Happy Birthday Kayla!

She arrived sometime last year this time at around 9pm..and I think my first question was: Does she have all her fingers and toes? Or perhaps that was my cocktail of pain meds speaking. :)

It's been an interesting, eventful and certainly life-changing past year and I'm sure the next year's going to bring even more surprises (pleasant ones I pray). We thank God for keeping her healthy and safe, and will continue to lean on Him for strength, wisdom and much-needed patience, especially for me - now that we're about to transit into the messy "I wanna feed myself" and "toilet-training" mode or what others have called the "God Help Us" phase.

Giving Thanks for Thanksgiving!

Phew! There's so so so much to catch up on since I've been silent for so long, thanks to a never-ending pile of work. I think I over-commited myself this month - too many stories, too little time. Hopefully, it'll be well worth it when the checks come in the mail.

On to more exciting updates:
1. Kayla turns one this Saturday! But we celebrated a week earlier because her cousin Emily is making her annual pilgrimage to Disney this weekend. A simple family affair at Dynasty, our fav dim sum spot which ended with unbridled consumption of a yummalicious birthday day from our fav bakery, Aki's. And yes, Kayla had some.
2. She knows her ABCs. Well not exactly. She knows A, B, C, D, E, K, M, I, Q and Y.
3. She hasn't taken her first step but she's been doing a lot of "standing on her own."
4. She's learned some new dancing moves. Instead of bouncing on her tush, she now wiggles side to side. Pretty cool.

Photos to come once Mikey finds time to download them from his camera to the computer...

She cracks me up when....

1. She wakes up in the morning, sits up and greets me with a most endearing "merning"
2. Points to something she knows she's not supposed to touch (like the laptop) and says "no, no."
3. Puts up her hand when I ask "Who's the stinky pooey?"
4. Demands for her stars - the edible ones
5. Tickles herself when I ask her if she wants to play Tickle Me
6. Asks for "Incy Wincy Spider" by raising both arms and yelling "Spider"
7. She gets angry after something she really wants is wrestled away, gently of course.
8. She points to a picture of Shrek and goes "Daddy"
9. She crinkles her face.
10. Plants big wet kisses on her bears (she's developed a thing for bears lately) and hugs them to death

Miss Talkalot

We took Kayla to storytime at the Morgan Hill library this morning and she was totally into it. Too bad next week's the last session and they'll most likely resume only in January. She danced, crawled all over the place and kept going "Bear, Bear" referring to the big teddy bear the kind volunteer storyteller was holding. And of course, we had parents coming to ask us how old she was, because she say a number of words - something that's been happening quite frequently.

I don't know what it is about parenthood that amplifies the inherent competitive streak (or perhaps the fear that one's child is behind) in us all - though I've resolved firmly not to evolve into the parent that compares each and every milestone with each and every baby they meet.

It doesn't really matter to me if she isn't advanced in her development - so long as she's healthy and happy. She's 11 months now and still has two teeth. Still isn't interested in walking and hasn't acquired a appetite for chunky food, preferring her meals pureed. Maybe, parents should just chill and let kids develop at their own pace. Every baby will get there...just takes time.