Getting ready for a trip

In two days, Julia and I embark upon another journey. Dave returns from 6 weeks of exploring Greece, and we will drive up to Seattle to be with him for 5 days, before driving back here for my class on tuesday. Dave flies out on tuesday, back to Alaska to a dinosaur dig in Denali National Park, and then to begin teacher inservice. I'm actually a little fearful of the reunion. I don't know how Julia will respond to Dave, after 6 weeks apart. We've had that much time apart before, but Julia was too young to care. Maybe she still is too young to care, but I'm hopeful that she'll be excited to see Dave and a little anxious that she'll be indifferent or be upset in some way. We've been video chatting with Dave, and Julia gets excited when he is on the screen, but it is hard to say if she recognizes him as "Dad" or if she's just excited that the computer is talking to her. Since she's still breastfeeding, her world is really still centered on me, but as she gets older she's more and more aware of who is around her regularly. It feels slightly cruel to give her 5 days with dad and then take him away for another 4 weeks, but it would be equally terrible not to have the 5 days. 

Julia discovered Olaf's old train set and is much enamored with it. 

She also has the charming habit of, when wanting to nurse, she must first search around for things to hold. three trains, or two books, or a screwdriver and a sippy cup or a shoe, a comb, a lego car, a bag of golf balls and some pajamas from the laundry basket. She gets frantic if I refuse to let her cuddle with the chosen assortment, even if there are too many chosen things for her to hold at once. She remains distressed until I make it very clear that I am letting her hold the shoe and lego car and that I am tucking the bag of golf balls between us, placing the comb on top and also tucking in the pajamas. She also is very fond of a mole on my chest and often will pause mid-nurse to rearrange her objects in order to free up a finger which she places on the mole like it is the milk dispenser button. 

I've been sewing more baby pants. These are getting to be too small for Julia, so they await for the future babies of my friends and family.  

same with these booties. 

A few days ago, I bought a cheap toddler bed off of craigslist. Dave's dad made a lovely one for us but it is heavy and too nice to mail to Alaska. I need something cheap and light that we don't mind leaving behind. I'm planning on mailing this one north and bringing the family made one down here for the rest of the summer. It's been kind of interesting having it as a sleeping option. Julia still nurses to sleep, but sometimes, especially if she is hot, she'll roll away and roll around until she gets comfortable. She likes to dangle her feet over the edge while nursing, and after a few nights has figured out how to crawl up to nurse in the middle of the night, and either crawls or rolls back down again after. I couldn't say which since I've fallen back asleep myself. It's nice for both of us to have a little more elbow room at night. I'm hopeful that a little more distance will also make her less inclined to snack all night. 

Despite Julia's attempts to get at them all, Olaf has been busy creating with his legos. Here's a few of the latest: