Welcome to the world Julia

November 15, 2016 Julia has returned home from college for Thanksgiving Break.  She seems happy but appears to be a bit exhausted from the workload associated with college level classes.  While Julia excelled in high school, she seems to be struggling a bit as she tries to balance a social life and the high demands of academic life in college.  Due to some restrictions in her high school curriculum as a result of some standardized testing, Julia has fallen behind in her math classes.  I have encouraged Julia to make use of her professors office hours and the math lab at school to make up for the curriculum gap that has appeared between high school and college.  Julia is open to my suggestions and tells me she will see help as she finishes out this semester. I believe overall Julia is adjusting to college life.  She is showing some signs of the first year adjustment reaction which can include symptoms such as anxiety and depression.  It appears this...

August 5, 2016 Julia graduated high school this past June and based on her academic achievements she is off to a four year university out of state.  She received a scholarship and she has been assigned on campus housing.  We have spent much of the summer shopping for items for her dorm and she has been working a part time job to earn some spending money for college.  Julia didn't really enjoy her part time job working at the grocery store.  She did not find the work challenging enough for her.  The frustrations with her part time job lead us into a conversation reinforcing her decision to attend college.  I told Julia that a lack of higher education usually leads to people spending many year working in low paying and basic skill jobs.  She agreed and is enthusiastic about attending college out of state. Having deeper discussions about career choices and college has allowed me to see that Julia has entered into a stage as defined by Piaget as formal...

October 5, 2015 Julia seems to be enjoying high school life and has developed a large social circle.  She is involved with volunteer work, social clubs and sports.  I believe Julia is turning out to be a well rounded individual and will be well prepared for college after high school.  She received her test results back from the ACT and SAT scoring in the top 10% on both test.  Her father and I are very proud of her accomplishments and give her a bit more freedom to make decisions.  We see her friendships evolving and have noticed a slight shift in her needing her parents less and leaning on her friends more for support.  Julia enjoyed taking a Psychology class during senior year and made a few comments that she is always acting like a therapist to one of her friends.  Julia and her clique of friends decided to participate in the senior variety show and are having some fun coming up with comical ideas.  I am happy to see Julia fitting in with a c...

August 15, 2014 As a parent I have been dreading this time since Julia was very young.  Julia just passed her drivers test and is on the road as a new driver.  She has used some money from savings and her father and I have chipped in to cover the rest of the expense for a used car.  I feel a bit more at ease given Julia seems to be a conscientious driver.  I am also relieved because now she can drive her sister Madeline to school and get herself to and from extra curricular activities. One funny thing that has happened recently is Julia received her first bad haircut.  She was mortified and went out shopping for hats immediately after the haircut.  I try not to laugh and be supportive of Julia because we know adolescence is a time girls tend to have lower levels of self esteem.  Her embarrassment surrounding the haircut seemed to be a bit over the top and remained her main focus for a few weeks.  As a parent, I chalked most of the dramatics up...

September 4, 2012 Julia hit a growth spurt last year and now at age 14 she is almost 5'7".  Julia is taller then most boys in her grade.  Over the summer her birthday party included both boys and girls.  I have been expecting Julia to show some interest in boys as this is typically the age where boys and girls enjoy the company of one another.  Julia has even been on some outings lately involving small groups of boys and girls.  I know there is a winter formal at school this year and Julia has already asked me to help her find a dress. Julia has developed some anxiety related to the transition from middle school to high school.  I tried to ease her mind by letting her know that high school experiences were some of my most fond memories and it will likely be the same for her.  I also have a talk with Julia about peer pressure and the use of illegal drugs, cigarettes and alcohol.  We know teens are often influenced by peer groups and role models...

May 1, 2010 Julia is turning into a young lady right before our eyes.  Very soon she will be a teenager facing the challenges of adolescence.  At this age she has a good group of friends, excels at school and is generally well behaved at home.  She has also developed more interest in sport activities this year.  I am hopeful she will follow in my footsteps playing some team sports in middle school which will help build her self confidence and expand her social circle. At home we play games such as 3-D video tennis on the virtual game player.  This is a good way for the whole family to participate in some physical activity together. We will spend the summer prepping for middle school.  At this age, Julia is showing a bit more concern for how she looks and what she wears then she has in elementary school.  We are so proud of Julia because she is in the gifted and talented program.  She seems to be engaged and challenged with her school material....

August 15, 2006 Julia turned 8 over the summer and her little sister Madeline turned 5 in the spring.  Madeline will be off to school in the fall and we will have both kids in school full time.  It will be nice to have both girls on the same school schedule and routine.  This will make the family schedule more well balanced and we can plan fun times and family dinners more consistently. Julia continues to do well in elementary school and remains curious about the world in general.  My nephew (Julia's cousin) returned from a tour of duty in Asia and came over for a visit last week.  Julia was very interested in looking at a map of this region of the world and learning as much about it as possible.  At this point Julia is showing developmental signs leading us to believe she is having some concrete operational thought.  She is using logic more and more as she approaches intellectual problems.  She is learning there is a vast world out there and ...

September 1, 2003 Hard to believe Julia is 5 and off to kindergarten.  During her prep session for kindergarten Julia made a few friends and seems generally excited to begin this new journey.  In her prescreening Julia was above average on vocabulary and language skills.  Julia can read a few sight words and write her name.  We are very proud of these cognitive developmental milestones as we as parents have spent a lot of time reading and writing with Julia.  We try to use Vygotskys approach to learning using the zone of proximal development.  We read to Julia slightly above her skill level to encourage her to comprehend new information such as an advanced vocabulary word that might be just out of her reach.  We know she would not be able to handle these advanced books on her own but with our help and hopefully the continued support of her teachers she will continue to progress at an above average rate.  It is a bit early to tell but we believe ...

June 1, 2001 Our life is busy as ever balancing a new born and Julia who will turn 3 in another month.  Julia has taken quite well to the role of big sister.  She is a big help especially during feedings with her new baby sister Madeline.  We moved into our new house a few months ago and we are loving the new neighborhood.  The public schools are great here and we are meeting lots of families with kids the same age as Julia. Our little Julia is developing a big personality and it is neat to watch her come into her own more and more everyday.  One thing we have noticed is Julia telling silly little lies lately.  She will leave a cookie crumb trail to her bed while insisting she did not eat any cookies before bedtime.  When we catch her telling these little lies we explain to her that lying is wrong and people do not like to be mislead.  Giving her some punishment for this type of behavior will hopefully help her to establish some moral developm...

October 1, 2000 We are pleased to announce we are adding another little girl to our family.  With Julia turning two over the summer we figured it was time to expand the family while we still have all of the other baby items (crib, car seat, play mat, etc) left over from when Julia was small.  We have held off telling Julia about her baby sister until this week as I am 6 months along and really starting to show.  The new baby will be arriving just after the new year.  At this point, the birth of her sister will likely become one of Julia's first memories. We know the brain tends not to store any information before the age of 3 as the brain is growing.  We talk with Julia as much as possible about the arrival of her new sister.  We want to be sure Julia knows she is important and the role of playing a big sister is very special. To make sure Julia bonds properly with her new sister we plan to involve her with as much as possible with the new baby.  W...

February 1, 2000 We survived another holiday season and I am returning to work part time.  Julia began potty training at the end of December and now only wears a diaper at night time.  We took Julia for her preschool assessment this week.  Julia seemed to get along very well with the other kids.  This was not surprising to us because we had some new neighbors move in a few months ago with another little girl about Julia's age whom she loves to play with.  Julia seems to prefer playing with the other girls but will interact with the boys.  We know this is the time children start to develop gender identity.  Given the exposure to our little neighbor friend who is a girl, we think Julia tends to be drawn to other girls because she sees similar traits to herself. Julia also seemed to warm up to the examiner making good eye contact and she seemed to be at ease with the new situation.  This was comforting to us as we know children who have autism te...

December 1, 1999 Julia is almost to the 18 month mark and as we approach the holiday season Julia talking quite a bit.  We think she has a large vocabulary for her age and she is starting to put words together into phrases. She is starting to use more telegraphic speech to communicate with us which is simple sentences that leave out words that are not necessary to get her point across.  Sometimes I can hear her talking to herself while she plays alone in her room.  To help her enhance her speech, we continue to read books together during the day and before bedtime. One of Julia's favorite words to use is the word NO! I believe we are starting to approach the terrible twos as they say.  Julia will sometimes test limits and boundaries when it comes to things she doesn't want to do. Bedtime and bath time are two things she seems to be fighting both myself and my husband on lately.  We have agreed to set limits with Julia and spin scenarios so that she thinks do...

July 7, 1999 What a year it has been! Julia has just turned one and we are settling into a nice routine schedule that seems to work for our family.  Keeping with a routine helps Julia maintain a pleasant mood, steady sleeping schedule and healthy appetite. After taking the last year off, I am planning to return to work at the end of the summer and we are looking at some child care options for Julia.  We think Julia spending some time outside the home will be good for her social and cognitive developement. Julia took her first steps on her own 3 days before her first birthday.  We are so proud of her and we officially have a walker!  Watch out world.  Julia is able to say a few words that are easily recognizable like momma, daddy, kitty and no.  Her very first word much to the dismay of my husband who was hoping it would be "daddy" was "buster."  Buster happens to be the name of my parents dog.  Julia clearly uttered his name during a visit to ...

March 1, 1999 Julia and I just arrived home from a doctor visit.  She is growing rapidly and falling into the 80% percentile for height and 85% percentile for weight.  Per the recommendation of our doctor, we are going to transition Julia into eating a wider variety of fruits and vegetables. The doctor noticed an obvious attachment to me but she had some positive reactions to most of the people and situations we experienced at the doctors office.  It broke my heart when Julia had to get a vaccination but I know it is for her well being and the well being of other children she comes into contact with.  Julia calmed down fairly quickly after the shot.  I think it was harder on me then it was on Julia. While Julia is busy crawling around, the doctor noted she should be making more attempts to pull herself up and support her own weight.  To help Julia develop some additional motor skills, her father and I will help her practice walking by holding her hand...

February 1, 1999 Let the baby proofing begin!  Julia is on the move crawling around everywhere.  We've spent the last month childproofing the kitchen cabinets, the bathroom and hiding all exposed cords and electrical outlets.  Julia started to crawl and is very curious about everything in her surroundings.  Although she seems to have developed quite a strong bond with me, we are trying to strike a balance and I have told my husband he needs to participate more in feedings and playing with Julia when he comes home from work.  Julia is still bottle feeding but we introduced some solid foods a few months ago which she seems to like.  My husband likes to pretend the feeding spoon is an airplane and Julia laughs when he feeds her. Julia sometimes gets fussy when we are home together and I have to run upstairs to change the laundry.  I don't always feel like lugging her up and down the stairs.  When I leave the room I can hear her fussing and crying...

September 1, 1998 It has been quite an adjustment becoming new parents.  Since our arrival home Julia continues to be a happy and healthy baby.  Julia was having trouble latching on and my body was not adjusting well to breast feeding so we have had more success with bottle feedings.  This is a great help to me because my husband can take turns feeding Julia and bonding with her during this time.  Luckily Julia is sleeping in stretches of about 4-6 hours at night.  We just can't seem to get enough of our sweet little Julia.  When she is awake we spend time talking to her and holding her soothingly.  We are starting to see some smiles when she is happy and we can always tell when she is getting sleepy.  My husband received a promotion a few months ago so I have decided to take a year off and spend as much time with Julia as possible.  We go for walks during the day and read stories in the afternoons.  While I know Julia does not underst...

July 7, 1998 It started at home Friday night while I was cleaning up from dinner.  I started to experience some sharp pains in my lower abdomen.  The sharp pains became consistent and at that point I looked at my husband and let him know we had better get to the hospital.  He grabbed my bag that had been packed for weeks and off we went.  The labor pains came on faster and stronger as we entered the hospital.  The staff quickly got us into a labor and delivery room.  My doctor who was on call entered the room and asked me if I want to receive an epidural.  The pain was so intense I opted to receive the epidural so I could relax and continue the birthing process as planned.  The anesthesiologist  came in and administered the injection in my spine and I was immediately relived. Our goal was to have a natural childbirth and after 10 hours of labor our little Julia finally arrived.  Julia arrived weighing 7 pounds 4 ounces with a score of ...

December 1, 1998 BIG NEWS! We have just arrived home from a doctor visit and the news is official! We are expecting a baby due in July of 1999.  During the ultrasound we got a sneak peak at our little girl and she is developing at a normal rate.   I have been experiencing some normal morning sickness and some fatigue but overall feel great.  At first it was difficult to give up caffeine and alcohol but now at the 10 week mark it has become routine.  My appetite has increased but I am trying to maintain an active lifestyle with taking long low impact walks in the evening with my husband.  My husband is very excited about expanding our family and we are making arrangements to adjust my work schedule after our little girl arrives so I can spend more time at home.