Sunday, May 9, 2010

Happy Mother's Day to all the Mothers!

Motherhood is a an amazing transition. During this first year it has been a balancing act between reflecting on the past on the events that have shaped me (including a huge dose of gratitude for the role my mother played in my life) and projecting into the future the life my daughter could have (shaped in part by the choices that I make now). The last nine months have been amazing in ways that I could have never anticipated with a little girl that is incredible. I feel like the luckiest mother in the world to have such a special daughter. Every day is a gift and the presents just get better all the time- I can't even guess what tomorrow will bring except that it will include a smile (and likely some laughter).

On our first mother's day, we had a fun-filled day of sunshine. We went to a park for some swinging, a walk to the Ballard Farmer's Market, and exploration in our backyard. What more could you ask for (besides the yummy Black Forest Cake that Luc is making me right now? Nothing! Did I mention that Luc makes this whole thing so much better?) Another little gift that Amelia brought to us today was her decision to climb the stairs. Luc has been showing her how to lift her knee and pull herself up. She has kinda done one step on her own before. But today she really decided to do it. She climbed THREE stairs in a row and then decided to come back down- backwards and slowly lowering herself. Granted her counting sucks and she stopped a little too soon, tried to sit down, and would have tumbled down if we hadn't caught her. But I think her counting will improve with time. She is simply remarkable, especially if you've seen our staircase- it is a twisty spiral and you have to choose the right place to climb to make it up. I think that is what prevented her from going any further!

Here is my favorite picture series in a while- Amelia discovering the flavor of dirt (turns out not to be nearly as good as brie, which she seems to like quite a lot!).





Tuesday, May 4, 2010

Amelia's newest (and favorite) toy!

A week ago Kara, one of our wonderful neighbors, offered us a little bike that her son used to love but has outgrown. We were not sure if Amelia would like it, but it looked like it had potential...

Wow - did she loved it! Here is a (long) video of her early exploration of her new toy...



After a couple of days, she was already riding all around the house! In this second video (of a more manageable size), she clearly loves being able to move around. So cute!

Friday, April 30, 2010

Amelia is on the go...

Singing and Dancing in Little Bavaria

Another little gem that we nearly forgot about, but rediscovered the other night. It made us chuckle and you might too!

Wednesday, April 28, 2010

Amelia meets her cousins-Max and Alex!

I almost forgot to post the pictures of Amelia meeting her cousins. We already posted some pictures with her littlest cousin Beatrice, but she also met her cousins Max and Alex. Max is just about as tall as I am now. He is growing up so fast. Alex is getting really good at playing the piano. It was really good to see them both. They are both so good with little Bea. Max is especially good at soothing her when she is crying- bouncing her and smiling at her until she is smiling too.

We were all having so much fun- grandma joined in too!

Friday, April 16, 2010

9 months old!

It is amazing how time flies. Amelia is already 9 months old. She can crawl all over the house, chase her parents (and be chased!), stand tall on her own, find electrical cords and crumbs like a pro. She is a champion eater and has 5 teeth now. Her two front teeth have been coming in for a while. We are lucky to have such a fun and amazing baby. Her favorite game at the moment is to hide herself and be found or crawl away and be chased- you can tell when she wants to be chased by her pace and the cute little noises she makes!

Happy 9- months Amelia! They go by so fast.So fast that it took me half a month to post this! Ha.

Here are some cute shots of her in the garden playing on her little slide that Craig and Joanna passed on to us. She seems to really like it!





The First Easter Egg Hunt

Amelia even had her first egg hunt. Rather simplistic since everything is new to her- grass, sticks, dandelions. But still it was rather funny watching her discover her eggs in the lawn (heavily assisted by mom). She was even able to pick up the eggs which was quite a feat since they had been dyed with one of the fancy marbled egg kits that includes oil. They were pretty slick even after we tried to wipe it all off.


Here is a shot of her playing with the egg. Picking the slick little egg up. Shaking it around. She seems pretty curious about it.


We aren't really sure what happened, but she seemed to have managed to crack the egg open. As it turns out the egg she got was RAW. It was dripping through her fingers for a moment before we all realized what had happened! How funny is that!

Happy First Easter Amelia! There will be more surprises to come...