My first shiner

Couldn't find a place in the baby photo book for this milestone (if I should even call it that). I would like to say there is a cool, exciting story behind this little gal's discolored eye. No dramatic tumble down the stairs, no acrobatic fall off a tricycle, no hilarious walked-into-a-wall oops. Nope, she was playing with the toy vacuum at daycare and the second I walked into the room to pick her up and go home, she tripped and hit her eye smack-dab on the corner of the pretend cleaning machine. Of course, there were tears, but the accident didn't look dramatic or traumatizing until I got home and noticed her eye had swelled and was very red. Of course, a toddler won't sit still for two seconds and definitely won't sit still to let you put ice on the injured eye. So, she toughed it out. She is perfectly fine and doesn't seem to notice it. It will be interesting to see what the doctor says about it at her 18 months well-baby check tomorrow. Wonder if I should make up a more exciting story? Naaa, that would probably look bad. :)

"A"

Julia just loves her cousin Ainsley. Whenever she sees a picture of her, which is a lot because there are pictures all over our house, she says "A?". She can't say Ainsley's full name yet, which is understandable since it is a tough 2-syllable name, but she always seems to be asking "where is A?" "Can we see A again?" She also loves to watch videos of her and Ainsley playing together. No matter how old they are in the video, she always knows when Ainsley is the other baby in the video. She just giggles with delight when watching the funny scenes:

Easter, 2010

This year we spent Easter with my family. It was great to see everyone from both my mom's side and my dad's since we missed Christmas this past year due to a wicked snow storm. Here are some pictures of the day...

Julia playing with 2nd cousin Brody (~2 months younger than Julia) and 2nd cousin Calli

A lovely picture with 1st cousin once-removed, Anna.

Going through a basket of plastic eggs with Grandpa after an easter egg hunt

Playing with her new, pretty Easter shoes

So lady-like in her dress

Isn't this such a precious picture! Daddy and Julia strolling down to the lakeside