Julia and Emily's World

On Saturday Selena and Mya visited while Uncle Gary, Auntie Jackie and Jacob went furniture shopping. This was a good visit for Julia because she's been getting bored hanging out with grown-ups for the past few days.

Today Julia and I went to Grandma's to go swimming. We had a good time. Grandma even joined us in the pool. Mommy came too after work for dinner.

Christmas dinner was at Andrew and Nathan's house. Great dinner, lots of presents for the kids and tons of noise!

Julia was a good girl so Santa brought her a few presents and stuffed her stocking with "stuff". She was excited about a few things. She was most excited about some dora lip balm ("dora lipstick"). Later we went to church (Julia, after consulting with Mommy, let me come along) and then to Andrew and Nathan's for Christmas dinner. Busy day.

Tonight we had Christmas Eve dinner at our house. Both sets of grandparents and Auntie Weezie joined us. Julia got a ton of presents. Before she went to bed she made sure that we had milk and cookies under the tree for Santa's snack.

The fireplace removal project is complete! Lou was a big help.

Julia loves to sing and march, especially on a sugar rush.

Julia made homemade chocolate lolipops at school for Mommy and Daddy. Julia has already made it clear that we must share them with Julia.

On Thursday, I took the day off and took Julia downtown to see Mommy and to go the Kids Christmas party at Mommy's work. The highlight of the trip was going on the Go Train (the "Green Train"). Julia really enjoyed it. She loved the tunnels and looking at the passing scenery. She was a bit perplexed trying to figure out who was actually driving the train. Mommy took us on a tour of the office to meet a bunch of people. Julia picked up a couple of gifts along the way. The real reason we went downtown was to go to the party and see Santa. Julia wore her Christmas party dress. There was lots of treats to eat but Julia was a bit bored. After around an hour she whispered in my ear "Daddy, let's go to the party now.". I said "Julia, this IS the party.". So, one quick picture with Santa (who was also bored) and we were off to the train!

This time we saw Santa at Julia's school. This is the 3rd Santa visit for Julia this season (with one more to come). Mommy, Grandma and Papere also came to school to see Santa. Julia was pretty brave. She went right up to Santa and sat on his knee. Of course he first enticed her with a candy cane (He's not a "stranger" so I won't be too concerned with that yet). (btw...Julia loves the new TV!)

Uncle Louis came over to help me with my TV/wall project. Julia got to make a gingerbread house with Uncle Louis. That was fun. Uncle Louis is good with crafts. Today was the next step in the wall project. We installed the baseboards, bought the tv and mounted it to the wall. Still to come: hooking up the tv/surround system, arrival of the entertainment unit (the table shown is just temporary) and the arrival of the couch. It's getting there. Next step is to hook up the tv before 7pm Saturday (HNIC).

Julia was successful in putting her pants and underwear back on after going to the toilet by herself. Unfortunately she put them on backwards. I think next time she'll put them on correctly (at least that's what the odds tell me).

This weekend we final put up our Christmas tree. I set it up and Julia and Mommy decorated it. I also put up the outside lights as well. Sheryl and I went to a party on Saturday night so Julia went to Grandma's for dinner. Later, Grandma brought Julia home and put her to bed. Julia has been sleeping without her pull-ups. So far a dry bed two nights in a row! It could be the end of diapers for good!

Julia stayed home from school today. She had the runs yesterday afternoon/evening and a bit of a fever. As a precaution she stayed with Grandma. Grandma said that Julia was feeling good today and ate well. Maybe she is ok now. This past week (starting on Sunday) Julia has had some really naughty moments. This little one has a smart mouth on her. I had a major blow up with her on Wednesday morning. I said, "You have to listen to Daddy". She says, "No I DON'T!". She had me SOOOO frustrated. I could have punched a wall! (I've had enough of drywall patching for one week though). Then on Thursday she was an angel. Today she gave Grandma a hard time at nap time. It's just "a phase" I hope.

On to the drywalling and patching. It will be done soon.