Car Keys Are So Funny

Julia Claire gets a big kick out of her dad's car keys...

Julia Claire is a whopping 5 months and six days old!! Again, where does the time go?? Today actually marked a major milestone for our sweet cherub. We gave Jules her first big girl feeding of rice cereal!! We waited until now because when Julia Claire was about four months old she had a frightening reaction to her first taste of formula. Her skin broke out into a very scary sunburn sort of rash. The doctors explained that she may be allergy prone and to wait further until introducing her to any solid foods. After seeing an allergist we discovered that it may have been just a fluke because she tested negative for both milk and soy allergies. There's really no way to tell what caused her sweet little skin to react in such a way. There are so many ingredients used in formula that it could very well be impossible to know for sure. After testing negative for these two common allergies in infants we were finally given the okay to introduce her to rice cereal. She seemed to really enjoy it; however, I'm not sure what she enjoyed more, playing in it or actually eating it. It was pretty hilarious to watch her thoroughly cover herself in this sticky, grainy goo. We were able to take a very short video before the camera battery died, and i'll try to post that later this week. Until then, we took another video of Miss Cheeks in her tub the other night. It's truly adorable and has undoubtedly brought new meaning to the phrase, "I just want to eat her up!!"

Hair like the King - Only Cuter

I don"t have as much time as I was hoping today for a long update on sweet Julia Claire, but I did want to post our latest video of tummy time. After I emailed this to my brother Clifford he replied saying "give little "E" a kiss for us! and tell her not to step on my blue suede shoes!!" hahaha she is THE CUTEST baby I have ever seen...

Giggles and Rolls

Julia Claire has really begun to do some great stuff. Last night in the tub she burst out with a big belly laugh. She has laughed before at this point but not quite like this. This was one of those big tummy giggles that had me in tears! Every time I would laugh at her giggles she would giggle even harder. I know I say this every time she does something adorable, but this was truly the cutest thing yet. She also rolled over this morning! After putting her on her tummy to play in her crib, she rolled over onto her back right away. Up to this point she's been able to roll from her back to her side (almost to her tummy) pretty easily, but she hadn't shown me this new trick until today. I put her back on her tummy to see if this was just a fluke, but she did it again! I finally decided to take a video on my iphone. Here it is below...

The Daddy!

Julia Claire's dad has been doing a fantastic job these last few months. Apart from being a sincerely incredible hubby AND dad he has really had to pull off some unbelievable stuff where medical school is concerned. He had to take his step 1 exam one month after Julia Claire's birthday. This exam determines where he can do his residency and doing poorly on the exam would have been no good; however, he still managed to find the time he needed to study in between diaper changes. Needless to say, Kellen passed with flying colors. After a grueling schedule of late nights with a new baby and studying for this horrific test I really thought he was finally gonna get a break but.... no. He was immediately thrown into his rotations as a 3rd year med student right after the step. I don't want to goob out too badly here, but I'm just really so proud of him. He's the most amazing person I've ever known and just when I thought there wasn't any way I could have more respect for him than I already do he pulls off these last few months flawlessly. I wanted to post some pics of him in full daddy form below. By far the cutest dad I've ever seen....not trying to brag or nothin'....i'm just sayin'.













And he's gonna kill me when he sees that I put this one up. I couldn't help it! I love this one! Hahaha

Julia Claire's First Swim!!

Julia Claire is almost SEVEN WEEKS OLD!!! And we finally took her for her first dip in the pool this past week! We knew she was gonna like it considering her adorable screamfests when taken out of her Puj Tub. Sure enough she was seriously unhappy about her removal from the water. It looks like we have a big time water baby on our hands!! Below are some pics...


We started out with this sweet little bonnet Elizabeth Swalm made for her but the sun was so low we decided to take it off after Jules had a slight minifit about having to wear it. heehee
















Are we seriously leaving???!!!!



Well I guess its ok as long as I get to be nakey!

Bathtime

After Julia Claire's bath this morning I had to post a couple of pics of her cute little behind snuggled up in her hooded towel...sooo cute!!