I'm the mother...

Last night we went over to Nana's house and I got to play with my cousins all night. We got home late and I was NOT ready for bed -- I kept insisting that I wanted to go downstairs. Finally Mom got me to lie down with her in my bed. We were cuddling and chatting together, and I said, "Now, I'm the mother and you're the daughter." Mommy played along, putting her head on my chest and asking if she could play with my belly button (since that's what I like to do to her). She thought it was a really cute game, but she didn't realize how sneaky and clever I was until I said, "Okay, daughter, now I'm going to get up and go sit in my chair where you can see me. Don't get out of bed!" And then I climbed out of bed, sat in Mom's rocking chair, and played with her phone while my "daughter" stayed in bed. She eventually got up and convinced me that I the game was up and I really did have to got to bed, but it was good while it lasted....

November Fun

November was a fun and exciting month. We went to North Carolina and visited my friends Miles, Tobin, and Evan.


One night Daddy was "sick" so Dr Miles and Dr Mazie helped him feel better.


I also got to be a guest player on Miles's soccer team! I'm the one in the green shirt. It was lots of fun! Dad says Livi, Crosby, and I can be on a team together next fall. I can't wait!


We also had a really fun Thanksgiving. We went to Nana's house in the morning, where I got to make a pumpkin pie!


Then we went to Great Uncle Randy and Great Aunt Janis's house in the early afternoon, and Great Barb and GGpa's house in the evening. I finished off the day by dancing on the fireplace where Mom used to perform when she was a little girl!


I continue to be a very social little girl and a non-stop talker. After Thanksgiving we went up to Winter Park for a few days and I got to play in the snow.



On the ride home in Uncle Ian and Aunt Michelle's car I told a LONG story about my good friend Aso (whose name, I recently informed Mom, is actually spelled A-M-T-H-Y-4 1/2-3 1/2-Mazie-I-E). In this story Aso was in a swimming pool and got bitten on the cheek and on her finger by a fish! Luckily, I was there to comfort her. There was also a dolphin, and then the dolphin got out of the pool and bumped into a little girl (Mazie). "And then," I explained, "the little girl NOTICED that the dolphin was crashing into her." Mom really laughed at that sentence, both because it was a great use of vocabulary and because she liked the mental image of the little girl suddenly catching on that there was a dolphin crashing into her.

Here's another video. I'm pretty good at sharing and was excited when Daddy gave me two pieces of my Halloween candy (that stuff sticks around for a long time!) since I figured I could have one and give one to Livi. But then Livi didn't end up coming over and, well, I sort of ate them both...

Halloween!

Happy Halloween, everyone! I had a great one. A couple of months ago Olivia announced that she was going to be a jellyfish for Halloween, just like her big sister Mia was last year. I think pretty much everything Livi does is pretty awesome, so I decided I wanted to be a jellyfish, too. We were all set with that plan, but then Livi changed her mind and decided she wanted to be a ladybug... and then a witch... and every time she changed her mind, I went right along with her. One day I told Mom and Dad that Livi and I were going to be zombies! I guess I didn't really know what that was, and Mom thought maybe that wasn't the best costume for a two year old. Anyway, since Livi has two big sisters, she had plenty of old costumes to choose from and could afford to take her time with her final choice. But about two weeks ago Mom decided we needed to make a decision so that we could make sure I had a costume in time for Halloween. One morning Dad suggested that I think about what I would really want to be myself, without worrying about what Livi was going to be. He had hardly finished his sentence when I gave my answer: "A WHALE!!" I think Mom and Dad expected me to pick something from the list of options we had already discussed, but nope, I had my own idea! So Mom made me an orca whale costume, and I turned out pretty cute.




Meanwhile, Mom and Dad dressed up like spooky doctors since our house used to be a hospital. Here we are in front of our house!


Even better than the costumes, I learned about this thing called "Trick-or-Treating" where you just go around asking for candy! We just did our little block, but I filled up my little bag and had a great time. At the first house, I forgot what I was supposed to say, but from then on I figured it out.


After we finished going around the block, we sat on our porch for a while and gave out candy to a whole bunch of kids. It was so fun to see all of their costumes! Mom and Dad also let me have a few pieces of candy, but I have to save the rest. Oh well. It was a pretty fun day!

Preschool!

Mazie with a "camera smile" ready for her first day of school

Now THERE's a better smile!

I started preschool this week! I'm going to Our School, a small cooperative preschool, two mornings a week. I've gone to visit a few times with my cousin, Livi, but on Tuesday I had my first day in the class all by myself. Well, not really by myself... there are 6 other kids and two teachers, and then one parent stays for each class, too. Anyway, I had a GREAT time on Tuesday! Mom dropped me off, and I promptly changed into a swimming suit because we were going to play with the water table that day.

The teachers like us to do things by ourselves, and that works well for me -- I took off my clothes and hung them up all by myself! Mom seemed to linger around for a while... I was too busy playing with all the fun stuff to pay too much attention to her. When she finally left she gave me a hug and I said, "Bye Mom! Love you!" I had lots of fun playing with the kids, and I'm really excited to go back for my second class tomorrow!

Even though I'm just starting preschool, my days have been pretty busy and very different since we moved to Colorado. For the first two years of my life Dad was home with me all day every day, and Mom worked from home sometimes and then spent afternoons and evenings with me. I hardly ever spent time away from BOTH of my parents. When we moved to Colorado, Dad started working part time, too. This meant that I got to spend time with a bunch of other people... Aunt Jen, Aunt Michelle, Nana, Ahya, and several different babysitters. It's been a little crazy moving around so much and having a busier schedule, but I LOVE it! It's been so great to hang out with my extended family and new friends.... Fridays are "Ahya Fridays" and we have so much fun playing together. Ahya lets me do things at my own pace, which can be kind of leisurely... she took me to the zoo a while ago and we only saw a few animals since I like to take my time! But Ahya doesn't mind -- she's very patient and just enjoys letting me do my own things!

And then there's my cousin Olivia. Since Dad and Aunt Jen work together, Livi and I have gotten to spend a TON of time together, and we're not just cousins anymore... we're BEST FRIENDS! I have so much fun with her -- we play all kinds of games together, we share things, we tell each other jokes, and we rarely fight. Considering the fact that she's 3 and I'm 2, it's pretty impressive how well we get along. We'll see each other a little bit less now that I'm going to be in school on Tuesday and Thursday mornings (she goes Monday/Wednesday/Friday), but I'll still get to spend plenty of time with O-LIV-I-AAAAAAA!

All in all, I'm still a super happy kid with lots to say and lots of jokes to tell. I LOVE to tell stories and talk about my friends, many of whom Mom and Dad have never met. One friend is "Aso" -- I talk about him (or her... it varies) all the time. Today in the car I was asking Mom, "Do you know Aso?" Mom said she didn't, so I explained, "Aso is a girl who saves the day." I proceeded to list a bunch of other friends who also save the day, including Fifi and Biba. Mom asked what they were saving the day from, and I told her, "Washington." That made Mom wonder if I've been attending too many Tea Parties or something. Who knows where I get this stuff!

Videos

As you all know we've been SUPER busy over the last several months (traveling, moving, traveling, starting new jobs, moving into our new house, unpacking, having Nanny and Papa visit, traveling some more....) and Mom and Dad are way behind on updating you all on ME and my antics. We are very happy to be settling in to our new home and new routines, and I just get cuter (and feistier) every day. Here are some recent videos.

Talking on the "phone" in our motel in Glenwood Springs, where we went to celebrate GG's 80th birthday! So great to spend time with the Hansen crew!


My performance at the Hotel Jerome in Aspen on our way back from Glenwood.


Yesterday at Aunt Jen's house -- Mia got me and Livi all dressed up and we did some belly dancing!

Recent Quotes

Here are some of the more ridiculous things I've said recently:

During the ceremony for Uncle Ty and Aunt Sara's wedding (more on that, including pictures, soon):

"Don't fall in the water, Daddy!" (He was the officiant and was standing on the edge of a fountain!)

Then, to the bridesmaids:

"If you take your shoes off, THEN you can put your feet in the water!" (Spoken from experience.)

To my mom, when she was putting on my shoe that sometimes pinches:

"If you hurt me, that's okay. If you don't hurt me, that's better."

To a nice woman outside the restaurant I was eating at with Mom and Dad:

"I came outside because I couldn't see you inside."

"I just moved to Colorado."

"It's really nice weather."

To the librarian who was telling some boys I was playing with to be a little quieter and stop screaming:

"If you're inside, then you can't scream. If you're outside, THEN you can scream."

To Mom as she was bringing me up to sleep, after I said goodnight to Daddy:
"Daddy's daughter is going to bed."

I've also taken to using first names. Mommy is Katie, Ahya is Tracy, Papa is Steve. I also regularly inform Daddy that Nana is his mama, and I tell Mommy that Ahya is her mother.

I'm really liking my new house. I'll write more about that and put some pictures up soon.

Busiest Month Ever!

The last month and a half has been WAY busy and Mom and Dad are WAY behind on updates. Here's what we've been up to:

June 20-28: Up at the cottage with our friends. We had an AMAZING trip... great weather, fun boat rides, and lots of time in the water. I loved hanging out with Miles, Tobin, and Evan, and the big boys even taught me how to pee outside! It's a little easier for them, though.... All in all, a wonderful vacation.




June 29-July 2: Packing up our house in Madison...

July 3-8: Back up at the cottage with our family. Once again, good weather overall and LOTS of fun with my cousins. (Mom dropped our camera in the water during the first cottage trip, so we have to get pictures from Grandpa to post here from our family trip...)

July 8-10: More packing...

July 10-11: Moving to Colorado! Dad and Grandpa drove the big UHaul moving truck while Mom, Great Aunt Joy, Wiley, and Bailey (our sweet Roxie has a new home with a very nice woman in Madison) all piled in to our Volvo. We drove straight through the night and made it to Avocado (that's what I like to call my new home state) on Sunday the 11th.

July 12-22: Staying with Ahya and playing with my cousins (Olivia and I have become really good friends!), while Mom and especially Dad worked really hard to finalize the purchase of our new house in Louisville! We finally closed on the house on July 22 and Mom, Dad, and I got to spend one night there together before Mom and I flew to Bellingham on the 23rd.

Mom and I are here in Washington now, and Dad will come out on Tuesday the 27th. We're getting ready for Uncle Tyler and Aunt Sara's wedding on Aug 2 -- I'm going to be a flower girl! We are so excited to see everyone and to celebrate this wonderful event! When we met Ty and Sara at the Farmer's Market this morning I showed Aunt Sara how our whole family feels about her: I gave her a huge hug and wouldn't let her put me down for about 10 minutes straight. Uncle Tyler's okay, too, I guess... I'm just glad he's finally making an honest aunt out of Sara -- she's a keeper!

Longest Sentence

Ever since my dad read somewhere that a kid my age is supposed to be able to string 3-4 words together into a sentence, he's made a hobby out of counting how long my sentences are. The other day I blew my old record out of the water with this 15-word gem, followed by a little two-word finisher:

"This bear have an owie,
and I am trying to fix it
-- with this fork! Okay, Daddy?"

As Mom was typing this out for me, she realized that it's also just a few syllables away from being a haiku! I'll work on that next time....

Videos

Here are some recent videos...

Daddy started my soccer training at my birthday party this weekend. He even showed me and Morris how to celebrate after a goal!


Here's one of me riding a pony at Elvire's house in France.


Also in France, this is me reading to Timeo.


And back at home, I tell Mommy another silly story while I eat my birthday breakfast.



And then dance and sing with the presents Ahya gave me.

BIRTHDAY PARTY!!!

Today was my birthday -- I turned TWO years old. For my birthday, a bunch of friends and I went to the zoo yesterday and then hung out at the park. It was a gorgeous day and I had so much fun with all my buddies!








Here are some more pictures.

Happy Birthday, Dear Mazie

To our Amazing Mazie,

Two years ago, at right about this time in the evening, we were spending our first amazing moments with the tiny little brand new Mazie James Dickinson. When you were born, we found out one part of your identity that had been a secret until that moment: you were a little GIRL! Other than that, we really didn't know anything about you... except that you were absolutely perfect.

Over the past two years, it has been so wonderful to watch your personality develop and emerge. While it's still hard for me to picture you as a 15 year old, for example, it's suddenly not such a stretch to think of who you'll be at 5 or 7. You are absolutely your own little being, so full of your own ideas and character. The word your daddy and I use most often to describe you is BRIGHT. You are such a bright person in so many ways -- smart, of course, and clever, but also cheerful, curious, engaging, alert, kind, and funny. With few exceptions (you ARE two years old...), you are an absolutely delightful person to be around.

Here are some of your recent accomplishments:

You've been potty "trained" for at least two months. Really, there was very little training involved. Last fall, you started to show an interest in the things that happened in the bathroom, and Daddy and I let you dabble with using the potty for a while without any real commitment. A couple of months ago we bought you some underwear and spent a week or so setting a timer and putting you on the potty every hour, and that was pretty much all it took. You still have accidents and wear a diaper at night, but our days of changing poopy diapers seem to be behind us... until your little brother or sister comes along.

Your vocabulary continues to expand and amaze. Sure, Dad and I taught you silly things like "stethoscope" that make good party tricks, but what I've been really impressed with recently is your use of more mundane words and phrases:
actually
probably
right, Daddy?
okay, Mom?
no, thank you
now?
NOW!!
The concepts you're able to communicate just keep getting more complex and subtle. A few days ago when Daddy caught you getting into some candy at a friends house, you said, "Don't look at me, Daddy!" Daddy also recently explained to you where your shadow came from, and you recited it back to me: "Sun shines on me, and shadow goes on the ground. Sun isn't there, then no shadow!" You've even started to branch out into other languages: with your Portuguese "obrigada" and French "bonjour," you're a budding polyglot!

You are a very social little girl. You love your friends and talk about them all the time: Julia, CharlieHenry, Morris, and even cousins who you haven't seen in months (but will see a lot of very soon!). You're generous with hugs and kisses, and love to play, often narrating as you go: "We playing together! We running! We having fun together!" It's so much fun to watch the enjoyment you get out of being around other people.

Happy birthday, Miss Mazie. We love you so, so much.

Love,
Mom and Dad

Europe... continued

We added some more pictures to the Europe photo album here. We had some added excitement at the end of our trip with a missed flight from Paris to Chicago. In the end we made it home with one extra connection (DC to Chicago to Madison), a few extra hours, and a little extra stress. It was a great trip, though! We'll post some videos soon.

Europe...so far

Mom, Dad, and I are on a fun adventure in Europe! We spent 6 days in Portugal (Mom went to a conference in Coimbra and we spent a few extra days in Lisbon), and then we were supposed to fly to France except our flight was cancelled because of some dumb ash volcano. So we took the long route: an overnight train to Madrid, a few hours of sightseeing there, and then a 6 hour train to the French border (Hendaye) and another overnight train to Paris. Now we're at Mom's "sister" Elvire's house -- she and her husband, Arnaud, own horse stables where they teach classes and take care of lots of horses. I even got to ride a pony today! And even more exciting than that, Elvire has a baby, Timeo, who I just love to play with!

On our bonus night in Lisbon (because of the cancelled flight), we got to experience what happens when a European soccer team wins their league. Here's some footage from the last Benfica game and the subsequent celebrations.



There are a bunch more pictures from our trip here. We've got a few days left before we have to go home... if the volcano doesn't interfere.

More Stories

Here are a couple more stories from Mazie. You'll note that a lot of important things happen at "2:45".

Poor Daddy

Tonight over dinner I treated Mommy and Daddy to some improvised operatic tunes. I sang as loud as I could, making up the sounds as I went along and gesturing dramatically with my arms. After a while, I told Mommy it was her turn, and being a good sport, she belted out a few lines of nonsense, complete with arm gestures.

Then it was Daddy's turn. "Daddy do it?" He sang a few lines, and I watched him with my brow a little furrowed. When he was done, I shook my head. "Daddy can't do it. Daddy a man."

Easter Pix

Last year I subjected 10 month-old Mazie to an Easter photo shoot.

This year she was an even more compliant model.




(More pictures here)

Here's a video of her hunting Easter Eggs.


A couple of photos from Nanny & Papa's visit...




And here's another long video -- Mazie tells us her plans for the day.

Pretty Awesome

Mazie's mom here.

We just finished a great week with back-to-back visits from Ahya (who came for Easter weekend while Caleb was in San Antonio visiting Bryon and Miles) and then Nanny and Papa (who got in on Tuesday and left this morning). Mazie absolutely loved having her grandparents around -- an expanded audience for her increasingly complex stories, more people to read to her and play games with her and just generally adore her. Watching Mazie interact with my mommy and daddy (and step-mommy, too) was especially wonderful for me, giving me a glimpse into my own early childhood as I saw the absolute love and joy that they radiated in her presence.

Mazie is, in her own words, "pretty awesome," and a few people have been generous enough to give me and Caleb some credit for her awesomeness. I don't know how much of that credit is deserved -- Mazie has sure made parenting easy on us -- but having my own parents around has also made me reflect on the emerging parenting philosophy that Caleb and I are growing into. Our central tenets are pretty simple, and I recognized them in my own parents interactions with Mazie over the past week:

1. Treat Mazie like a person.
Caleb and I are constantly amazed by how much Mazie understands and how well she responds to our efforts to explain things to her and let her participate in our conversations. This explaining process also helps us avoid "Because I said so" moments, making us examine why we're making certain requests and what we can let go of.

2. Have fun.
Most of the time, Mazie makes this so easy it hardly seems like a parenting philosophy, but this really does seem to be central to our experience. Mostly, this just means paying attention, watching, listening, and interacting with Mazie, and reveling in the her unfolding character. Even in difficult moments (for example, this week in her new swimming class when she wouldn't get in the pool...), we try to take a step back and appreciate the humor and value of each new step.

I'm grateful for the way my parents applied these techniques in raising me, and I'm grateful for the way Mazie rewards our efforts with a constant stream of entertainment and sweetness. Parenthood is pretty awesome.

and THEN...

Here's me telling Mom and Dad a long and complicated bedtime story.

Mazie being Mazie

This video is mostly for my grandparents -- it's pretty long and I don't really do anything that spectacular. Just hanging out!

Happy Birthday to Daddy!

Daddy turned 31 this weekend. I made him a card!


Here's another video of my counting skills.


There are more recent pix of me here.

... and Similes, too!

This morning after getting dressed (in a fairly simple leggings-and-sweatshirt outfit):

"Mazie all dressed up... like an elephant!"

Questions and Exclamations

Having mastered the declaratory sentence (examples: "This my daddy." "Mazie pee potty." "Mommy go work." "Beetle is insect."), I've recently taken on more complex uses of languages.

1. Questions
These are neat 'cuz they help me learn about what's going on around me. Most of my questions involve "what" and "where" -- I'm working my way up to "how" and "why." Some examples:
"What this one name is?" (I call people that I don't know "this one.")
"What this one doing?"
"Where daddy go?"
"What Wiley doing?"
"Who's on the phone?"
"What Mommy talking?" (In response to Mommy practicing a work presentation.)
"What this is?" (I use this a lot with my newly developed drawing skills -- I like to draw something and then quiz Mom and Dad on what I've drawn. Usually, the correct answer is, "Seaweed.")
and, in the sweetest voice possible,
"Mommy, would you help me?"

2. Exclamations
These are really fun -- they help me show how excited or upset or just silly I am. Also, I've learned a few phrases that Mommy and Daddy don't seem too happy about... which makes them even more fun! Examples:
"Oh wow!"
"Oh dear!"
"It's awesome!"
"Holy cow!"
"Holy crap!" (This is one of those borderline ones... I learned it from Daddy and Mommy doesn't seem to like it when I say it. One exception: I used this in response to a poopy diaper the other day, and Mom thought that was really funny!)
and of course...
"Oh sh*t!" (Mommy and Daddy argue over which one of them taught me this... I've actually heard both of them say it, although they seem to be more careful about what they say in front of me these days. Every now and then I'll blurt this out just to see their faces -- they try not to laugh but I can tell they think it's funny. Just wait 'til I start going to school!)

No More Kissing

Last night I had swimming class again. Since it was my second time going to class by myself, I felt a lot more comfortable and less inhibited, and decided I should get to know the other kids in my class a bit. One of the boys wasn't that into me, but the other one seemed to like me a lot!


After class, Mom gave me a kiss and I told her what my teacher told me:


No more kissing!

Tonight in the bath I practiced some of my new swimming skills.


I've also been working on my gymnastics...

Mazie in Swimming Class

I've been going to swimming class with Mommy for about a month. I swam a lot this summer and am pretty comfortable in the water, so Mommy decided to move me up to the class for 2 year olds, which is different from my old class because now I have to get in the pool by myself -- Mommy doesn't come in with me anymore. I had my first big kid class last Monday and Mom prepared me by telling me all week that I was going to get in the pool by myself. On the way to class I repeated over and over, "Mazie go in swimming pool by SELF." Mom was still a little worried about how I'd do, but when we got the class, I jumped right to my teacher and didn't even look back. I had a great class with two other little boys. I did a great job waiting my turn and having fun in the water.



With about 10 minutes left in class, Mom noticed that I wasn't smiling quite as much, and then with about 6 minutes left, I saw Mom watching me and started to get sad... my lower lip started to quiver and I was about to lose it, but then my teacher announced that it was MAGIC CARPET TIME!



All in all, it was a lot of fun, and I'm excited to go back to swimming class tomorrow!

Pat-a-Cake and Row Your Boat

Mazie busted this pat-a-cake variation out yesterday. We had a sitter the other night and I'm wondering if she maybe gave Mazie the idea for an alternative cake-cooking method....


And here's Row, Row, Row Your Boat (gently down the street).

Quote of the Day

This morning at breakfast (pointing to water bottle): "Water in there! Check this out, Wiley! Hey, Wiley! Check this out, Wiley!"

(Her enthusiasm is even more impressive given that she has a stomach bug and has been throwing up all morning.)

Little Bunny Foo Foo & Fun with Dolls

Here's Mazie's rendition of Little Bunny Foo Foo... she sort of gets stuck in a loop.

And here's her with her dolls and chairs -- she brought everything in from the kitchen by herself. Oh, and the best part is, she let me put her hair in a ponytail and left it in for a whole 10 minutes or so!

What Mazie's Parents Are Thinking

Wow.

Everyone who's met Mazie knows she's been an easy kid from the beginning. At 19 months, she has unquestionably entered her "terrible twos." It's the most fun we've had with her yet.

We stopped counting her words months ago, but Mazie's vocabulary is pretty amazing. She can communicate pretty much all of her needs and (increasingly complex) wants to us, and we may not understand every word she says, but we get the point eventually. We can communicate pretty much anything we need or want to her -- she may not understand every word, but she eventually gets our point. Here are a few snippets of dialogue you might hear around our house:

*****
Mazie (playing at her table in the kitchen): Mama scoob it up!
Mama: You need me to scoot you up to the table?
Mazie: Yeah. Baby Miles sit a dis one chair? Dis boo one? Mama doobit!
Mama: You want Mama to put Baby Miles on the blue chair?
Mazie: Yeah. 'Anh Oo, Mama.
Mama: You're welcome, Mazie.

*****
Mama (pulling the new car into our small garage without hitting anything)
Mazie (from the back seat): G'job, Mama!
Mama: Thank you, Mazie.

(*Note: Another one of Mama's accomplishments that earns her this encouragement: peeing in the potty.)

****
Daddy (flips Mazie upside down)
Mazie: Adin!
Daddy (flips Mazie again)
Mazie: Adin!
Daddy: Okay, Maze, but this is the last time, okay?
Mazie: Yeah.
Daddy (flips Mazie upside down)
Mazie (while still in the air): All done!

Of course, the "terrible" part of this phase is that Mazie has her own thoughts and desires that don't always make a lot of sense. The other night we were going to the store and Mazie kept insisting that she wanted to leave out the front door, even though I explained to her that we were taking the car which was in the garage out back. "Mazie do it" and "Mazie do self" are things we hear often, and we're learning to be patient as she dresses herself, makes her own way down stairs, and climbs into her car seat. I don't think we've had a full blown tantrum quite yet, but we've had a fair amount of minor storms. Usually (though not quite always) we find that if we get down to her level, make eye contact, and explain what's going on, she calms down pretty well.

These little struggles are the exception, though -- the vast majority of the time, Mazie continues to be a bright, playful, curious and cheerful kid. She gets jokes -- one of her favorites (and a preview of the great stuff her older cousins are going to teach her) is to repeat, "O-ee-a tall Daddy poopy uh-ul Cay Rich," which translates to "Olivia calls Daddy, 'Poopy Uncle Caleb.'" She LOVES her dolls -- she's got about 5 "babies" that she can entertain herself with for long periods of time. She's learned how to pretend: she feeds her babies and changes their invisible diapers (and then throws the invisible dirty diaper in the invisible trash can). She loves to sing... we get lots of medleys of ABCs, Twinkle Twinkle, Baby Baluga (Baby Booba), Rock-a-bye Baby.... The list goes on. In short (too late), we're quite taken with her and continue to feel blessed and amazed to have this little angel in our lives. Each day gets better and better...

What are my parents thinking?

Considering what an amazing month I've had (in Colorado for all of December with my cousins, Avia, Nana, Grandma, Grandpa, etc.), it's pretty unbelievable that my parents haven't posted anything here in so long. I'm sure they'll get to it soon. In the meantime, I'm taking it upon myself to give you a video of me saying my ABCs a couple of weeks ago (I've gotten even better at it), another one of me doing a medley of songs and fingerplays, and a bunch of pictures.