oh, christmas tree. oh, christmas tree...

nani's friends found this fun stroller in their attic. but now we've started something. rather than crawling, the princess prefers to be strolled around the house.

homemade christmas pictures

nani couldn't wait to put the first ornament on her christmas tree

aiyana signs "LIGHT" when daddy flipped the switch on the tree!

more giggles than gobbles this thanksgiving

aiyana was making faces at our friends during thanksgiving dinner.
she knows exactly how funny we think she is.



turn your volume WAY UP for this one!



too much turkey?

aiyana learned to climb in (and out) of her little red fire truck; she was so proud of herself.
now we're learning the sign for SIT because she also learned to stand in her little red fire truck.

got giggles?

aiyana does!

nani had only a brief nap today, and lack of sleep always gets her a little goofy.

doughnuts and sushi

fun with floss

nani gives daddy some instruction in good dental hygiene. now that she's using toothpaste and a toothbrush, she thinks she's an expert.

my baby can read!

11.17.08

aiyana was reading her family picture book and was fixated on the daddy/baby aiyana pages. she pointed to daddy, signed DADDY, turned the page, again pointed and signed, turned back to the first page, pointed to herself, signed BABY, turned the page and repeated the sign.
it was amazing! then, i grabbed the camera, but of course, the moment had passed.

bubbles in the tub

don't know why we haven't been using bubbles all along, because nani loved them! she probably didn't remember the bubble baths from long ago; she acted as if the suds were a brand new thing. she washes herself with the bubbles, splashes in them, and spreads the suds on momma, too. this scrub in the tub was last week (nov 17), but i didn't want this cuteness to get lost in the old blogs.

one weekend. two pony-rides.

friday 11.21

aiyana FINALLY rode the carousel at the mall! unfortunately, this was the end of a long night, so you can see her sleepy eyes.

saturday 11.22

she signs PLEASE when her buddy, zeke, gets a little too close to the pony she has claimed the party


she skipped her nap for the birthday party, again notice the sleepy stare. she has an obvious tired face even though she remains pleasant until she gets, what her friends call "punchy".

are you ready for this?

what have we been up to?

here, i'm beginning a brief photo synopsis of the past 13 days....
since we haven't posted lately. ooops.


Nov 3

our favorite book, GIRAFFES CAN'T DANCE
she looks for the monkeys and "reads" (signs MONKEY)


one month feet and one year feet....what will we do when we move? anyone know how to relocate drywall?

baby's first Bible...
our church gave this cute board book to the babies when we dedicated them on Nov 9

aiyana loves cruisin' with her school bus... runs into things and says "CAAH" (crash)

a new favorite food -- black beans! she can't get enough! she finishes her portion and signs MORE and PLEASE as she points to the counter

Sunday, Nov 16

surprise visitors are always welcome!

more leaves. and punkins, too.
aiyana adopted the "BALL" sign for pumpkins. she just loves them and always asks to hold them. this seems to be our yard of choice for photo ops. our friends don't mind :) missy even put a plastic bag under aiyana's tushy so she wouldn't get wet from the leaves. what a mom.

Saturday, Nov 15

trying on princess (aka. "flower-girl") dresses for her April performance

...after we were finished, she crawled back onto the platform and cheesed some more for the camera (and her audience)

Friday, Nov 14

doin' a little dance

Thursday Nov 13

nani's new trick -- she climbs in and out of the Bumbo (safely at last).

at first her right knee was always getting stuck under her bum, but now she gets in and gets comfy.

while i wait for the photos to upload....here is what is new in aiyana's signing vocab...she is amazing! i teach this signing stuff, and i have never known a baby to acquire words as rapidly as she has been! it's so much fun to "talk" with her.

music, monkey, tree, hot (says "ha", too), cold, thank-you (vocalizes the pitch), help, baby, down, water, bread, drink, mommy, daddy (which she shows us A LOT!), snack (also popular)

her "old" signs: milk, more, please, all done, up, kitty, puppy, bird

sentences are more common now, too. she puts 2 or 3 words together daily. i'm sure i've forgotten some, and since she is such a wiz-kid, i'm sure she has some signs up her sleeve ready to throw at her unsuspecting parents.

oh, by the way, we're buying a potty-seat this week. more on that to come.

baby's first crunch

we had enough leaves to go out and stomp around! first, we zipped up and down the driveway on her little car and then we took it off-road. she could push the car through the leaves and didn't fall since the leaves slowed her down.

home at last

power nap = power hair

'nuf said.

marbles museum

daddy says that he wants to build aiyana a train table.
she likes cars and trains and things that go crash.

while mommy played at the kindermusik convention, nani and daddy played at the children's museum. another day of firsts.

tea for two...

aiyana signs "PLEASE" because she sees some colored pencils that she would like to touch

we visited our good friends in Raleigh and aiyana enjoyed her 1st tea party. she was so happy to play with sophie, and i think sophie enjoyed aiyana's company, as well.

T.R.O.U.B.L.E.

nani found the stairs.
we don't have stairs at home, so this was a big deal for her. she saw something new AND she conquered it.
halfway up, she remembers that she dropped her tea cup. she signs "CUP" and tries to put it in reverse to retrieve the cup.

pics at pilot mountatin

we drove up to pilot mountain on this beautiful day. aiyana enjoyed the window rolled down with the warm wind in her hair. she signs "TREE", but not in this picture.

what's that crunchy stuff under my feet?

little bunny fu-fu, hoppin' thru the forest...
(she's making the bunny fu-fu motions!)