Handpainted Original!

Childproofing...

...we are a little behind.

Goodnight Moon

She loves her bedtime storytime.

After this we watched PTI...

Life of the party

Wow the difference between 12 and 13.5 months is huge!  She has always had a personality, but she is showing us so much more of it now, especialy since we are bringing her out more and around more people.  She absolutely loves parties.  One of the things that we get a kick out of is that Huelan doesn't know that we're headed to a party until we get there.  But as soon as she sees the people and hears the chatter, she just lights up, eyes wide and toothy smile.  After that, she pretty much owns the party.

Gosia and Grandma have been very productive with Huelan during their days together.  She's getting to know her songs, and will show you her Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes.  She learned how to operate many of her toys, and especially likes the loud ones that play repetitive music.  Again and again. 

Probably the biggest changes have to do with communication.  She has a very limited vocab, but she has a few words she really likes. And she can name pretty much anything you point at, as long as it's a bird, ball, duck or turtle.  Of course pointing and grunting are still mainstays.

January Pics

February Pics

It's My Party

We've had a tough time keeping up with Huelan the last couple of weeks!

I have a ton of pics to comb through still, but I figured I'd post these from her Bay Area Birthday today - thanks to all who were able to help us celebrate! Though the year went by fast, the great news is that we're expecting many more great ones.

Some pics from today

Also some pics from Dave's camera

Poor girl. At least she has her mom's hair and dimples.

Swinging without a care in the world

Huelan hairbrushing

Uncle Anh giving some grooming tips

Word to her Mother

She seems like she is getting bigger even faster than she was before.   We think that she's even said her first word- "Bye Bye!"  She's only done it a few times, but it's incredibly cute, especially when accompanied by her little hand wave.  She's definitly wants to communicate with us, but mostly what we get are grunts when she wants something (food).  Apart from that, she makes a ton of babbling sounds and these weird animal growls that we've been trying to catch on video, but so far no luck. 

She definitely knows when we tell her "no," but she usually just pauses to give us a glance, then proceeds with whatever trouble she was about to get into.  Sometimes when we give her something new to check out, she'll give us a look that's unsure of whether she is allowed to play with it, then a big toothy smile and maybe some grunting. 

Her growing awareness and desire to interact with us is making this time super fun.  It's almost like she is growing out of her baby phase and becoming more like a little kid.

Here are some pics from the last few weeks

Thankful

- For a great family, even though we don't see one another as much as we'd like to.
- For great friends, even though we don't see one another as much as we'd like to.

That pretty much sums it up.

Check out some pics from the last month or so, including the last Thanksgiving at Andrew and Candy's!

Visiting Mom in the office today

There's no turning back now

Laundry Helper

One thing Huelan will not tolerate is clean laundry just sitting there all folded and neat, taunting her.

Bonus vid!

November Already

About 6 weeks have passed since the last update, and a lot has happened! Nicole had her regular checkup with Dr. Vo, and she confirmed that Nicole is a big baby. Not as chubby as some, but on the tall side for sure- hopefully takes after her mother. Otherwise she is doing well, though she is getting to the point where she kind of knows that when we go to the see the doctor, she's getting a shot.

She's actually getting to the point now (past 10 months) where she knows a lot of what's going on. We really feel like she knows her routine and has developed some favorite things, like paging through her books for her favorite pictures and favorite games to play with us. She knows what certain toys do, for example she'll point to one that projects a picture onto the wall, and when we grab it she will turn to look at the wall and wait for the picture. It's really amazing and fun to watch her development.

I have been away from home M-F for the past three weeks, but am able to get home on the weekend. This past weekend, we had some friends over and Huelan was playing with Melinda's daughter Sienna, who is about 2.5 years old. Nicole followed her around all night, checking her out, wanting to play with her, and generally having a blast. It was so cute to see Nicole tug on Sienna's shirt and try to get her attention- I've been thinking about them all week. I think that we need to find her some other kids to spend time with.

There's tons of other stuff to tell you about I am sure, but the trouble with such big gaps between posts is that I forget.... you're going to have to visit!

Here are some pics from October!