10 Words

I want to talk about her vast vocabulary...but first I must describe what she's doing right now. She's running back and forth and all around our top floor, giggling and shrieking, holding a plunger. She is so easily entertained. Ok, back to her vocabulary. Here it goes:

1) Mama
2) Dada
3) Dogeeee
4) Banana (prounounced nana)
5) Hi!
6) Eye
7) Ear
9) Baby
10) Bye, bye

And, when asked, she can point to her eye, nose, ear and tongue. She will gladly lift her shirt with a smile if you ask her where her belly is; and bend, point and grin if you ask to see her shoes. Genius!

I know, I know. It's all very nice -- but where are the photos?! Will upload new ones soon, I promise.

The Curls are Coming

Ok, granted, Selby does not have that much hair, but a few curls are coming in in the back. And she's still pretty fair. Whose child is she? Her vocab is way up. In addition to her irresistible "Hi!", she can say dada, mama, doggie (pronounced dog-eeeeeee) nana (for banana), eye and baby. We can have quite a conversation. She's also way into mimicking. I'll cross my arms, she crosses her arms (she looks like she's doing a rap dance), I slap my thighs, she slaps her thighs, hands on head, ears, etc. It's like we're playing Simon Says for babies. We are looking into pre-schools for her to start next fall and I'm pretty excited about it. I think she will love it, being the social creature that she is. She's growing up! Here she is on her way to the mall.

The Queen and King

The Drunken Sailor

That's right, our little angel is toddling around like a college freshman at a frat party. She's walking! As I said earlier, she'd been taking steps here and there, and now she just gets up and walks here and there all by herself. She's not perfectly steady all the time, but she is definitely walking. Will try upload video later. More big news: Selby won a photo contest. When we had professional photos taken of her at 8 months at Target, the photographer asked if she could enter her photos into contest. Just the other day, she left a message saying that Selby had won and would be featued on the cover of Lifetouch magazine this summer. Her first modeling gig! Unfortunately, I think only the photographer gets paid a prize fee and Selby gets nada.. except for bragging rights.

Hi

Ok, where to begin since it's been so long. Let's start with our trip to Mexico. Selby was the hit of the resort. Pushing her stroller around and greeting everyone with her new word "Hi!" She says it all the time -- in the supermarket, at Target, at restaurants. And of course she flashes her killer grin when she says it and stops people in their tracks.

Still not walking just yet. She's stands on her own and has taken a couple of steps but no "toddling" as of today. Maybe tomorrow?

We spent New Year's up in the mountains with the Shapiros in Edwards and then the Grossman's in Breckenridge. We took Selby for a short snowshoe (and Mom went for a few long ones), which she loved. Grandma Carole is coming soon and I know Selby is very excited. Here's one of my favorite photos from our trip to Mexico.

Selby at 1 Year

It is amazingly hard to believe that a year has gone by since they first put Selby in my arms. People have congratulated us on surviving a year and I tell them how lucky we've been to have such a good baby and that it hasn't been hard at all. Some of my friends don't like to hear me say that she sleeps until 7:30 am and is a good eater and smiles all the time. Who ever heard of a baby sleeping until 7:30 am every day? Sometimes even 8! The truth is--she has been such a gift to Tom and me, and our families.

That's not to say she's perfect. She has been sick twice this month (not that it's her fault) with a stomach virus and an appearing/disappearing blotchy-red rash. It's so sad to see her listless and not smiling. But, I have to say, she is extra cuddly when she's sick--so there is small upside (I know, bad mom). She now points to Tom and says Dada. She also says, to no one in particular, "Lookalookalookalooka." And she now will feed Nika her food from the highchair, which makes Nika happy and Selby laugh hysterically. Tom has scolded me for allowing her to do this because he doesn't want to teach her to feed Nika from the table (or maybe it's that he doesn't want Nika to get in the habit of begging for food?). Either way, it's so hard for me to stop this behavoir because hearing her laugh is the best sound in the world. (And I'm talking a full-on giggle.)

Her new tricks are waving good-bye AND blowing kisses, as well as climbing down a single stair. I know walking is just around the corner but she seems pretty hestitant to take a step without holding on to something. I think at least one or two more months. She is really becoming more and more of a person--talking and pointing to things and moving around. It's like a little more of the little girl she's going to become emerges every day.

Unfortunately, she had one of her stomach virus bouts the night before her big birthday party so we had to cancel it. Instead, we had a small dinner with just the immediate family, which turned out to be just perfect. Although she was tired by the time we sat down for our meal, she lit up when we gathered around her to sing happy birthday with a cake and candle. Apparently, she likes the song so we've since sang it to her at least twice a day since. Here are some photos of Selby with her best friend from the Big 1 celebration.

Happy First Halloween

We went to her first Halloween party. It was a first bday/halloween party for her friend Tomas. She LOVED her costume and was not interested in taking the hood down at all. It's a shame she only gets to wear it once.