18 months later....

Well it seems impossible, but our little girl is 18 months old. "What?!?!?!" you say? "You guys actually had that baby you were writing about?" Of course we did! And she's been keeping us on our toes this past year and a half.

Any of you reading this blog probably know our little Julsie by now. She was born on August 15, 2010 at 8:59pm (after 25 hours of labor - ouch!). She weighed in at 8 lbs 2 oz, was 20" long, and her head circumference was 13.5". Here's a picture of her as a newborn:



She is absolutely the best thing that's ever happened to us and amazes us constantly. Out little peanut, though, is growing up fast. Here's her stats after her 18 month check-up today, and a look at her from last week during our family trip to St. Petersburg, FL:

HEIGHT: 33" (85th percentile)
WEIGHT: 24 lbs. 12 oz (60th percentile)
HEAD CIRCUMFERENCE: 18" (45th percentile)



For a girl who for quite some time was in the 30th percentile for weight and 50th percentile for height, Julia is now towering over her peers. Born with very little hair, it's been growing slowly ever since and is coming in now. But no need for her first haircut just yet (sorry, Aunt Kristy). We think by the time she is 3 she'll be able to wear a barrette, and maybe by 7 we can give her some pigtails. (*smile*)

These days, Julia is into just about everything. She likes to dance and listen to music, play with balls, read books, stack her Mega Bloks, carry around her baby doll, take things apart and put them back together (the remotes, caps on bottles, buckling and unbuckling her highchair straps...), climb, play peek-a-boo, help mama feed Emma, go from stroller rides outside....the list goes on and on. She is one busy kiddo! She also loves to do things by herself more and more. She often insists on putting on her shoes, coat and hat all by herself. And of course she likes to feed herself and is getting better and better at using utensils. Julia is also talking up a storm, and now says over 20 words. Her most common words are mama, papa, Emma, uh-oh, up, more, please, ipod, boo-boo, Elmo, and two. (Yes, she really likes Elmo, and we watch little snippets of Sesame Street with her every now and then. The same is true with Kipper, who's a British doggie that is very mellow, but Kipper's a lot harder to say).

I could go on and on about my little girl, but I'll end this post with a promise to update you on all of the Maier family happenings MUCH, MUCH more often from now on. Lots of love to you all!