Osland Baby: 16 months!

Wow, I'm behind on this post, but my evenings have been full with studying for my english exam that is on Saturday. Today is my 34th birthday and it's the first time I'm celebrating it in the southern hemisphere and winter. It rained all day today, but I have been filled with warmth and love from Dan, Julian, my church, and my friends and family's well wishes. That's enough about me, you are reading this to get an update on Julian.

AUGUST 2ND IS GOING DOWN IN HISTORY AS HIS OFFICIAL SLEEPING THROUGH THE NIGHT...10-12 HOURS AT NIGHT. (Not this business of 5 hours = STTN.) Yes, we are over the moon that he has been sleeping for over two weeks. He also gets nursed to sleep at night, but goes down awake and doesn't cry! It's phenomenal!

Aug 1: Says "JuJu" for his name. If we point to pictures with all three of us he'll say, "mama, daddy, juju." It's so cute! We still call him Julian and once in awhile it seems as if he says a slurred version of that.

Sorry for the bullet points, but that is the best I can do since that is how my brain is wired...outline format.

Blue bear is his lovey now...well one of them. (He has a kitty too which I think he prefers, but Dan and I are in denial about this and give him both). Blue bear is also called baby in the middle of the night. Julian hugs him (and the kitty) very tight when he goes to bed. He has now become a big brother (or daddy) to them and loves to change their nappies and get them ready for bed.
Pretend play has been so fun. Blue bear has gone through the whole bedtime routine before it's Julian's turn. We pretend to give him a bath, change his nappy (NZ talk for diaper), put him in Julian's PJs, and wrapped him in Julian's blanket and put him in the cot (NZ talk for crib). A few days later, Julian put blue bear in his high chair, "buckled" him in, and put the bib on him. It was so cute and Dan asked if I had taught him that. I denied it and suggested that he's now pretending and he is. He loves to give him the pacifier and "food" and "water".
Julian is not eating much these days. I think it's because we've been so sick. He is also miserable with his molars that just won't pop through. He always is chewing on his fingers.
I recently found out that Julian hate to have his hands dirty...sometimes. I don't think he likes thick, sticky things like peanut butter on them, so I taught him how to lick his fingers. He picked it up quickly and now licks them before getting cleaned up after each meal.
I have wanted to start organizing our days since Dan is gone 8-9 hours a day. I am going to look into some Montessori toddler play/learning activities to incorporate throughout our day to provide more structure. I'm just going a bit crazy trying to come up with stuff when we don't have all our things. It can take a lot of energy to be creative, so when I'm done with my english test, I will delve into Pinterist and Google. I started to teach him body parts and when he points to his elbow (most of the time with help), it's so cute.
Julian has really started to entertain himself. He's a little book worm and will sit down and turn through the pages of his books. We also found a cheap, but nice wooden train set which he is really taken a liking to. If we're outside, he will entertain himself, but I have to make sure he stay within my sight because he likes to wander off exploring this great vast world.
MUSIC! That is all I have to say. He loves his guitar, drums (buckets and yogurt containers), and sings up a storm. I'm trying to sing a lot these days. Those of you who knew old Alicia know how much I used to sing. I actually stopped for a few years, but have been trying to sing all the time that we're not doing things.

Related to this: I have not sung "Frere Jacques" many times but it must be an ear worm because Julian sings it ALL THE TIME. Of course Dan and I shake our heads that it has to be a song in French...ha ha! It is adorable and he is right on with Ding Dong Ding.

He is quite the helper. I know it takes longer or he's really creating a mess when he "helps", but this has been an amazing thing to unfold (though I'm really looking forward to when he can really help). He LOVES to help me and if I get him involved, he won't push me away from the activities. He hands me pegs (NZ talk for clothes pins) to hang the laundry. He loves to help vacuum. He doesn't like me washing dishes, but I don't know how he can help me yet. We don't have a dishwasher so I'm stuck handwashing and he always is pushing me away from the sink. I have to get down, look him in the eye and tell him that he needs to give me 5 more minutes (like he knows) and that I'll come and play then. I usually hand him some wet dishes to "dry", but if any of you have tips, I'll take them.
I put Julian in children's church one morning and he colored his first picture. It was so cute and we hung in on the fridge. It is a picture of Jesus and he always points to it and says, "Jesus!" He's so proud of it and we are too. We can explain who we are praying to. By the way, he loves to say, "Amen!" after each prayer.
Speaking of coloring, we got some free colored pencils from a home goods store and he was very excited about them, but he prefered to watch me color with them. He held as many has he could in each hand and handed them to me to use.
His vocab is just killing me. He is a complete parrot and mimics many of our words and actions...especially phrases. We were in a store and gave him a packet of crayons to calm him down. He handed them to Dan and said, "open?" I asked Dan where he learned it, but then I just remembered that he is picking it up without me "teaching" him.
His skin is still rashy and spaghetti sauce still causes him to break out. He has a rash on his left shoulder (from when he was a newborn...allergy to nickel in the buttons on neck holes) and right forearm. These were completely gone, but are back to bother him, so I have to make sure I keep his nails clipped.
Peppa Pig is our new nail clipping series. These 5 minute episodes are very cute and Julian smiles through them.

The library is still our friend. Book, books, books. He grabs our fingers after we're done eating and pulls us to the lounge (NZ talk for living room) and says, "book". Here are some of our favorites.

Hands are not for hitting (Martine Agassi...this stopped him from hitting us! Amazing!)
The wheels on the bus (illustrated by Donovan Bixley...it's a NZ version and very cute)
First Words (baby einstein)
Wild about books (Judy Sierra...so cute. I'm attaching a photo of a person in it that Julian calls "Daddy"...ha ha)
Nursery Rhyme Rainbow (Alison Jay...brilliant book. It needs a commentary. I actually googled all the nursery rhymes because there are characters from other nursery rhymes not talked about. We have had this book out for over a month because it is so awesome).
You are my I Love You (Maryann Cusimano Love and Satomi Ichikawa....it make me cry)
Wibbly Pig is happy (Mick Inkpen...Julian smiles through the entire things and hugs the book to give Wibbly a hug)
The Giant and the beanstalk (Diane Stanley...this is Julian's first LONG book that he sits through. We have to read it at least once a day and he just soaks it up. He has a longer attention span than I do.)