Two years old

Little One is now 2 yrs old. She enjoys singing songs, playing with her toys, and has started to learn her numbers. She is very active and likes to hop, scamper up the stairs, and ride around on a tricycle that she got for her birthday. She is no longer using her high chair, and we have switched the breakfast nook from a play area for her back into a dining area where we can all eat together. We are thinking about starting to potty-train her sometime in the next few months and will probably change her crib to a toddler bed soon.

Little One playing with her toys.....

...."it might be fun to jump on the sofa".....

....."yes it is fun"......

...another one of mommy's experiments with pony-tails...

...peekaboo......

....Little One enjoying cake on her birthday......

Little One opening a birthday present on her birthday......

...Little One eating at the dining table.....

Little One having her morning milk......

......tea party......

......Little One dancing while watching The Wiggles perform nursery rhymes on dvd.....

Little One on her elephant rocker......

.....she can really go......

Miss Independent

"Little One" is now very independent-minded. She likes to feed herself, try new "acrobatic" maneuvers, and run around the house from room to room. It seems like every other word out of her mouth is "mine". These photos are from January 2009. I usually make a post at the beginning of each month, but earlier this month we were all stricken with a respiratory virus that lasted for weeks.

(1) This photo shows "Little One" thinking about what to do next.....the quiet before the storm.
(2) We took "Little One" to the Huntington Library & Gardens. She had an opportunity to run around in the Children's Garden and play with the various water fountains.

(3) Does she look like the future musician here? Hehehe....

(4) In these next 2 photos, we asked her to smile for the camera. Her "cheese" smile is not very natural at all.

(5) "Little One" prefers the real telephone over her toy phone. However, whenever we hand the real phone to her, she rarely speaks up and prefers to just listen to the other person on the line.

A Look Back at 2008

"Little One" in 2008......

Play Time and Christmas

This month was filled with numerous activities for Little One. We had several playdates and also got in a visit to the aquarium. Little One experienced a lot of firsts this month. She showed some physical development (i.e. climbing, dancing, attempts at hopping) and also improved on her verbal skills. We noticed that she's trying harder to copy what we say and trying to sing words more clearly in songs.

1. She is wearing a Star Wars Darth Vader helmet. Mommy was amazed that she was willing to wear the helmet -- she does not usually like wearing hats.

2. When we went grocery shopping one day, the clerk gave us a free Feliz Navidad balloon. Little One kept saying "maoon" (aka: balloon). At first, Mommy & Daddy thought she was saying "mine" but we finally figured out she meant "balloon."

However, "Little One" actually has learned to say "mine" and "me." She says it sometimes when we try to take something out of her hands.

3. Little One is coloring/drawing with crayons here. She has shown improvement over the weeks. We could not see the color on the paper at first, but now, she is able to put enough strength for color to come out onto the paper.

P.S. Daddy helped color in most of this picture -- Little One just scribbles mostly.

4. This is Little One playing with Daddy's guitar. In the past, Little One would run in the opposite direction whenever she saw the guitar. Now, she says "tar" (aka: Guitar) over and over like it's her long lost love whenever she sees the guitar in the corner of the room.

5. Her baby doll has advanced to drinking from a cup here. Look at Little One feed her baby.

6. We visited a friend's house for a playdate.......
(A) Teeter-Tottering around on the swing set in the backyard.

(B) Who's coming out of this wagon first?

7. Little One's first experience playing with play-doh.....

8. Little One likes to play with cars and pretend that she's the driver....
(A) Little One is pushing a car that she got for Christmas around on the floor.

(B) When we visited another friend's house, she had a chance to sit behind the wheel of this driving console.

Our friend's husband made this console for their sons to use when playing car racing video games. The seat is actually a car seat from his Pontiac Fiero.

(C) On Christmas morning, "Little One" noticed that Santa had left this car for her. It was the first thing she saw after coming downstairs. Little One likes to get in and out, press on the horn for songs, and push the car around the room.

9. "Little One" opening Christmas presents with some help from Daddy.....

10. Little One loves to look at fish. She is looking at clown fish in this photo. Each time we take her to the aquarium, she seems to have more interest in the different exhibits. Since she is walking/running independently, we've had to clip this Monkey backpack/leash to her so that she doesn't run off too far.

11. During our most recent roadtrip, we made a stop to visit her orphanage sister. They have grown so much over the last year.

12. "Little One/Happy Girl" after having gone for a "cruise" in her car.

Black Eyed Girl

As each month passes, Little One is becoming more physically active. However, she does not always know what's safe or unsafe. Well...this month she ended up with a black eye when she smacked into a bed post. In many of the photos this month, she has a bruise underneath her left eye. It took awhile to heal, but she finally recovered around Thanksgiving.

(1) In this picture, Little One is running towards the camera.
(2) This is a funny photo of Little One making a face. In this photo, she looks scared of her Curious George stuff animal. However, she really enjoys playing with her dolls/puppets/stuffed animals and gives them cuddles, hugs, and kisses.
(3) Here, Little One is studying up on her A,B,Cs..... (4)Litte One looks like she's catching up on the lastest news....

(5) Little One likes to build towers with her blocks. She says "wow" each time she sets a block down on top of another.

(6) More photos of Little One playing with her animal friends....

(7) Here's a photo of her with two ponytails. Mommy was just trying to see what she would look like with this hair style.

Little One has been adding new words to her vocabulary. She's trying to pronounce her words more clearly, but Mommy & Daddy do not understand what she says sometimes. She is even trying to sing parts of songs (e.g.. "ABC" song, "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star", "Wheels on the Bus"). She is also picking up on new signs from Baby Signing Time vol 3 & 4.

The Animator

As she grows, "Little One" is becoming more animated and physically active.

(1) She enjoys playing with this Cabbage Patch Baby Doll, Sasha. Here she is carrying Sasha and letting her fall from the stool to the floor. I'm sure Sasha would have head injuries and bone fractures if she wasn't just a doll. Poor Sasha!
(2) "Little One" likes to crawl underneath the breakfast table to play. Here, she's playing with Baby Pluto. She's likes to say "woof woof woof woof" while she plays with Pluto.
(3) Daddy was reading this Sesame Street book to her, and she's trying to copy what's illustrated in the book.
(4) Mommy gave her the actual telephone to play with this time. Somehow, "Little One," seems to have gotten the impression that you can multi-task while talking on the phone. She says "Hewwow" into the phone and acts like she's listening and carrying on with a conversation.

(5) "Little One" is stacking her blocks up into towers these days. However, in this photo, the tower broke apart in mid-air. It's just a neat photo.

(6) After playing with her blocks, she plays with the box that is meant to hold the blocks. She decided to use it like a helmet. Look at her smiling as she walks around the room with it.

(7) "Little One" is scribbling now a days. I guess it's a start towards actually drawing or writing.
(8) It was "Little One's" first Halloween. Mommy took her trick or treating around the neighborhood for candies. She was only trick or treating for the spirit of the holiday. Daddy enjoyed eating all the candy she had received. Yum..yum... (9) Before the night's end, she had a chance to play with several packages of candy while waiting for other trick or treaters to come by the house.