Like the Blink of an Eye

My how time rushes past us, doesn't it? I am still a bit bewildered that it was six months ago that Julietta came to us through the most beautiful birth I could imagine- house flooding and all.  I don't like to think about how quickly my kids are growing up. My eyes well up just thinking about it. But I do.

Julietta's refusal to be put down often frustrates me. I occasionally catch myself rolling my eyes when she wakes up five minutes after the major effort it took to finally soothe her to sleep. She's at that stage now where she clutches on to every single thing within reach. I can't even count how many times she's nearly pulled my plate down on top of me while eating (she won't let me put her down, so sometimes that means having a laptop companion through dinner). Yesterday while holding her, I reached down to get a glass of water from the water cooler and when I stood back up, I noticed that we had gained some extra cargo - she was holding the garbage pail lid. And it's HEAVY! Or what about the wobbly way babies begin sitting on their own?  You never know how long it will be until they end up in a full out faceplant. It can be pure chaos, but man, this is what it's all about!!
These are the things I will smile about later. So when I feel the frustration brewing under the surface, I remind myself that it will all be over sooner than I even want to imagine.

Here are a few more little things that bring a smile to my face when I think of Julietta: She is freakishly strong and can pull herself up to standing - in her stroller. She's a pincher and a biter and she constantly rubs her feet together. She absolutely adores her sister and her papá, and when she wakes up in the morning, she greets the world with a smile, and it's not just any smile. It's a joy-filled, ear to ear, bust at the seams grin. Sometimes it seems that it's hard for her to contain herself - she's just so darn happy - so she has to resort to short, piercing squeals. She reminds me of one of my favorite poems called "Joy" by J. Ruth Gendler.

She is in love with life - all of it - the sun and the rain and the rainbow.

Her two bottom teeth just popped through and now she makes all kinds of funny faces while she sucks on her lips.

This is my sweet Jujicita.

Before she was born, Hailey asked me what I'd call her for a nickname. I thought it would be "Jules", since I'm not the type to make up unique nicknames for people... or so I thought. I've not called her "Jules" even once. I call her things like "Juji", "Jujitsu", "Jujifante" "Juji Fruit" and other silly stuff like that. Maybe "Jules" will be used when she's a teenager and too cool for school.

For her six month photos, we took the girls down to the beach and set them free. I brought down Julietta's Moses basket with the cover that Yaya (her grandma) made from scratch. That woman has some mad sewing skills! I wish I had more time to sit down and learn from her. I know this will be something I will regret later.

Anyway, I wanted to make sure to get a picture of it before Juji got too big for it. It turned into a sailboat somewhere along the way.

Bella concentrated on keeping the umbrella stationary while Julietta laughed and played. I foresee more of this in the future!

Happy six month birthday, my sweet, joy-filled baby girl. I love you with everything I have.