The Maryland Wisks: Big Girl!!

We recently decided that it was time for Julia to switch over to a "big girl bed". This was mainly a selfish reason...let me explain. Every morning, Julia wakes up and yells for Mommy and Daddy (usually Mommy first, then Daddy once Mommy doesn't appear, but that is irrelevant!). Well, it had appeared to be getting earlier and earlier that she was waking up and if you don't know already, Mommy and Daddy LOVE their sleep!! So Daddy thought that if Julia was able to get out of bed herself, that perhaps she would stay in her room and play and not yell for Mommy and Daddy to come get her. Mommy thought that that was all fine and dandy except that there was no way she would ever get to sleep because she would get out of her bed and play (or come find us!!). So Mommy went and bought a bed rail, and converted her crib into a big girl bed. When I picked Julia up from school, as soon as we got home, I took her to see her new big girl bed. I gave her the rules (in the morning you can get up and play and you don't need mommy and daddy to come get you, but at night, you have to stay in, etc.) and the first thing she did was climb in and started jumping on the bed!! She loved it! She must have been in and out of that bed 20 times in the first 3 minutes!!

As it turns out, Andy and I were both wrong about what would happen with this new bed! Julia stayed in it at night and she still hollers for Mommy, then Daddy in the morning! Daddy hooked her up with an A/C in her bedroom and now she is loving life!!

Julia's Uncle Ben and Uncle Brent have been saying that they are going to take her surfing and paddleboarding. I just laugh it off assuming they are kidding. Apparently they weren't kidding...about the paddleboarding anyway!! Our house usually becomes the "go-to" house for cookouts due to our proximity to the lake (for our adventurous friends) and for the ease of Julia. So we had a 4th of July cookout, nothing fancy, just some burgers and dogs (I think! They were black and crispy, but I think they started out as dogs!) and some good friends. So after dinner, Uncle Ben and Uncle Brent get out their paddleboards and head to the lake. So I took Julia for a walk to go watch them. Well Uncle Ben asks Julia if she wants to go and I cautiously ask "are you sure?". So I get Julia's floatie and out they go. I was extremely nervous, but clearly trust Ben more than I ever knew!! Julia seemed nervous at first. She sat right where Ben put her and didn't move a muscle. They were out for a little while and Ben stopped and stood Julia up on the board. This is when she got really comfortable I think. He sat her back down and paddled around some more. Only this time, she would reach over the side and splash the water. I continued to be nervous!! It ended well, no one fell in and I think Julia had a great time! I think I am still nervous just thinking about it!!