The Championships at Wimbledon have begun. I have watched a little tennis while Julianna plays in the TV room. Her patience runs thin after about half an hour, so no complete matches. She still does not have a lot of independent play, so it is a lot of her getting in and out of my lap and bringing me things to look at/play with. Eventually the excitement runs out and we have to find new activities. She has toys in the room, but finds anything on the computer table more interesting. Right now she is running around with a software disc. I guess the good thing about not watching much of Wimbledon is that it spares me having to listen to John McEnroe bemoan the loss of serve/volleyers in the game. The world is dominated by base liners. Life changes. Move on.

Things are pretty good around our house. Our biggest issues continues to be night time. We still think she is having night terrors, nightmares or both. Some nights she is up a couple of times and some nights she is up every two hours. We got an article yesterday about night terrors. It said you should wake them up either 15 minutes before their terrors if they are consistently at the same time or 30 minutes after you put them to bed if not. It is suppose to break the sleep cycle and prevent. We tried the 30 minute wake up last night and had a good night. Need some more data points before deciding that it made a difference.

The word of the week is defiance. I still wonder how much she understands, especially after putting her in the time out chair three times in a row for the same offense. She will get out of the chair, head straight to the stove and turn knobs. Back to the chair. Sometimes she pokes her lower jaw out in clear defiance and commits the offense. Sometimes she just seems to be going about the business of play and falls into forbidden territory.

The pictures are from her birthday. Doesn't every two year old need a tennis racket? Notice it is Wilson, like mommy, not Prince, like daddy.

It is hard to believe, but today is the three month anniversary of getting our little girl. Exactly twelve weeks ago today, we flew into China, took quick showers, and met our beautiful girl. We were so exhausted by the end of the day that I fell asleep on the bed with Julianna, completely awake, sitting on my stomach. I thought it might be fun on this anniversary to relive some of those parenting dictums that have fallen away at our house. I hope you enjoy our silliness.

10. We won't loose any of those sippy cups


About half of them are spread out somewhere in the house. We did at least make it to
eleven weeks before leaving one at a restaurant.

9. No character toys
We broke this one before we even made it to China

8. She will sleep in her own bed in her own room


We can dream

7. No caffeine
How about no caffeine in her sippy cups?

6. No eating in the car

5. We will have a bookshelf filled with classic literature for our darling to enjoy.


I guess Dr. Seuss is a classic

4. We will read from the above mentioned classics before bedtime every night.

3. Our child will eat whatever we make for dinner (ie, no special baby meals)


Good thing I own this.

2. No junk food
Thanks, Mary

1. Our house will not be taken over by baby paraphernalia


And pigs will fly.

Happy Father's Day. Julianna and her daddy have gone to visit his parents, so mommy has the afternoon to herself. Now I have to come up with "what I've been wanting to do but could not because of the baby". Unfortunately, my favorite fabric store is closed. Cannot really go to the movies because I still have to take call and would most likely spend the entire time in the lobby answering calls. I'm not really in the mood to sew after the sewing machine ripped a huge whole in the dedication dress (the needle got embedded in the bobbin plate, which had slipped out when I put the embroidery hoop on. Sigh). No good tennis matches on. I guess I'll just take a nap.

This is Julianna in one of Cousin Jessica's dresses. It is a six/nine month size. She picked the red shoes. I had her in white ones for about five minutes and she exercised her option of selecting her own footwear. The band aid is for no particular reason. She does have boo boos on both knees, but they are healing nicely. She just wanted a band aid. I think it is cute that she is all decked out in a frilly dress and socks but has rough-n-tumble knees.

We have had our crib for an embarrassing long time, and this happened for the first time Tuesday...
The photograph did not turn out as well as I hoped. I could not get high enough, so let me explain. In the left corner is Julianna, sound asleep, in the right corner is a cat, and not just any cat, the cat that Julianna is afraid of, the one that has bitten me three times since we got back from China. It was a frightening sight. Fortunately, she has not done it again.

Julianna had her big birthday this weekend. The big number two. We had a good time. Number of photos taken by her parents=0. Number of photos taken by her grandparents=+100. I even took the camera downstairs where the festivities were. Good thing she has grandparents or nothing in her life would be photographed.

This is today's shoe selection. Julianna has taken to selecting shoes right after her first diaper change. I think she just likes putting them on and does use any great criteria in her selection process. She loves to stand up and put on her shoes like a big girl slipping into shoes. She has started wearing the shoes more consistently as well. Up until now, we would put the shoes in her diaper bag and put them on at the destination because she would inevitably get them off in the car.
Here we are, bed hair and shoes. She has a sock on her hand. She caught her fingers in the door and has a bad boo boo on one finger. The sock is so she will not pull the band aid off. The experience did not in any way change her habit of closing and opening doors.

Yesterday, or maybe Sunday, she decided to eat bananas like the adults in the house and not cut up on her plate. Emily Post would be aghast that anyone in our house eats bananas like this, but I'm sure it is not the only uncouth activity we partake in.

Today we took part in that great American privilege--voting. We had a "I Voted" sticker and I was going to get her picture in it, but we lost it. They just don't stick quite so well after you pull them off five or six times.

We scheduled her baby dedication. It will be July 29. That means about seven weeks for mommy to finish her dress. I guess I should go start...

I've said how much I like footed jammies, but how about footed jammies and shoes?

It is another no picture post. I'm sure they are boring. I went to work this weekend. First full weekend back. It was sort of strange. I had to take daddy's car because the car seat is in mommy's. I had to take my coat, two parking passes and a patient list. Nearly left without the parking passes. I also had to remember the dictation codes for three systems and the computer codes for two. I did not write them down anywhere because I thought I would always remember them since I use them so much. Brilliant plan that was. I'm sure someone can reset the computer codes this week. Perhaps I'll even write them down...

Today is just one of those frustrating parenting days. Julianna was so tired at nap time that she could not keep her eyes open, but still managed to fight sleep for an hour and a half. Strong willed indeed. It is frustrating because I feel like I don't know what the right thing to do is. Do we walk out and let her fall asleep on her own? Do we sit in the room with her (she thinks this is an invitation to play)? Rock her? Stroke her arm and back (forty minutes today)? I just do not know and it is driving me crazy.

The camera is still by the computer from the last photo download, so no new pictures. Poor kid.

Okay. New pictures.

Julianna stayed in the nursery at church last night. It was a short service, about 30 minutes, and she did okay. They ended up walking her in a stroller. We will try again on Sunday.

Would you believe it is raining in France? Sleeping baby, rain delay. Deep sigh.

Julianna received her certificate of citizenship yesterday. Now we can apply for her SSN and an American passport.

Once again, we have not taken many new photographs. Need to move that camera downstairs.

Here it is, day two of the French Open and it is raining again. We watched one match before the rain came. Okay, technically, we ran around the TV room and interfered with mommy watching the match, but did sit down long enough for a photograph and did clap when the crowd clapped on TV.

Is there anything cuter than a baby in footed sleepers? Just makes me want to scoop her up and cover her with kisses.


This one has been in the camera for awhile. It is our very first tattoo, which we got at Grandma and Paw Paw's house. I can do anything there.

Today is opening day at the French Open. It is raining. I have big dreams of watching lots of tennis over the next two weeks and teaching Julianna all about the beautiful red clay of Roland Garros. After all, between her performances as a concert cellist, she will be playing professional tennis. Right now we are working on our toss.

Okay, back to reality. Julianna is doing much better at communicating her desires. She has figured out that she eats in her high chair and that if she asks to get in the chair, food will magically appear. She has learned that strawberries live in the refrigerator and that the back door leads to a yard. Her point and grunt style breaks down for anything more complicated, but it is progress over crying about everything.

We are thoroughly enjoying our little baby. She is the bright star in our life. We feel very blessed to have this fabulous sweetie.

It is hard to believe that I have not blogged in a week. A lot has happened. Julianna is sleeping in her crib. She has been doing so for about a week. It was one of those strange things. We were actually moving the crib out of her room, giving up on our efforts to get her to sleep in it and she wanted to get in it. So, we pushed her into the hall and down to our room and she did not scream. We let her play in it for awhile and then at bedtime, put her in and read to her. She woke up once and cried about 45 minutes, but we waited it out. The next night was about 30 minutes of crying and very little since then. She even naps in it. It was a huge amount of progress.

We ate biscuits. The key was apparently strawberry-fig jelly. Strawberry flavoring was also the key to drinking our milk again. Strawberries are yummy, especially all over our face.


We went back to Grandma and Paw Paw's house to have a "Welcome" party for Julianna and a "Welcome Home" party for Uncle Don.

It was a convergence of the relatives. Unfortunately, Julianna was not cooperative with the family photo.


We did manage to get a four-generation photograph. The generations are my great aunt, my mother, me and my daughter.


Julianna rode on Grandma's rocking horse. It is much smaller than the one we bought her. Her feet do not touch the ground on it. She really enjoyed this one.

She got a new purse. We keep her babies in it, Monkey Paul and Bear Don. She loves it and will sling it over her shoulder and parade off. It is a great gift. We can fit three babies in it. It makes it easier to carry them around with us.

This is cousin Jessica.


I went to work yesterday and today, for about a half day each. Yesterday, Julianna and Grandma went to the office with me and played some in the office and went to the mall across the street. She did so well that today she stayed home with Grandma and I went to work by myself. It went quite well, but a little strange to go somewhere without the baby. Daddy and I even went out to dinner alone. Then we went to the bookstore and bought her three books.

We've had a busy time here at the grandparents house. We got to drink our milk out of the Moo Cow Creamer. This is a family tradition. We have had the Moo Cow since we were children and "took turns" drinking out of it, if fighting over who was last counts as taking turns. Now the grandchildren drink from it when they visit grandma and paw paw. This grandchild's visits results in some first times for the Moo Cow--soy milk and a straw through his mouth.

We went to the park for the first time, but did not like the slides or the swing. We thought the car was a little bit fun. We took a walk around the lake and fed the ducks. Next we were off to the mall and rode the carousel. We enjoyed the stationary horse, but not the moving one so much. She did scream when we left, so I think overall it was a fun time.

Then we got up at 0330 (that would be morning) and went to meet Uncle Don at the airport. He was coming home from Iraq for his mid-tour break. Funny story about the shirts. We were meeting Don's family near the airport and had only set up a time with them. Grandma, Paw Paw and I decided to wear American Flag shirts so we went to Old Navy to get three. Don's family decided to do the same, so when we got to the meeting place, we were all dressed the same.

Uncle Don brought us a kinder egg. Yummy. The USO was giving the soldiers Beanie Bears as they came up. Julianna decided that Uncle Don should give her that bear. Now we have a bear named Don and a monkey named Paul.

Here is our last new activity for the day--eating tea cake cookies. My grandmother would make tea cake cookies for me and now Julianna's grandma makes them for her.

Julianna has done very well on her trip to Grandma and Paw Paw's. She has let them hold her and play with her and Mommy went to the bathroom alone!!!!!!! This was an exciting moment in mommy's life. Julianna is showing her strong willed nature. I'm sure it is a survival technique from the orphanage, but nap time is becoming a test of wills. She does not like to be rocked and thinks singing to her is an invitation to point out Miss Kitty's nose. It is hard because I cannot do what the parenting books say to do--lay her down and walk away. That results in some unbelievable screaming, I think because she is still not convinced that if I walk away, I will come back. It is also hard because I am used to giving orders and having them followed. Two-year olds aren't much into following orders.

Julianna and mommy have headed to Grandma and Paw Paw's house for a few days. We discovered their squirrel gun, also know as a super soaker water gun, on the back porch and thought it might be fun to water the plants and the porch and the bird feeder, our socks, most of our dress...

We helped Grandma make biscuits for breakfast, but we would not eat any. Still like our oatmeal and banana's.

Here we are with Paw Paw in the back yard. Take a close look at the cat in the background. That is Captain Jack, who is planning an assault on the bird house.

Today we are off to shop and shop.

The baby got a new toy. Okay, technically, mommy got a new toy, but nonetheless, we have a trailer for the bike. We have gone out twice and she seems to enjoy it. She has a new way of checking out the birds and trees and mom gets to ride her bike, which makes mommy very happy.

I know everyone thinks there child is the smartest, but mine really is pretty smart. She is trying to inflate the tire wheels. Before I snapped the photo, she had the end of the pump in the spokes of the wheel and was pumping. I did not teach her any of this. She saw me inflate the tires when we put the trailer together.

We still have a good moments and bad moments. She does stuff that makes me laugh, even though I may not want her to do it. Makes it hard to discipline your child when you are laughing hysterically. Last night she was swinging her plate full of mac and cheese around. Not sure why I found it so funny. Fortunately, the mac and cheese stuck to the plate. One day this week I was holding a book that I have borrowed and I did not want her to have because she might tear the pages. She got her lady bug purse and offered to trade me her purse for the book. Made me laugh because we do this to her, trade her an acceptable toy for something we are concerned she will harm herself with. It was touching.

This is Julianna with Pastor Paul. He was our pastor in Wisconsin and is now in Nevada doing missions work. When we talk about The Pastor, we mean Pastor Paul. Everyone should have a Pastor Paul. He had a great influence on us and we have enjoyed our friendship with his family.

Everyday we learn a little bit more about parenting. Today's lesson was be careful how close you put the stroller to, well, basically everything. You would think after the tea set episode I would know this, but I guess I needed a refresher course. For the record, the little tear in her eye is because I left her to get the camera, not because I scolded her.

We are practicing the "walk away" method to deal with her tantrums. We have learned that you have to completely walk away and ignore her. I tried just sitting away from her and watching the drama, but that encourages rather than discourages. It is hard to keep one eye on her to make sure she doesn't hurt herself and at the same time appear to ignore her. It does seem to shorten the dramas. I'm still hoping they stop completely soon.

She understands that she is the "Ba Ba" and will point at herself proudly and say "baba". I think she might understand that I am the mama. She says mama all the time. She does not understand that Phillip is the dada, but she says that a lot too.

We have been playing classical music for her. When she likes the song, she will sway and close her eyes. It is very cute. She will even clap at the end of a song. For the most part, the music is background noise to her, but sometimes it catches her attention.

Today we went to the doctor. It went smoothly. She had a lot of blood drawn and needs to produce a stool sample. She is no longer anemic, which you may remember was one of the things that made her special needs. The doctor thought she was doing very well. She is 20 pounds but he was not worried. She got a TB test placed and we are going back on Thursday to get the TB test read and to discuss the rest of her blood work.

We had a really good day on Saturday. Julianna decided that perhaps her daddy was not all that bad and let him hold her and play with her. She even sat with him without crying while mommy showered. They played with the band aids, which I think may be her favorite toy in the whole house. She was stuffing them in her pants pockets on Saturday. This is her concentrating on the box.
Sunday, however, was an absolutely miserable day for everyone. We woke her up for church and probably rushed her a bit more than she is used to in the morning. This resulted in a very grumpy morning. Not even her band aids would soothe her.


Then it was off to church, which completely threw off her morning play routine, as well as snack time. About half way through the worship service she was completely exhausted, but would not sleep in a strange place, even though I stayed with her in the nursery the whole time. We put her in the car to come home and she was asleep before I turned the car on. Once we get home, she has not eaten, and is completely exhausted, all of which results in the worst temper tantrum we have had in weeks. Plus mom is pretty tired of going to church just to sit in the nursery for hours on end. I could sit at home with a happy baby if I'm not going to get any worship in. I know someday she will go to the nursery herself, but for now, we are going to have to change our Sunday routine.

Today has been a mixture. She is into everything now, which results in mommy telling her "no" more often and setting off temper tantrums. I would not let her turn on the stove and was thanked by a thirty minute scream-a-thon. We are at a loss as to how to handle them. We have tried ignoring them, but they can go on forever. We usually end up picking her up and taking her to another part of the house and distracting her, but worry that it will ultimately make them worse. We want her to learn that pitching a fit is not an effective way of dealing with a situation, but feel like we are fighting what she learned in the orphanage, where the loudest baby is probably the one who got attention.


This is her in her new smaller shorts. A couple of minutes later they were completely off her backside. We got her even smaller shorts and today those were around her ankles. I may just dress her in bubbles until she grows a little.