My Marvelous Youngest

About Julie...

I think her eyes are green right now. They're no longer the "true blue" that Caleb's were, nor are they brown, like Audrey's. She was wearing a lime green shirt today and it really made her peepers look green. So we'll see how they finally end up.

Her favorite noises to make are:
1 - The Squeal. This is usually a joyful noise and usually when the other 2 kids are within close proximity being loud. I think she just wants them to know she's there.
2 - The Laugh. More often than not, it's at Caleb. She loves to watch him and loves to see him making faces. He doesn't need to be making noises or talking to her, just looking at her and making funny faces. She also is very ticklish in her itty bitty pits.
3 - The Gurgle. She lays on her back and, well, gurgles. Not a solid guuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuurgle, but little guuuug, guuuug, guuuug, guuuug...you get the drift.

She's mobile now. It's mostly rolling and scooting, but every now and then she'll get up on her hands and knees and rock back and forth. She's very close to crawling. Her favorite pastime is to scooch around the floor in the lounge and put various things in her mouth: baby toys, stuffed animals, Audrey's drawings, Caleb's dirty socks. Gotta love these babies.

She also loves to eat. I think she's realizing when we're eating and she's not. We sit her in her high chair in the dining room even if it's not time for her to eat because we can keep an eye on her...or she can keep an eye on us. Take your pick. Anyway - she gets irritated when she figures out that I am putting food-type stuff in my mouth and she's not getting anything to munch on. She likes little baby rice cakes. Audrey has deemed them "nasty" and refuses to eat them. Caleb thinks they're tasty, but what does he know?

Speaking of bad-tasting food, we had a taste of black pudding tonight at dinner (at a pub). Two words for you: pig's blood. Let's move on.

To keep you updated on the Scotland/Ireland trip, I've booked 2 ferries and hotel rooms for 4 nights. I need to book 3 more hotels in Belfast, Dublin, and either Waterford (home of the crystal) or Wexford. This weekend we have no plans as of yet, but if I can find a decent rate on a hotel, we're going to the south coast. Portsmouth. If I can't find a good rate, we'll either go to Buckingham Palace or Blenheim Palace. Buckingham is opened to the public in August and September of each year, and Blenheim Palace was Winston Churchill's home. It also has the world's largest hedge maze. Plus it has mazes in outdoor tile mosaics. Caleb is really into mazes and he's looking forward to this. So by the end of this evening I'll know if we're going south, east, or north for the weekend.

I'm off now to book some hotel deals (hopefully).