9 Years

We've gone from this:




To this:

15 Months

This was a big month for you. You are officially walking, signing to communicate, understanding and listening, hitting and throwing fits, and still stealing the hearts of the neighborhood ladies.

Walking was a big milestone! You practiced all the time but preferred crawling until about 2 weeks ago when you decided that walking was really the way to move. And now you've got places to go and fast! You love to wear shoes, which is great since now you won't slip while walking.


Too fast for photos!

Busy, busy boy you are. With walking all over the place, you also love to push your cars and anything with wheels from the kitchen to the living room and back again. You line them up and push them one at a time. You have a method, although I can't tell what it is, but you are very serious about this activity.

You sign eat, all done, doggy, more, milk, bye-bye (which is also night-night), you know where your nose and ears are and you mastered pointing at things. You understand other signs too so you'll probably be doing them soon. We got you Signing Times (with Alex and Leah!) and you LOVE it. It's super cute and the music is catchy (just ask us how we know :) )



You also understand us. We ask you to do something and you do it.

Me: (puts baby Jules in his crib) Go night-night!
BJ: Waves night-night
Me: Ok, night-night, lay down
BJ: lays down and giggles.

So cute. :)



You do get frustrated and with that comes the hitting and screaming. We try to stop you and get you focused on something else, but sometimes the tantrums are funny. We still love you even when you're being a little dramatic.

Scully is scared of you because you hit her for fun. That's not funny! So she probably isn't your friend anymore.



You're still a little guy but you grew 3 inches in 3 months! So now you're at 50% for height and 15% for weight. You still wear size medium cloth diapers and size 12-month clothes.

You were the baby of the family until Cousin Deacon showed up a tad early. You haven't met him yet but you will soon. We'll see how you are around him. If you're good, maybe you'll get a new brother or sister. (That's NOT an announcement, so calm down everyone.)

And Just Like That...

We have fall weather.

I've only been here two years and I already want to move to the one place that truly has four seasons.

Utah.

Not Nevada. Not Texas. Not Minnesota.

Utah.

Baby Jules doesn't even have any long-sleeved shirts or pants. Because it's SEPTEMBER and we should still be wearing SHORTS and T-SHIRTS.

Ok Justin, you win.

14 Months

As I write this, Jules is closer to 15 months, (and closer to falling off the couch as I type) but I figured I should write up his 14 month post anyway.

All of a sudden, you're a toddler! We left you with Grandma a few weeks back, headed to DCI and you showed her your walking skills. She was so happy to be here during a big milestone. You get better everyday with all the practicing you do. Many times I'll be in the kitchen and you'll just wander in, wobbly with one arm out Frankenstein-like. I know one day you'll run full speed around the house and I know I'll be wishing you were still the little baby who waited forever to crawl, but I'll be so proud of how far you've come.

You LOVE stuffed animals. Any kind, any size. You want them all in your crib even though you throw them out. You point to them (hey, you point now!!) when we walk in because you want us to put them back in your crib for the next time you go to sleep. We love how sweet you are to all stuffed animals.



With all of the growing, you're also testing your limits (to the extreme that a one-year-old can). You throw little tantrums when you don't get your way. It's really funny when you pretend to hit yourself knowing you're being naughty. Most of the time when you don't get your way, we just redirect you to something else and it works. Sometimes, but you can really turn on the tears of injustice.



We're also working with a "no hitting rule" since you go around swatting at Scully. She doesn't like it and my face doesn't like your swatting too.

When it involves me and Scully, it usually goes like this:

Me: "Baby Jules, NO HITTING!" (grab your hand away from Scully)
Baby Jules: AHHHHHH (swat MOM's face fast and furiously)

Me: trying to grab a hand moving at light-speed. "Stop!"

Justin: Laughing



You say: Dada, doggie, duck, nana (banana), and sometimes mama.
Signs you know: Bath, eat/food, all done, milk, more, bye.

You like:
-music and you dance to it
-cars! but really, anything with wheels
-girls
-my cell phone
-our laptops
-airplanes in the sky
-babbling
-peas
-climbing on our bed and playing
-feeding Scully from your tray




14 months, what a big boy!

Bento

I got this little blue case at a shopping center in Portsmouth, England in May. I loved how cute and contained it was. It even came with (plastic) silverware! Justin's occasionally used the silverware for Jules since it's small and a perfect size for him.

I started researching Bento lunches, boxes and accessories a few weeks ago. It's pretty simple to do and to get started you don't have to have a cute little box. A simple leftover container will work too. But, really, it's all about presentation! And kids, who wouldn't want to eat something that's a cute heart, star or flower?



My simple Bento. Ranch roll-ups, carrots and hummus (in the little container). Luckily, the divider is removable so I was able to fit everything just right and tight.

It looked like this when I opened it up 4 hours later. But I think I broke a rule...or didn't follow a simple rule of Bento making - make it look good. It's pretty bland looking. So for my next one, I'll try to make it more colorful.

If you're interested in making your lunch neat, tidy and cute, here are a few resources I found:

A flickr pool with meal ideas

Just Bento is a great resource for everything Bento's

Laptop Lunches

Fun Bento's for kids

And just for fun:

Star Wars Bento