Happy Half Birthday Julie!

Julie is officially 3 1/2 today! She was very excited all day long and kept repeating "Julie half birthday" and "I three half!" We let her open a Christmas gift sent to us by special friends in CA, which she loved. Thank you Cheyanne and family! We will have tons of fun with the CD and the game you sent. When I look back over the last six months I am amazed at how much Julie has grown up. In that amount of time she has gone from a crib to a bed, from diapers to underwear, from terrified of separation to confidently attending preschool, from only child to big sister, and from barely talking to making attempts at conversation. It is truly wonderful to watch her grow and change. I love her so much that it hurts. I know that all you mamas out there know exactly what I mean.

I want to share one cute Julie story in honor of her special day. Yesterday she came up to me trying to tell me something that I didn't quite understand. She finally had pity on my and signed it too (she gets that signing will help mommy understand her speech...smart cookie!). It turns out she was saying "hot mitten." Hmmm..."hot mitten?" After a few repetitions I finally realized that she was looking for her potholder mitt for her play kitchen! How cute is that? "Hot mitten" describes it pretty well, I think! It reminds me of how, as a young child, I used to call windshield wipers "wipe-drivers." I love how kids' minds work! It will definitely be fun to tell Julie about her "hot mitten" one day.

Today was also Julie's preschool holiday program. It was so very sweet. Her class and another class performed several songs and then there were treats for all. Julie got a gift from her teachers as well as from Santa. Here are some of the still photos from the day...

She was an elf in one of the songs, hence the hat!

Julie and her fellow elves make toys (she's holding a paint brush and a block).

Opening the gift from her teachers...

A Julie ornament!

What a special day for my special little girl! I look forward to many, many more.