Happy Birthday Attia

You're Two!!

Happy Birthday Sweet Girl!

Birthday Reflections

Dear Attia,

I can't believe you are already turning two! It's amazing how fast you have grown. This time last year you could only get around by crawling, and your little head was still basically bald. My, how things have changed! Not only can you walk, but you also run, jump and hop. You use your size 6 feet to go go go - all the time. Oh, and you have more hair now too.

This time last year your were still completely dependent on your mommy and daddy. Now you are quite an independent little girl. You like to do things on your own. You like to walk instead of ride in the stroller. You like to go up and down stairs by yourself. You like to pick out your own clothes. You like to dress yourself - but you are much better at taking your clothes off than putting them on. You demonstrate this when you decide that it is time for a "shouw" (you love your showers). You like to tackle new challenges - like assembling your baby stroller by yourself.  Sometimes it is hard, and you get frustrated, but you (usually) end up letting your mommy help, and you watch and learn, and take over to do it yourself right away. You are very smart.

This time last year you could still only communicate with a few basic signs, some simple one syllable words and animal noises, and of course laughing and crying. Now you just chatter away. I love to hear your little voice - talking to your babies, chatting in the back seat on the way home from daycare, signing songs around the house. Of course some of this is still hard to understand, but some of it is very clear, and every day I can understand more of your stories and songs. You add to your vocabulary at an amazing rate. You are quickly adding complexity to your phrases and sentences. You repeat everything I say and you quickly grasp new concepts. Like that your snowman was melted by the sun. Like I said, you are smart.

This time last year you were still waking up to eat at least once a night. You are now a wonderful sleeper and mommy and daddy are very grateful for that. You still take one or two good naps every day, and you sleep all through the night. Thank you!

Of course, there are some things that are still the same as they were this time last year, and I am glad for them as well. You still love to snuggle with your mommy and daddy. You still like to give a whole variety of kisses, including goat kisses, butterfly kisses, and Eskimo kisses (i.e. "nose kisses"). You are still a very sweet and silly little girl, and a pleasure to be around.

I'm sure that this year will bring many new things, as every year does. But no matter how you change, or don't change, your daddy and I will always love you. You are our sweet little girl and we treasure every moment that we spend with you. Watching you grow is a true miracle and joy. I can't wait to see what the coming years bring!

Happy Birthday Squirt!
I Love You!

Mom

Birthday Fun

 

We had a lot of fun celebrating Attia's first birthday! About a week before her birthday we did a birthday photo shoot with my friend Carrie. Attia had her first ever cupcake for the shoot, and it was so cute seeing her dive in. She loved the icing! The picture above is a little sneak peak - I'll post more when I get them!

March 1st turned out to be a gorgeous day (70 degrees!), so we were able to spend time outside playing with Rosa, and in the afternoon we went for a nice family walk. Attia loves to be outside, so she had a great time! That evening we did 'cake' and presents. Since we did a cupcake for the photo shoot, and we would be doing more at her party, we decided to give her a pumpkin muffin on her birthday. She devoured the whole thing! When we were finally able to peel her away from the muffin crumbs she enjoyed opening her presents. The only problem was that she liked what was inside so much that she didn't really want to keep opening more!

The following weekend we threw a birthday party for Attia, and her family and little baby friends came over to help her celebrate. We had a great turnout - our little house was packed! I wasn't sure what Attia would think, but she really enjoyed herself! I'll post pictures of the big event soon!

We also had a couple of nice visit from Attia's St. Louis grandparents around her birthday. Nana & Dpaw came to visit a few weekends before the big day, and Opa & Gigi visited on their way home from Colorado the weekend after her birthday. She/we really enjoyed spending time with all of them!

Thank you to all of our family and friends who helped us celebrate Attia's first birthday!

 

Happy First Birthday!

Wow! One year old! It is hard to believe that this time last year we were at the hospital holding our tiny baby girl, who was just a few hours old. At that point I couldn't imagine that in just 365 days that same little baby would crawling and cruising, making animal noises, playing with her pets, and just being a generally sweet and silly little girl. That's right. Not a baby, a little girl! I know I have said it before, but I am continually amazed by her, and how much she learns and develops every day! Happy Birthday Attia!!! I love you!!!

You sure have come a long way!

Attia's Sixth Month

And that bring us to August. We were still suffering through the heat, but August brought more fun times, as well as some changes for us to get used to.

School was starting up again at the end of the month, and that meant that Attia would be starting daycare. We decided to use a home daycare, run by a German lady that I had met at the LMH mommy group. She has a five year old daughter who is in school now, and a 4 month old son that she watches with Attia. (Her five year old speaks fluent english and german, which we thought was very cool.) Attia's first day was on the 22nd, and leading up to it I was really nervous but after the first day we felt really good about it. Her first two weeks have gone very smoothly and we really like the provider and her set-up. Yea!

Getting ready for her first day of 'school'!

Attia and her buddy Daniel playing grabby feet.
(They were holding hands before this, but
not for the picture of course.)

She even brought home her first daycare artwork!

Throughout the rest of the month we...

Celebrated my 28th birthday...

Went downtown to see the Buskar Fest spectacle (Lawrence's street performer festival)...

Went to South Park for the Fiddling & Picking Championships...

Saw Opa & GiGi for a couple of hours when they stopped by on their way home from Colorado...

Captivated by the mobile from Colorado!

Attia started really liking to pet the pets...

And she learned to sit by herself! She started doing this at the end of the month for about 30 seconds at a time. By a week or two later she was sitting unassisted on the bed and in her playpen for long stretches - like 10 mins! This really helps with laundry!

Sitting a little wobbly - August 15th

Sitting with confidence! - Sept 3rd

Here are some random photos taken throughout the month...

Attia also got to act as a model for a friend of mine who is taking photography classes. Her little photo shoot turned out great - I'll post those pics next!