Julia and her fear of the bathtub

Julia has had a fear of the bath tub since the day she was born.  Maybe it had to do with the fact that she pooped on her dad the first time she had a bath, maybe it’s the bright lights or the vastness of the huge tub.  Who knows…but we tortured her and ourselves many times before we had the brilliant idea to start bathing her in the kitchen sink.

Julia had quite the set up in the kitchen sink.  Her dad would set up towels in the sink so that she would have her own little relaxing spa.  She seemed to be happier with the arrangement for many months.  But then something happened.  She got bigger.  She no longer fit in the sink and she was no longer comfortable.  She started to get upset again every time she had a bath and it was again a traumatic experience. 

Then I had a brainwave.  If Julia was afraid of the big bathtub by herself why wouldn’t I get in the tub with her?  At first, Julia would only go in the bath tub if I was holding her tightly to me.  She had to be facing me and sitting on my chest.  She would not touch the water with her hands and she still cried when she was washed even though I tried to do it very gently.  When she looked at the front of the tub, it seemed to be that she was afraid of the faucet.  She really enjoyed being able to nurse in the tub when she got upset and I also found it very relaxing to nurse her in the tub.

It was amazing watching the progression of her enjoyment in the tub.  First she started to interact with me more and then the semi splash started.  Not a full splash…just a hand in the tub and moving the water around.  Then one day the full splash came but not too much because otherwise it would get her in the face.  Every so often I would try facing her forwards (away from me) to see if she had become more comfortable with her surroundings.  It was always the same though, she would cry and I would turn her back towards me. 

I remember the day that she let me turn her around and keep her there.  It was also the day where her splashes became more confident.  I started bringing her rubber ducky and a water book in the water with us.  She slowly became more adventurous and would play with her toys happily.  Her splashes were huge and she didn’t even care if she got splashed in the process. 

Then came the day that she stood up in the tub (with me holding her of course).  She even walked up to the faucet and played with the bath sponge that dangled from it.  She has become a confident little girl in the bathtub all thanks to a mom who didn’t push her to overcome her fears.  I could have forced her to have miserable screaming baths until she either gave up crying or maybe she would have never got over her fear of the bathtub.  Instead, I listened to what she needed and held her hand through the tough times.  I have not yet attempted to let her have a bath by herself, it did take four months to get to the point that we are at now.  I won’t do it until she is ready even if that means I am still bathing with her when she is four. 

Family Pictures

Last weekend, we had our family pictures done.  I also had Julia's sixth month pictures done at the same time.  There are a few nice pictures that I wanted to share with everyone.  Enjoy! 

Julia's Crawling!!!

On the day after her six month birthday, Julia was crawling for the first time.  Now three days later, she has become so much better at getting to where she wants to go.  I am amazed at how fast this girl is growing.  It is so cool to watch her crawl...this is a milestone that I never got to witness with Matthew as he just went straight to furniture walking and then walking.

Matthew and Julia

Everyone keeps telling me how much my children look alike so I thought I would make a comparison picture to really see. I do see some resemblance, but they are not identical like most people think. I don't have any pictures of Cody as a baby on the computer right now, but I am planning on scanning some pictures in soon so that I can compare them too...although, I can tell you that Cody and Julia look very different as babies...Julia looks more like her cousin Emily...and apparently like her Auntsie (I still need to see the picture of Melissa as a baby).
Here are some more pictures that I tried to compare:

I just wanted to add that when I showed Mike the picture of Julia and Matthew right after birth (the first one), he thought both pictures were of Julia.

Julia and her puppy Summer

Lately Julia has taken a real interest in our dog Summer.  Summer has always loved Julia since the day she was born.  Summer was in the room when Julia was born (in her kennel but still in the room).  Summer has treated Julia as if she was her puppy, tending to her when she is sad and licking her clean when she is dirty.  Julia loves when she can throw the ball for the puppy and seems to take pleasure in teasing her.  She loves to talk to Summer and is constantly watching her and laughing at her.

Julia update

Tooth number 2 has made an appearance!  Surprisingly enough, Julia had one of her best sleeps last night...it must have actually broken through the skin yesterday before bed (she was REALLY cranky before bedtime).
This tooth is also on the bottom in the front.  Julia has no comment at this time because she is too busy trying to eat her foot :)

Big Brothers

Julia is so lucky to have two big brothers that think the world of her.  She loves to watch them and is constantly smiling and laughing at them.  She will look around to find them when she hears their voices and she gets excited when they get home from school. 
I hope the bond will continue throughout the years with her brothers.  I remember when Matthew used to look at Cody the way that Julia looks at Cody and Matthew. 

Julia's growing too fast!

I have been putting Julia on the floor in the livingroom while I get my coffee in the morning, and the above video is what she has been doing for about the past week.  She is moving further and further backwards now though.  Poor girl is just getting so frustrated!  She knows she is moving but in the wrong direction.  I know it will not be long before she starts going forward.  Off to buy a baby gate today because before I know it, she will be crawling across the floor faster than I can run.
She can put her own pacifier in her mouth now...I so badly want to get rid of that thing but I think I am just as addicted to it as she is.
She started babbling different two days ago, I am going to try and get this on video because it is just too cute.  She is making the "b" sound and now she doesn't stop talking...she is a twin to her aunt!  I cannot believe how much they have the same personality...and all I can say...is that I am in BIG trouble, just kidding Melissa xoxo.
She has been going through some mommy separation anxiety in the past few days, but the worst was this morning.   I put her on the floor in the livingroom like I do every morning and went into the kitchen to get my coffee.  It's not even that far away.  But the SECOND I stepped out of her sight, she began to cry.  When I popped back into view she started to laugh.  Then I tried again to grab a coffee and she started to cry again.  She won...I picked her up while I poured my coffee and then she was all better :)   It's pretty cute now...might not be in a couple of days when I can't do anything unless she can see me!
In the bath tub, Julia and I bathe together because she in very nervous.  Ususally she just faces me, chews on a facecloth and occassionally nurses.  I was so happy the other day when she turned to the side and put her hand in the water making a little splash.  I showed her how to splash and she held my hand while we splashed in the water together.  The next day, she was even more adventerous and splashed even more.  Last night was even better...she was actually getting herself wet from her splashing.  It was amazing watching her slowly discover splashing.
Also, I watched her discover my tattoo.  One day in the tub, she started looking at my tattoo which is on my left breast.  She started to scratch it as if trying to pick it up.  The she tried to lick it, unsure of what it was.  Now, we have been bathing together for months but this was the first time that she noticed that my tattoo did not belong.  How does a 5 and a half month old baby know that a tattoo does not belong?  Very cool.

Julia has started eating food!

I have felt that Julia has been ready to start food for some time, but because of the food allergies that my mom has, I wanted to wait until as close to six months as I possibly could. 
I have chosen the baby led weaning style of feeding for Julia, since I tend not to do anything "mainstream".  With this method, Julia gets whole foods and she feeds herself.  She started tonight on cooked carrots and rice.  She loved eating with everyone else.

I love that Julia gets to control the amount of food she gets and that she is learning and exploring while she is eating.  I found this website the most informative about baby led weaning for those who want more info on it: http://www.borstvoeding.com/voedselintroductie/blw/engels.html

Everyday is something new and exciting with Julia.