Yesterday was Julian's Half-Birthday, he is six months old already! I can't believe it. How did that little baby get to be such a big boy already?

Julian started sitting up on his own and has really gotten very good at it. He only falls over when he gets tired after a lot of playing. He can grab and manipulate his toys pretty well. He is eating some food now as well. Yep, quite a developmental burst lately.

Of course, with the big developmental leap forward, his potty skills have taken a nosedive. That is fairly common, from what I understand. When babies start performing a fascinating new skill (sitting up, crawling or walking), they often rebel against using their potty. Too much going on. Then they go back to it later, usually right where they left off. So I think that's what is happening. It's frustrating though. We were doing so well, he was loving his potty! I guess I need to just back off for a little while...keep offering the potty to him, but without too many expectations.

What else is new? I don't know, can't think right now. I have a million tasks started downstairs that I need to go finish. Laundry to do, a pantry full of ants, and I want to make carrot bread and apple pie today to use up all the extra apples and carrots we have sitting around. Baby J is sleeping and time is precious...

Sunday, August 1st, 2004

2:30pm

We had a party yesterday at the house. It was the first one we've had since having the baby, the first big party, that is. It was fun, we made a big batch of sangria and a lot of good food...little whole-wheat shredded-BBQ-pork pizzas. Tasty.

Our friend Chef Mike Jewell was going to serve as caterer, but he went out drinking the night before so he was hungover and fairly useless. He was supposed to prepare a bunch of food and bring it over, but he showed up empty-handed, with only an incomplete shopping list. We ended up having to go shopping at Trader Joe's, and then got a bunch of extra stuff that we didn't even use. Aaaargh, and the kitchen had to be cleaned up afterwards. Pain in the ass. I was pissed, because I didn't want to have to work AND take care of the baby at the party.

But the party was fun. The sangria was very tasty, I made a really good batch with 4 bottles of Two-Buck Chuck (Charles Shaw) merlot from Trader Joe's, lots of chopped-up peaches/grapes/plums, 2 quarts of pineapple juice and a bottle of Hennessey brandy. With the food, it was a big hit.

I put Julian in his Ergo backpack. He was quite happy riding around with all the people smiling at him. A few hours in, he started getting tired, so I put him down for a nap and I slept with him for about an hour. Then we got back up and rejoined the party. Another hour and a half later he got tired and fussy again, so we took another nap. At 11:30pm we woke up and everyone was gone. Too bad we didn't get to say goodbye to the guests, but it really worked out taking those party naps. Kept the baby happy and kept me from getting too tired too. Let's hear it for the disco nap!