Aquarium Adventures

My husband is on vacation this week.  And we were trying to think of what to do with all this family togetherness.  So today we made a last minute decision to take Julia to Adventure Aquarium in Camden, NJ.  There is a ton of stuff to do around us, but it hit over 100 degrees today, and we needed something fun and indoors.  We had seen this aquarium featured on TV several times, and have heard a lot of positive things about it.

And.... Julia LOVED it!  It was surprisingly crowded on a Tuesday afternoon.  Maybe everyone else decided to take the week off of work as well.  But nonetheless, it was fun.  Julia gazed at all the fishies and even laughed at some of them.  Her favorite part: the shark tunnel!  She probably could have sat in there for hours.  

So I'm pretty sure she had fun!!  I love these family moments.  We'll have them forever!

4th of July

Hope everyone has a wonderful 4th of July!  Cook-outs, fireworks, and 4th of July sales!  ;)

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.

Julia's first 4th 

Judge me

So a little status thread on my friends facebook page got me thinking of a good topic.  The parents who think they're better than the rest of us and like to judge.  But then again, don't you yourself find that you sometimes judge others?  I know I catch myself doing it.  We're only human.

So, I admit it.  I use the electronic babysitter quite often.  And I'm not ashamed.  I pretty much leave the TV on all day long.  It's on either Nick Jr. or Disney.  But I do leave it on.  And it does help me when I want to do the dishes, or do a load of laundry, or vacuum the floors.  Now does that mean Julia sits and watches it from the time she wakes up until the time she goes to bed?  Thank goodness no, but I'd go crazy if it was quiet in the house all day, with no TV, and only the sounds of either the dog barking, or Julia screaming.  I need background noise!  She crawls laps around the room, plays with her toys, practices walking by cruising the furniture, and occasionally sits and watches the TV.  I know many parents who think TV is so awful for your kids.  But whatever.  No matter what you or I do as a parent, we will always be judged.  Someone will always have an opinion about it.  I watched TV as a kid and I think I turned out alright.  Same with my hubby.  And there are those who never watch TV as a kid because their parents think it's bad and turn out to be drug dealers or school drop-outs (I don't know any of this for a fact, but I'm more than positive it has happened).  Plus, it's not like I can send her outside to play.  She's only 10.5 months for cryin' out loud!  When she's 5, we'll talk.

So what I'm saying is, who are we to judge how someone else decides to raise their kids?  Of course we're going to catch ourselves judging.  It just happens.  But what one person thinks is good or ok, another might see as bad.  You can't please everyone, and you can only do YOUR best to raise YOUR child how YOU see fit.

My 10 month old watches TV.  She even has favorite shows already.  So what!!!!  It's not going to stop her from getting exercise, doing well in school, having a good job, being a good American citizen, raising a nice family one day.  :)

p.s. She just took a 2.5 hour nap!!!  Holy moly!!!

My baby is a caveman

So last night I started reading the book The Happiest Toddler On The Block by Harvey Karp.  I figured since his other book, The Happiest Baby On The Block was so successful for us and many others I know, I would read this as well.
I got through one chapter.  Downside to starting a book right before bedtime.  But it is VERY interesting and I can't wait to finish it.  It's all about raising a respectful, patient, and happy one to four year old toddler.  It explains how a toddler sees the world.  So far, it compares toddlers to cavemen.  And if you think about it, it's kinda true.  So it's all about communicating to them in ways a caveman would understand.  Simple words, tone of voice, not using adult-like sentences, etc.  Also talks a lot about different types of temperaments and how to figure out which one fits your child and how to deal with each type (there are 3 different types).  It's very fascinating so far.  And of course I've only gotten through one chapter out of many.  So I haven't even skimmed the surface yet.  It even says to start practicing these techniques as early as 9 months.  Oh no, I'm already a month behind!  haha.
Anyway, even though I've only read a little bit, I already would highly recommend it.  Especially if it's anywhere near as affective as his first book.  His 5 S's techniques those first few months Julia was here really were magical!  This Harvey Karp guy is a genius!

Has anyone else read this book, and did it help?!

Happy Tuesday :)  Keep cool if it's hot where you are like it is here!  In the 90's and HUMID!  Bad hair days for all!

First Father's Day

Happy Father's Day to my wonderful husband, Tim.  He is such an amazing dad.  Julia already looks up to him so much.  It's the most beautiful thing to watch them together.  She is a daddy's girl and has had him wrapped around her little finger since day one.

And a very happy Father's Day to my dad and Julia's Pappy.  Sad we can't be there with you.  Thank goodness for Skype!  

Hope all of the dads out there had a fantastic day!  

10 Months

I can't believe she's in the double digits already!  And only two months away from being a ONE YEAR OLD!!  Whoa....that's crazy.

So, since I only have two months to plan her 1st birthday party, I've been trying to figure out a theme.  And struggling.  Haha.  We've talked about Minnie Mouse and Princess and stuff like that.  But I kind of want to do something a little more unique.  The last couple of days, I've been thinking ladybugs.  I found some cute little ladybug theme birthday supplies online.  But I don't know if I really have my heart set on the ladybug theme.  I don't know.  I'm stumped.  I mean, it's her 1st Birthday.  And I know it's more for us than her, she's not going to remember it....she'll just have a ton of pictures to look back on some day.  But it's a BIG DEAL!  I want it to be perfect.

I neeeeed to figure out this theme thing, because in about a month, we're going to Carlos Bakery (yes, that's the Cake Boss from the TLC show) and ordering her birthday cake.  It has to be with the theme.  So if anyone has any cute ideas that they don't mind sharing, I would love to hear them!!!

Happy 10 months, my beautiful baby girl!  You are my world, I love you so much!  <3

MIA, whoops

Sorry I haven't updated in a week.  I had family over and they just left this morning.  Been busy!
My sister and her fiancé came this weekend for a visit.  It was so nice having them here.  And we did plenty of stuff: Reading Terminal Market (tons of yummy food!!), Independence Hall in Philly, King of Prussia Mall.  We kept busy!  Hopefully they had fun :)

Nothing exciting has been going on other that having family here.  I'm having a bad case of writers block.  This SUCKS!

Hope everyone had a nice weekend.  Can you believe it's already mid-June??!!

Also, it seems like the poll isn't working correctly, at least on my end.  In case you can't see it either, the question is: On average, how many naps does your baby get in a day?

And the word is NO

Aside from "da-da", the word 'no' may end up being Julia's first word (I've already given up on the ma-ma thing lol).  I find it crazy that she's only 9 months, yet I'm already having to tell her no, many many times a day!  My little explorer is just getting into everything, and I just hope she starts to understand what 'no' means and SOON!  According to her pediatrician, she is at the point where she is able to start to understand things like this, which I also find crazy!  She's already at the place between infant and toddler.  HOW DID THIS HAPPEN SO QUICKLY??????

And if something is baby-proofed, she will sit and try to figure out how to un-baby-proof it. Like today for instance.  I had placed Kid Kushions around the sharp corners of our wood TV stand back when she first started to crawl, so about a month ago.  All over it!  I think every corner and every edge on every shelf has a Kid Kushion.  I even got them in black so they would blend in with the piece of furniture in hopes she wouldn't even notice them.  Honestly, we (Tim and I) can barely notice them!  But Julia goes right to them and has now figured out that they are not permanently attached and they come off!  She pulled about 3 pieces off, and now those pieces no longer stick well, and there are sharp dangerous edges and corners threatening my poor baby's beautiful head!  So I will be ordering more until I find a better solution.  Don't even get me started on the fireplace.  She pulls herself up to standing on that glass when she knows I'm not looking, and I just have visions of the glass caving in and just bad bad things.  It's a gas fireplace and with no door, but not sure how much weight the glass can hold.  The thing is impossible to baby-proof though.  Since we rent this place, I will be calling the maintenance dude asking if there is anything they can do to make the fireplace a little safer.  Worth a shot, right?!

Like I've said before, I will not feel comfortable until my house looks like a rubber room!!  And that's not even close to all she gets into in a day.  I have dreams of the word 'no' at night!  I hate saying that word to my sweet little girl all day long, but how else is she going to learn?  I think 'no' is now my least favorite word, and I'm sure Julia would agree.

Also, it's Poll Day Monday!!!  Don't forget to vote!  :)