest, Run!

Juliet is 6 months, 2 days old today. She is on the move...almost. Juliet loves to stand and take a step or two when someone is holding her hands. She will even stand up holding on to something. She loves looking into big boxes and seeing what she can dig out. And now she has a new exersaucer to play with, thanks to her grandma. Juliet has so many nice toys, and she is so grateful for how much people enjoy watching her play!

Her grandma also got her a new pair of sneakers. They are pink baby Pumas. Soon, Juliet will be wearing them to walk around the house, and then she will need a new pair for running around. She already loves standing, bouncing and kicking her legs. In fact, Juliet enjoyed kicking since before she was born. On her birth day, everyone commented on Juliet's long legs and how they were already in constant motion! Maybe she is excited about getting to run with her mommy and daddy. She will not be able to run all the way around North Park for a few years, but once she gets going, it will be hard to stop her!

A Joyful Noise

Today, Juliet is 6 months, 1 day old. She has been working on talking. She makes all kinds of noises now. One is a loud, high-pitched scream she makes when she is very bored or when she can't have what she wants. This is the one she uses at dinner quite often. Juliet gets bored when she has to sit and watch everyone else eat, and she is upset that she can't have some food too.

Another sound that Juliet has been making from the beginning is a little sigh. She makes this sound when she tries to sneeze, but it doesn't come out! The sound is kind of like, "Ah, ah, ah...ooooooh." It is a very nice sound, and her mommy and daddy are happy that it is still in her repertoire!

The newest noises she is making are lots of "Aaahs" and "Waaahs" and "Gaahs". Today, she might have even made an "Uh oh!" when her balloon floated to the ceiling.

Juliet can't wait until she is able to say Dada and Mama. She thinks that it is coming soon. And soon enough, she will be able to say, "I love you" to all the people who read about her every day!

Happy Half-Birthday, Juliet!

Today Juliet is 6 months old. Happy half-birthday, Juliet!

6 months ago...

People were pulling Chinese baby food from shelves,

There was a conflict between Russia and Georgia,

Brett Favre was getting ready for his first game with the Jets,

'Bangkok Dangerous' was the #1 movie,

George W. Bush was president,

And Juliet's mommy was not a mommy.

She woke up at 4:30 in the morning, telling Juliet's daddy, "My back hurts. It keeps coming and going. Do you think I should go to work?"

And Juliet's daddy said no, he didn't think so.

So Juliet's mommy stayed home while her daddy went to work. Her mommy called both grandmas, saying that she thought this was it!

Juliet's mommy stayed at Juliet's grandma's house, having backaches now and then. Then, the backaches came really fast! And Juliet's mommy decided it was time to go to the hospital. So Juliet's grandma drove as fast as she could to get there in time!

A little while later, Juliet's grandpa got there, then her Uncle John, and then her daddy. Then her mom-mom was able to make it! After a while it was just Juliet's mommy, her daddy, and the doctors and nurses.

Juliet's mommy pushed and pushed, and then, all of a sudden, there was Juliet! It was 4:30 in the afternoon exactly. She looked like a little baby doll! Her mommy said, "Hello, Juliet!" and gave her a kiss. And from then on, Juliet was giving a little ray of light to the world.

Thank you for giving us your light, Juliet. Thank you for the happiest six months ever.

Games and Giggles

Today, Juliet is 5 months, 27 days old. She has been learning so much recently. Now that she sits up by herself, she can play with more toys. She likes to sit on her exercise mat and play with blocks, stuffed animals, her toy i-pod, and the rattles and rings that hang down. She also likes to shake the sun to make it play music. Juliet has always liked the sun's music, but before, she had to settle for kicking the arches with her feet to make it play. Now that she is sitting up, she can grab it with both hands and give it a shake!

Juliet can now find toys that are hidden. Yesterday, Mommy turned on Glow-worm's music and hid it behind her stuffed blocks. Juliet knocked over the blocks to get the Glow-worm! She also looks for toys when she drops them or when Mommy hides them from her. She is very smart.

Juliet is laughing more, too! Last night, when they were waiting for Daddy to get done at the store, Mommy said that Daddy was being a "slow-poke"! Each time she said "slow-poke", she poked Juliet on the shoulder. Juliet thought that this was hilarious! She giggled and giggled. And Juliet's giggle is a very wonderful, unique sound. She says, "Ah, hee hee! Ah, hee, hee, hee!" And then she might give a little squeal.

So far, "slow-poke", "peek-a-boo", and raspberries on the belly are the funniest things Juliet has discovered, but she can't wait to find out all the new things that make her giggle!

There's No Place Like It

Juliet is 5 months, 26 days old today. She has started to really appreciate being at home. When she was little, she didn't mind going out to dinner a few times a week. She usually napped throught the entire meal. It's true that when she was awake she was generally pretty upset about being out, but she did remain calm for many meals.

Now, she is not so comfortable with eating out. First of all, it's hard for her to sit and watch while everyone around her is eating. She is curious about all these new smells and she wonders what everything tastes like. She thinks, "Why can't I have some, too?"

Second, she is much more comfortable around her family than she is other people. Sure, she is glad to give others a big smile, but she just feels better when she is in familiar surroundings. She is also more comfortable in her swing or on her bouncer than she is in her carseat while the family is eating out. Even when she is being held at a restaurant, she has to watch all that nice food going into other people's mouths! And when she tries to grab it and put it in her mouth, would you believe it doesn't end up there?!

So Juliet will just stay home. She knows where everything is there, and how everything works. No where feels quite as nice as home.

The Sunday Night Routine

Juliet is 5 months, 25 days old today. It is Sunday night, and Juliet is at the end of a long weekend. She took a couple of naps today, but she was still tired tonight. That's the thing about Sunday nights - no matter what, people are tired!

Monday mornings are special for Juliet. First of all, they get her back into her weekday routine. Juliet enjoys routine. It makes her feel safe and happy. Being thrown off her routine is always a little tough for Juliet to deal with, although she really enjoyed being out and about this weekend. Second, Juliet gets to spend the day with her grandma. She does lots of things during the day. Sometimes she visits the grocery store; sometimes she sees the nice people who work at her pa-pa's office.

Third, and finally, on Mondays she has to say bye-bye to her mommy and daddy for the day. It is hard, and it never makes Juliet happy. But then, Juliet thinks about all the other little boys and girls who have to spend the day in daycare instead of with their grandmas, and about all the babies who don't get to see their mommies and daddies at the end of the day. And then Juliet feels very lucky and happy to have such a nice life.

Also, Juliet would like to say a special "hi" to her Uncle John who is in Florida right now. She can't wait to see him on Sunday!

So Much To Do!

Today, Juliet is 5 months, 24 days old. She had a very busy day! She started by heading out to North Park and running a lap around the lake with her mommy and daddy. It was a very warm day, so Juliet was able to enjoy the fresh air and looking at all the many people running around the lake. She is looking forward to the time when she can run around by herself. She will definitely be a strong runner and a very healthy little girl.

Afterwards, Juliet headed to Panera Bread. She was first there when she was only 3 days old. She looked at all the people as her mommy and daddy ate. Then, she went to Wesley's birthday party at the Children's Museum. While there, Juliet enjoyed her first animal cracker and a little carrot before finishing her bottle. Then she went around the museum and played on the see-saw. She had a very nice time and enjoyed seeing her friend Wes again!

Juliet then went with her grandma and papa to Schenley Park and Aspinwall Grille while her mommy and daddy went to the movies. While she had a very good time with her grandparents, she missed her mommy and daddy and is very happy to be tucked in her comfortable crib right now.

There was a lot to do today, and Juliet got to experience many things. But nothing feels as nice as falling asleep in her own crib after such a busy day!

How To Sleep Well

Juliet is 5 months, 23 days old today. She had an easy time falling to sleep last night, curled up with a nice warm bottle and her pacifier. She felt so cozy and happy. Her mommy put her down in her crib like she always does, by saying "Good night, Sweetheart. Sweet dreams. Sleep tight. I can't wait to see you in the morning. I love you so much." Then she gives Juliet a kiss and turns down the Disney lullabys so they play softly as Juliet sleeps.

On Wednesday night, Juliet had a tough time going to sleep. She had a clean diaper and a full belly, but she was still very upset. She cried as she was rocked. She cried as she was carried around. She cried as she was carried up and down the stairs. She even cried while Daddy danced with her to David Cook. Finally, Mommy took her to Mommy and Daddy's bed and just held her tight and let her cry. As Juliet cried, Mommy talked softly about the day, and all the fun stuff Juliet had done. Then Mommy talked about how nice it would be to fall asleep, and all the wonderful things Juliet could dream about. Slowly, Juliet began to calm down, and she eventually fell asleep.

Sometimes we need to be reminded of all the things that our good in our lives and all the good things we can imagine in our minds. Nothing helps us fall asleep better than knowing that we lead happy lives and that in our dreams, we can be happier still.

Being Just Pretty Is Not Enough

Today, Juliet is 5 months, 21 days old. She learns more and more each day. Already, she has mastered turning off the light switch in her room. Each time they are about to leave Juliet's room, Mommy or Daddy says, "It's time to turn off the light!" And Juliet reaches up her little hand and, usually within 3 tries, flicks the switch off. She is getting very good at it! And each time, Mommy or Daddy says, "Good job, Juliet! Thank you for turning off the light. You are a very good, helpful little girl."

Juliet was home for most of the night last night. Before coming home, she visited with her great-uncle Dave and great-aunt Gail who live in Michigan. They were in Pittsburgh and wanted to meet Juliet. Juliet was very happy to meet them and was very friendly to them. Then, she went home.

As her daddy was making dinner, she and her mommy watched some "Jeopardy!" The woman who won last night was a high school history teacher who was very smart. She won easily. But Juliet noticed something else. The woman who won was very pretty. Now, Juliet knows that there are many girls and women out there who are content with just being pretty. They think being pretty is enough work, so they don't do anything else with their lives. The woman who won "Jeopardy!" was not content with being pretty. She must have thought, "So what? I'll still work hard to be smart, too!" Juliet thinks that this woman had the right idea. Even if Juliet grows up to be the most beautiful woman in the world (she will), she will still want to work hard to be the smartest, most compassionate, most helpful, and most dedicated woman as well. Being just pretty is not enough.

Canon in J

Juliet is now 5 months, 20 days old. She loves to listen to music. Yesterday, she enjoyed playing with her toy i-Pod for about half an hour. It just plays snippets of classical music, but that's all right by Juliet. She has always loved listening to classical music. When she was first born and colicky, sometimes opera was the only thing to calm her down. She loves being sung to, and she loves listening to music on the radio. Classical is no match for David Cook, but it is still nice to hear the calming music in Juliet's room.

Juliet started to learn about music before she was born. She listened to a lot of Disney music and Beatles music when she was in her mommy's belly. So, she had a good start with some good music. She hopes that she will still like listening to this great music when she gets older, and her friends are starting to pressure her into listening to whatever is "cool". Not that Juliet has a problem with "cool" music. She likes all types. But Juliet is meant to be a stand-out. She is a leader, not a follower. She will be the kind of person others look to for how to act properly.

That is a lot of responsibility for Juliet to live up to! She knows her parents love her no matter what - no exceptions - no caveats. But, as those who have met her know, there is something very special about Juliet. She has a light about her that makes the world seem like it is full of beautiful music!

Tasting the World

Juliet has been our life for 5 months, 19 days now. She is the most curious little girl in the world! She likes to sit up at the table when her family is eating and investigate everything. She tries to pick up bowls, cups, napkins, and silverware. The only piece of silverware her mommy and daddy let her actually get a hold of is the spoon - the other two are too pointy and sharp!

Juliet is also curious about food. Yesterday, she got to gum some whole wheat bread at breakfast. She definitely liked it! Mommy was relieved because whole wheat bread is very healthy, and Juliet wants to develop healthy eating habits right from the start. Other healthy food she has enjoyed include distilled water and carrots. She was not too fond of the water, although most people would be disappointed if they were looking forward to some warm milk and instead got cool water! The carrots were pretty good, though. They felt nice on Juliet's sore gums.

Juliet can't wait to discover lots of new foods. Whether it's the simple meals her mommy and daddy cook, the feasts her Grandma makes, or some yummy take-out from Mad Mex, Juliet is looking forward to trying everything she can and deciding what works best for her little tummy!

Sleeping and Dreaming

Today, Juliet is 5 months, 18 days old. She slept a lot today. Her mommy and daddy think that she might have a little cold, because she has been sniffling and sneezing a little bit. She also took 2 naps - both of which her mommy and daddy were forced to interrupt! She has been focused on getting her energy back, so that she can have lots of fun this week.

Sleep is important to Juliet. She doesn't always get as much as she needs. Much of the time, she is too excited to see what's going on to get a good night's sleep. Each day, Juliet is seeing more and more of the world, so she is more excited to see what's coming next. Each day also gives Juliet new things to dream about.

When Juliet was born, she probably just dreamed about being cozy in the womb and drinking milk. As time has gone on, she has started to dream of new things. Some of the nice things Juliet can now dream about include: birds, dogs, warm blankets, music, snow, flowers, bath time, trees, and all the nice people she's met. Someday, she will dream about rainbows, the ocean, Disney World, and ice cream.

And maybe, just maybe, someday Juliet will dream about her neuro-surgery practice, her journeys around the world, or her home at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.

What's in a name?

Today, Juliet is 5 months, 17 days old. She has now seen daddy's play twice. Juliet gets a lot of attention because of her name. One of the parents even made Juliet a beautiful dress because she was the inspiration for the play. The funny thing is, mommy and daddy had planned on the name Juliet since they first found out she was on the way. When they found out she was a girl, they were so excited to call her Juliet. They think it is such a pretty name!

Juliet's name is everywhere! It is in her room four times - around her mirror, above her window, above her closet, and on her door. The words above her window say, "But soft, what light through yonder window breaks? It is the east, and Juliet is the sun!" Not only is this a wonderful quote from Romeo and Juliet, but it is also exactly how people feel when they see Juliet! She is a beautiful ray of sunshine in people's lives!

Juliet is on a break from play-viewing right now, but she is looking forward to seeing the show one more time. Then, she will join her daddy in a good night's sleep!

Daddy Time!

Juliet is 5 months, 15 days old today. She has been growing up so fast! It is amazing how well she sits on her own and reaches for everything. Yesterday, she was able to grab a raisin right out of mommy's hand (mommy didn't let her keep it)! Each day brings new surprises and adventures for her. She hopes that life continues to be this interesting every day.

Juliet spends a lot of time with her grandma, and a lot of time with mommy. This is because daddy has been working very, very hard on a play at his school. The play is "Romeo and Juliet: Together (and Alive) at Last". The director chose it because she was inspired by the real-life Juliet she knew! The play goes on this weekend, and it will be such a relief for her daddy who has put so much work into it.

Since Juliet is going to begin spending more time with daddy, here is a list of things that she would like to do to have fun with him:

Play in the Baby Room at the Children's Museum

Look at the turkey at the Aviary

Finally watch the Penguins win a game in person

Go around North Park in the Baby Jogger

Go fishing at North Park

Feed the ducks

Play on the playground near our house

Dance

Read some stories together

Take a nice, long nap!

Juliet says, "I love you, Daddy."

Playing with Puppies

Juliet is 5 months, 14 days old today. Happy 5 1/2 month birthday, Juliet!

She is beginning to discover how much fun her biggest toys are: the two big black puppy dogs that live with her grandma and papa. They are named Magic and Scout. They are half German Shepherd, half Golden Retriever. Juliet loves to watch them moving around the house. She also likes to reach out and pet them. Sometimes they stand still, but they often do not! Magic likes to give her big kisses on the face, though!

Juliet has noticed that Scout is not as comfortable with her as Magic is. Maybe that is because Scout knows that Juliet's daddy wanted to name Juliet "Scout" (Mommy said, "We named the dog Scout!"). Or maybe it's because Mommy pays more attention to Juliet than she does to Scout, and Mommy used to pay Scout lots of attention.

Juliet wants Scout to know that her mommy still loves Scout. She also wants her mommy to know that she should still pay attention to Scout. And finally, Juliet wants Scout to know that she loves her, and she hopes that they become best friends as she grows up!

What Has Made You Smile Today?

Juliet is five months, 13 days old. She loves to smile. It took her a few weeks to work out exactly how to do it, but now she smiles all the time. She always saves her best smile for when she wakes up in the morning. Usually mommy gets to see it, but today, daddy was the one to receive her wake-up smile. Juliet's smile says, "Hey, I remember you! It's nice to see you again!"

Juliet's smile says a lot. When grandma makes a silly face, her smile says, "That was really funny! Please do it again!" When mommy lifts her high in the air, her smile says, "Wow! I didn't know I could fly!" And when she's at Dr. Hyde's office, Juliet has a smile that says, "Look at how I'm smiling at you. You wouldn't want to give me a shot when I'm smiling like this, would you?"

Juliet has noticed that, as people grow older, they don't smile quite as often. They have other things on their minds that make them forget to be happy. But Juliet thinks that something doesn't have to be big to make you smile. A familiar song, seeing that a loved one is home from work, playing with your favorite toy - all these are things that make Juliet smile and she believes that they should make us all smile a little more often.

Juliet has many reasons to smile. Her mommy and daddy, however, have the biggest (little)reason of all.

The Best Thing About Being Scared

Today, Juliet is 5 months and 12 days old. She usually sleeps through the night pretty well. Most days, she goes to sleep around 9:15 and wakes somewhere around 6 a.m. She is a pretty consistent little girl. Every once in a while, like last night, Juliet will wake up in the middle of the night and start to cry. Last night, mommy and daddy came in, gave her a little hug, helped her find her pacifier, and let her fall back to sleep.

Juliet may have had a scary dream, or just heard the sound of a car roll past outside. Something woke her up, and when she opened her eyes, everything was dark and she suddenly felt very scared and alone. Juliet thinks that it's a scary thing - waking up to a dark room with no one around...especially when you've only been looking at the world for 5 months and 12 days. So she doesn't think anyone could blame her for crying a little bit when she felt a bit afraid.

The best thing about waking up feeling scared and alone is that the people who love Juliet the most were right beside her, letting her know that it would be OK. They didn't make a big deal, or get upset, or try to make her drink formula to force her back to sleep. They just said, "Shh, Juliet. It's OK. We're here. We love you." And as Juliet took her pacifier, she drifted off to sleep, knowing that, even when life gets dark and scary, her mommy and daddy will always be there to let her know that she is loved.

What It Means To Be A Great-Granddaughter

Today, Juliet is 5 months and 11 days old. She just spent the weekend with her mom-mom and pop-pop from Philadelphia. She doesn't get to see them all the time, so she is so happy when she gets to see them. Juliet is very glad that she has four grandparents that she loves very much. She gets to spend weekdays with her grandma (and sometimes pa-pa) and she looks forward to the time she gets to spend with her mom-mom and pop-pop. The best thing about her grandparents is that they keep her mommy and daddy from making too many mistakes! And she knows they love her so much!

Juliet is counting her blessings. She also is happy to say she has three great-grandparents. Her great-pop-pop lives in Collegeville and she has a great-grandma in West View and a great-grandma in Sewickley. There is something very special about having the ability to reach back through the generations and learn about her family tree. There are many, many stories that Juliet is looking forward to hearing from her great-grandparents as she gets older.

Juliet wishes that she had gotten to know her other great-grandparents. She knows that she would have loved them very much. When she gets older, she might like to write a letter in her journal to her great-grandparents. But for now, this is what she would like to say:

Dear Great-grandma Rogalski Great-grandpa Rogalski, Great-grandma McCormick, Great-grandpa Maxwell, and Great-grandpa Forrest,

Thank you for all you have done for my family. I wish that I had gotten a chance to know you, but I feel I already do. I have you in my heart, and I know that I love you. Please continue to watch over me and I know that I will see you some day.

Love, Juliet

PS- Juliet wants to wish her great-uncle Ed happy birthday!

Juliet likes blue, too!

Most babies don't have too much hair. Juliet was lucky enough to be born with a nice amount, but today, at 5 months and 10 days, her hair is still pretty short. And Juliet doesn't think that it's too unusual to be still waiting for shoulder-length locks at this point.

The problem is, most people associate short hair with boys. So whenever Juliet heads out to the mall or the grocery store, she has to deal with people saying, "Oh, what a cute baby! What's his name?" Juliet is very flattered that such nice people would stop and tell her mommy and daddy how cute she is, but she wonders why they all think that she is a boy. And she does not think that she is alone in her confusion. She met another little girl named Kendall last night, and her aunt said that people always confused Kendall for a boy. And it must be even worse when people think little boy babies are girls, since it seems to be people's first response to guess boy.

Many mommies and daddies deal with this problem by dressing little boys in blue and little girls in pink, which is all well and good, since Juliet happens to like pink. But Juliet likes other colors, too! She likes to wear red, green, purple, brown, white, orange, yellow, and, yes, even blue!

So the next time you see a baby wearing any color of clothing, Juliet wants you to say this: "Oh, what's the baby's name?" And after you get a response, say, "Oh, he (or she) is so cute!" Because Juliet believes all babies are cute - no matter what color they wear!

Just For A Moment

Today, Juliet is 5 months and 9 days old. She is such a good girl. Last night, Juliet fell asleep around 9:15 and slept until her mommy and daddy woke her at 6:10 in the morning. What a good night's sleep!

Part of what helps Juliet sleep is listening to the Disney Lullabys for Juliet playlist on her i-Pod. Every night, she listens to "Beauty and the Beast" from Beauty and the Beast, "Someday My Prince Will Come" from Snow White, "A Whole New World" from Aladdin, "A Dream Is A Wish Your Heart Makes" from Cinderella, "Baby Mine" from Dumbo, "Part of Your World" from The Little Mermaid, "When You Wish Upon a Star" from Pinocchio, "Circle of Life" from The Lion King, "Illuminations Finale" from Epcot, and "Wishes" from the Magic Kingdom.

Juliet likes these songs right before she falls asleep because she listens to them while dancing with mommy. Even though Juliet is getting to be such a big girl, she is just the right size to dance under the stars with her mommy right before she goes to bed. Sometimes she looks at the stars, sometimes she plays with mommy's hair, sometimes she just rests her little head on mommy's shoulder. But no matter what, she is happy and content. It is the perfect end to her exciting and hectic day.

Juliet knows that, one of these days, she will start to get too big for mommy to dance with her like this. She will be too big for mommy to hold in her arms, and she may even decide that dancing with mommy is silly. This is all just a normal part of growing up, and mommy and daddy want her to grow up into a strong, smart little girl, and a strong, smart young lady.

But now, just for this short time, just for a moment, Juliet is glad that she can dance with her mommy to her Disney lullabys before she goes to sleep.

Who is Juliet Forrest?

Juliet Forrest was born on September 11, 2009. She was supposed to be born Sept. 12, but was in a bit of a hurry! Many people associate the date with the tragic events that occurred in 2001, but for us, September 11 will always be a day of joy, because it was the day we received the most incredible and miraculous gift in the world. It was the day we found completion to a puzzle that we had never even realized was incomplete before.

Juliet is, as of today, five months and 8 days old. Her newest trick is sitting up and walking in the princess walker at Grandma's house. She is very strong! She will pull herself up when she grabs your fingers and she is always trying to sit up in her carseat so she can see what is going on. She always wants to be part of the action. Right now, she is better at going backwards in the walker, but she is working on forward motion.

Juliet has quite the little personality and is very clear as to what she likes and dislikes. She likes: David Cook's version of "Always Be My Baby", warm bottles, Glow-Worm, teddy bear, her baby doll, and Oscar the Turkey, grabbing her feet, eating her hands, bath time, looking at the clothes in her closet, touching faces, watching the ceiling fan, peek-a-boo, and when Mommy sings "Amazing Grace" and "Doe a Deer".

Her dislikes include: her carseat, being forced to take her pacifier, not getting attention, getting dressed (especially in a onesie), wearing hats, the aspirator, the sound of her carseat being clicked into place, and hiccups.

Juliet's adventures so far include: staying overnight in a hotel (in Altoona and in Columbus), going to a movie theater (she left because it was too loud, but don't worry - mommy and daddy got a refund!), dressing as a bunny for Halloween, going to a University of Pittsburgh football game, going to a Pittsburgh Penguins hockey game, taking the jogging stroller around North Park Lake, meeting Pitt coach Dave Wanstaat, meeting former Pitt running back LeSean McCoy, meeting Santa Claus, taking an airplane to and from Philadelphia, and sleeping through the Steelers winning Super Bowl XLIII.

Juliet is looking forward to meeting everyone that she has yet to meet and to seeing all her friends and family soon.

Juliet the Princess - juliettheprincess

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Latest news

Dear Juliet 2/27/2010

Going Up and Down

Another Parent's Thoughts on His Daughter's Future

Weekend Plans

The Indoor Playground

The Twelfth Day Of Christmas

Dear Juliet 1/4/10

Welcome 2010!

Christmas

On The Ice

Perfect

Mommy's Blog

15 Month Check-Up

Meeting Santa

On The Big Screen

Was That Food To-Go?

The Elf Is Watching

Great-Grandma's Apartment

Hauling Out The Holly

Too Much Energy

Juliet's 2nd Columbus Weekend

Juliet's Thanksgiving

Turning Somersaults

Juliet's Big Weekend

Juliet Is Back

Dear Juliet 11/13/09

The Caretaker