Juliaisms- This learning stuff is hard work

Robert says I need to start writing down Juliaisms, funny things that Julia says, now that she is talking more. Since she is always jabbering about something I'm sure there will be plenty of these to come as she figures things out in the world. Today's simple Juliaisms are about Julia learning her numbers and letters.

Before we left for our LA/Utah trip last week I was reading Julia a book about the alphabet and animals. I was trying to point out the letters for her, saying "D, like duck. Duh-duh-duh-duck." After we came back from our trip we read the same book again and Julia impressed me by pointed to the duck and going "duh-duh-duh-duck!" Then she went on to the E, "duh-duh-duh-elephant!"

This morning while Julia was finishing up breakfast she was holding two grapes. I asked "How many grapes do you have Julia?" She held up the first one, "one." Then she held up the second one, "two". Then she held up the first one again, "three." Then the second one again, "four," and so on up to eight. Apparently two grapes actually count as having eight grapes if you count it the Julia way.

Back to Utah

After we went to LA we stopped by Utah for three days.

The cabin was weird without all the other siblings but Robert had the best snowmobile and all the IBC cream soda to himself so I guess he was happy.

We went to the Discovery Gateway children's museum with some of my family. Julia was throughly entertained. We actually had to pull her away kicking and screaming to leave.

You put balls in the tubes and they go up instead of down!

Julia went crazy in the mini-grocery store. That cart was full a few minutes latter. Good thing Julia had a crew of parents and cousins to help put all the things away for her when she was done.

The whole reason we thought to even try stopping by Utah, Robert's cousin got married. Congratulations Cameron and Ariana!

Los Angeles

Last week we went back to Los Angeles for the first time since we moved to Virginia. Robert needs to go back every six months or so to check in with his home office, and Julia and I get to come along too! I was so excited to walk outside without my jacket and enjoy some beautiful Southern California weather.

The week went by really fast. Some of the things we did while we were there:

Visited the Santa Monica Airport. Julia loves to point out planes to us. She can spot them better than I can in the sky.

We stopped by the beach and ran away from the water.

Stopped by the canals in Venice to see the ducks.

Wendy took us to the Noah Ark's exhibit at the Skirball Cultural Center. It was like a giant indoor playground to the theme of Noah's Ark. All the animals were made out of refurbished materials and were really cool looking. Julia had fun running around and I kept busy chasing after her.

We Love Jenny Auction

Last November our wonderful Relief Society president was diagnosed with leukemia. To help cover some of her expenses some friends have put together an online auction via the "We Love Jenny Auction" blog. The auction will be held tomorrow, February 14, 2011 starting at 9am EST and end on February 15th at 10pm EST. So far there are 74 different items (including a lot of homemade items-think cute things you would find Etsy) that you can bid on by posting comments on the blog during the auction.

A little info about Jenny from the blog:

"Relief Society president, marathoner, Italian speaker, historian, quilter, bibliophile... she does it all! Most impressive, however, is her ability to love and serve others consistently and completely, no matter how full her plate is.

Jenny was diagnosed with leukemia in November, so her current full-time job is beating cancer. With two months of chemo under her belt and two more years of it ahead, it's proving to be an expensive ordeal. We are excited to use this auction to help her make a dent in her medical bills and housing expenses. Plus, it's bound to be fun for all those participating!"

Click on the button below to check it out and come back tomorrow to bid on your favorites. =)

Postal Museum

Last week weekend we went to the Smithsonian Postal Museum. We were actually able to see the entire museum with Julia, crazy. I guess the small size had something to do with it.

The building was cool. It was the old Washington D.C. post office.

This is the packaging the Hope Diamond was sent to the Smithsonian in. The man who donated it, Harry Winston, sent it in 1958 to the Smithsonian via the U.S. Postal System.

Tried out some old and new forms of transportation that the mail takes to get to us.

The Potty

In other news, Julia has been showing interest in the big potty and asking to sit on it. While I'm not quite ready to potty train her yet, I figured it wouldn't hurt to get her her own potty to sit on so I wouldn't have to spend the five minutes a day holding her up on the big potty so she doesn't fall in. So last week Julia and I went to Target and picked out a nice little potty for Julia. We got home, opened it up and set it up in our bathroom. I showed Julia how to put the lid up, pull down her pants and sit on the potty.

I don't know what I expected, but nothing happened in the 30 seconds she was willing to sit there. We got her dressed again and while we were still in the bathroom she pooped in her diaper. Remember the purpose here was just to let her sit on the potty, not to actually teach potty training. But I figured, "well, we're in here, with a poopy diaper, might as well show her what the potty is really for." So I took the diaper off and dumped the poop in her little potty and told her "Stinkies go in the potty." I could just see the gears working in her mind, "ohh, that's what happens." Unfortunately, at this point I got distracted by something, don't remember what exactly, but I'm sure was very important.

A minute later Julia says "Mommy's phone potty." Immediately I had a bad feeling. Sure enough, Julia had taken my iphone and dumped it smack dab in the middle of all the poop in her little potty. Ewww! Now I am doubly sure I am not ready for potty training.

P.S. I in no way blame Julia for this. I should have done better at explaining that only "stinkies" and pee go in the potty, and not everything you can get your hands on. We have since had that conversation and I haven't found anything else in the potty.

P.P.S Robert won't touch my phone now.