Spring break 2009, part 2: Major milestones

Julie passed a few major milestones during this trip, and a couple of minor ones as well.

Minor milestones
Having already been pulling herself up on things and walking around the coffee table for several weeks, Julie finally started sitting herself down during this trip. That makes things a little easier now, since I no longer have to sit her down every time she gets "stuck" standing up.

I also switched from her infant carrier to a forward-facing car seat for this trip. I don't think that she's technically (read: legally) big enough to be forward-facing, but she's pretty close. I put her car seat behind the passenger seat so that I could hand toys and snacks back to her while I drove, since I was without Ben. Julie also enjoyed being able to see me in my visor mirror while we drove. I think that made it easier on both of us.

I gave Julie a few more foods last week that I wasn't supposed to. She sampled a few french fries at McDonald's on the road when we stopped for breaks. She had a few bites of vanilla ice cream. She seemed to like it, but I don't think she was crazy about it. I gave her a Cheetoh, about which she was very ambivalent. She also sampled a Twizzler, but didn't complain when I took it away from her.

Major milestones
Julie is 100% weaned off of breast milk. It has been three weeks today since her last nursing. It took about a week after the last session before I finally refilled enough to be in pain. And in pain I was. It lasted about 5 days, and I've been fine for well over a week now. Julie is doing well.

Two days before we left for Indiana, Ben noticed that Julie had popped out a third tooth. It's on the top, between the right front incisor position and the right canine position. It's since started to grow out far enough that I can see it when she smiles, and it's really cute. It's a goofy toothy grin that just makes me smile.

Julie uttered her first word this week (other than Dada and Mama). It was "kitty". More to follow on this in another post. Yes, it deserves a post all of its own.

Finally, Julie decided it was time to tackle the stairs. She climbed all the up G'ma and Grumpa's stairs twice while we were there. That staircase is pretty high, too. Julie had no fear, only determination. Watch her in action:

Make video montages at www.OneTrueMedia.com