Peas.
Julia loves food and is not usually very picky about what she eats, although she's getting more particular about her meals as she nears two years old. Despite having a good dinner before bed each night, Julia wakes up (usually around 5:30) and (now that she can open her bedroom door) barges into the hall demanding, "Eats, eats!" So begins 1st breakfast, usually consisting of whatever breakfast item I can present the fastest (seriously, most mornings it's a plain piece of bread because she can't be bothered waiting for the toaster).
She often then gets distracted playing, and by 7 or 8am (after what seems already like a full morning), Julia is once again demanding "Eats, eats!" Consequently, I've taken a cue from Tay Gillespie at Strong River Camp & Farm, and we now have 2nd breakfast in our household. Typically, 2nd breakfast is oatmeal or eggs or fruit and yogurt, and I usually let Julia decide what she wants.
So the other morning started out as usual. Julia burst into the hallway and made a bee-line for the kitchen...woman on a mission. She had her bread (she even let me toast and put Vegemite on it), and we played for a couple of hours. Then round 2 began with Julia climbing up into her chair, requesting what sounded for all the world like "Peas." As I've mentioned before, Julia has many words but they're not always very clear, so I began my usual guessing game of what she was asking me for. Many times she says "Please" by itself as a request, so I started there.
The conversation went something like this:Julia: "Pees?"
Mama: "Please, what, sweetie?"
Julia: "Pees"
Mama: "That's nice of you to say please, but what are you asking for?"
Julia: "Pees?"
Mama: "Piece? Do you want a piece of toast?"
Julia: "No. Pees"
Mama: "Do you want a piece of fruit?"
Julia: "No. Pees"
Mama (racking my brain and digging through the fridge and cupboard): "Oh, peach. Do you want some peaches?"
(Here I pulled out the fruit cups of diced peaches to show her, wondering in amazement how she even knew we had one of those in the pantry. She gave me a very confused look.)
Julia (getting frustrated with her dense mother now): "Peeeeeees"
Finally, it all clicked.
Mama (taking out the bag of frozen peas from the freezer): "Peas. You want peas. Frozen peas. For breakfast."
Julia: "Yes!" (with a look that said, "My gosh, my mom's an idiot, I've been saying that all along!)
Another wonderful insight into the child's world: time means absolutely nothing. Allocating foods to certain meals is completely arbitrary. 7 in the morning or 6 at night, what difference does it make?! Julia proceeded to eat her peas (frozen at first, though she did eventually come around to my way of thinking and let me at least heat them for her), and she enjoyed them thoroughly!
Liam has gotten really ticklish, and he'll belly-laugh when tickled or when you play peek-a-boo with him. Despite being a huge flirt and constantly flashing that big toothless grin of his, he reserves his biggest smiles and laughs for his sister. He finds Julia hilarious, responding to her whether she's right in his face talking to him or across the room talking to her dolls. He quickly forgets the minor traumas she puts him through from time to time (kicks, scrapes, and other brief jealous episodes) and goes back to looking up at her with his big blue eyes and a huge smile. 
(For those of you who don't know) Caydence is Julia's best friend. Her mom, Debbie, and I met at a local park last October. Our friendship began a lot like the relationship of a couple who meets at a bar. Debbie and I eyed one another, smiling shyly and then quickly turning away, slowly inching toward eachother. The initial conversation started with, "So, do you come here often?" After nearly two hours of idle chitchat and watching our girls play together (no shyness there), we awkwardly decided to exchange numbers. We met up at the park a few more times and within a few weeks we were getting the girls together almost daily for playdates at our houses and outings around town. 
Julia had a blast at Caydence's party. Krazy Kritters is one of those great indoor play areas that has a huge jumping castle and a massive climbing structure with tunnels and slides and bridges and even a flying fox (zipline) all padded and contained in netting so the children can pretty much have free reign of the place with minimal adult intervention. Since I've been at school we haven't seen Caydence as often, so Julia was thrilled to see her and immediately rushed over to give her a hug. They completely wore themselves out climbing and running and jumping and sliding and then enjoyed devouring all the party food, including a cupcake which Julia was very protective of (she's onto Matt now and knows that leftovers are not safe around him). 
