3 1sts on the 4th

Over the course of July 4th weekend, Julia experienced three big firsts.

First #1: Big Girl Bed!

Saturday, Julia took a giant leap away from babyhood toward being a big girl! After coming home from Colorado Wednesday evening, we gave her a couple of days in her crib to get caught up on some much needed sleep. Then it was time to make the switch to her new toddler bed.

She really enjoyed helping Daddy assemble her new bed. Here they are after putting together the main part of the bed (before our Colorado trip):



And here they are Saturday putting on the side rails:





She seemed really excited about her new bed and loved to pretend to go night-night in it:

...But we weren't sure how things would actually go when the time came for sleeping. For months, I've been convinced that the transition would be rough because of her new freedom to get out of her bed and play with toys (since she often plays around in her crib for a good 30 minutes or more before finally falling asleep).

Saturday Nap:
She did great! She stayed in bed for the first 5 minutes, but then I saw the slow progression of her sit up, inch down to the edge of the bed, put her feet down, and then stand up. With each progression, she looked around the room almost as though she was checking to see if there was anyone who was going to tell her not to get out of bed. Anyway, I thought we'd lost her at that point. Little did I know, one of her animals had fallen out of bed and she was simply retrieving it. She got her dolphin off the floor and climbed right back up into bed and laid down. I was so shocked and so proud! 20 minutes later or so, she was asleep!

When she woke up, I watched her on the video monitor as she quietly tossed and turned for about 15 minutes. Then she started softly calling "Daddy", so he went up to get her. When he opened the door, she said, "I ready get out" which is exactly what she said when she was ready to get out of her crib. I couldn't believe that she didn't get down herself! Yea baby girl for staying in bed!

Saturday Night:

No problems whatsoever. She moved from one end of the bed to the other, just as she always does, but she stayed in her bed beautifully. In the morning when she was finally read to get up, we watched her on the monitor as she stood up in her bed, walked toward the video monitor camera and said "Help", and then sat on the edge of her bed. By the time Jarret walked up the stairs to get her, she'd just stood up on the floor.

Sunday Nap & Sunday Night:

Fantastic! Maybe the time will come when the freedom of her big girl bed becomes an issue, but it's going perfectly for right now. I couldn't be more surprised or more thrilled.

First #2: Movie Theater!

On July 4th morning, we took Julia to her first movie at the theater - Toy Story 3. Gran, Poppy, and the Finseths joined us, and we all had coupons for $1 any size popcorn and $1 any size drink. She loves her family, loves popcorn, and loves Buzz and Woody, so we expected this experience to go reasonably well. What we did not predict was that Julia would talk unceasingly. There were a few 60-second periods of silence, but otherwise she was constantly either (1) narrating what she saw on screen, or (2) questioning, "What happened to ______?". She made it about 1/2 way through the movie, but then hopped down from her chair, fell, and started crying so Jarret took her out for the remainder of the movie. They watched some of the remainder from the little hallway. We probably won't try that again for a while, but at least she had a great time!



Some pics during the closing credits...

First #3: Fireworks!

At first she was frightened by the loud noises of the fireworks and clung closely to me in my arms. She asked me to close her ears, too.


Then she went to see daddy. She was still snuggly at first...


But then she went totally chill...


She was so funny because she kept saying "Fire is working!" or "I hear more fire is working!" (Makes sense that if you hear your mom and dad say "fire works" that the fire would be working). One time after a big firework lit up the sky, she said, "That's a big fireplace!"

My parents came over to watch the fireworks and for a belated celebration in honor of my dad's birthday (which occurred while we were in Colorado). Happy Birthday Dad!...