Look out below...

Julia and her Mommy sit in the balcony at church most Sundays. That's so Julia can have access to her Daddy's office if she needs a nap or a diaper change. It's also so Julia won't distract her fellow congregants from service by making funny faces and talking to the people nearby.

Since few other people sit in the balcony, Julia's Mommy allows her to be fairly mobile. She can walk back and forth in the row, look over the top of the balcony to see her Daddy in the pulpit, and, lately, practice going up and down the couple of stairs between rows. Julia enjoys this freedom.

When she became tall enough to peer over the balcony, she realized she could see lots of people and things below. This led her to experiments in gravity and distance.

Julia's cousin Stephanie joined them in the balcony one Sunday. When Stephanie went downstairs to play drums with the choir, Julia's Mommy moved most of Stephanie's things so they wouldn't be transformed into toys by Julia's deft hands. Julia managed to find her Auntie Anne's Bible, however, and with both hands positioned it over the balcony. She was about ready to make her release when her Mommy caught her and put the book out of her reach.

Julia then distracted herself with other things, including a snack. At one point, the cup of milk became the object of her experiment. Her Mommy caught the cup and moved it out of reach.

Having been foiled twice, Julia took a little nap. Her pal Elmo joined her. When they awoke, Julia again took interest in what was happening below. Then, before her Mommy could catch her, she launched Elmo over the balcony. As though she were quite surprised, Julia turned to her Mommy and asked, "Elmo?"

Exasperated, her Mommy simply said, "Elmo went downstairs." "Downstairs," Julia repeated, resigned to have to wait until the end of service to retrieve him.

Fortunately, no one was crushed by the weight of the small stuffed toy that Sunday. Since then, pacifiers and teething rings have all been launched over the balcony without landing on anyone. Although her Mommy tries to pack activities to keep her occupied, Julia's natural curiosity takes over. So, if you ever sit below Julia in church, just look out.