Amelia's First Easter

Since Easter was early last year and Amelia was late, this was Amelia's first Easter. She did not get a basket since I believe you should be able to eat all the chocolate in your basket before you get one and she does not need any more toys. While we didn't make it to church (sorry Kent!) we did spend the week before reading all of the Holy Week Bible stories in her Bible Stories for Children books. And then I would read The Lord's Prayer and by the end of the week Amelia could say Amen.

Pardon my tangent - both of Amelia's bible story books end at Easter. While I'm not suggesting there should be a Revelations version for the preschool set, there's quite a bit that's missed and I think should be in there. Here are the New Testament stories:
The Christmas Story
Loaves and Fishes
Sermon on the Mount
Jesus Heals the Sick
Holy Week and Easter
That's it. Seems to be missing quite a bit.

Anyway, we did do brunch with my aunt and her family, followed by an Easter Egg Hunt in her back yard. Amelia and her cousin Erik were let go to try and find the eggs. Erik had done this at school earlier in the week, so he knew the drill. Amelia took a minute to figure it out, but she tried to open every egg as she found it leaving a trail of jelly beans and cookies in the yard for my aunt's dog Rosie to find.

Amelia getting ready for the hunt.

I know how to smile for the camera. I'm a bit of a ham.

Cousin Erik heading out to find some eggs.

Can you see me? I ran away

Ok, I'll come back now.

Erik makes the decision to pile his eggs on the grass. This proved to be an unwise decision.

I believe that Erik is trying to get some of his eggs back. Amelia found it much easier to take from his pile than look around for herself. I opened it, now what do I do?Uncle Erik, can you help me?

Erik still trying to hold onto all his eggs.

Amelia and Rosie check for eggs.

Found one!

Now we're all going to pile our eggs and share them.

Rosie's not stupid. She knows there's about to be a feast in the grass for her.

One last kiss from Rosie before we went home and she crashed.

In case you were confused, Amelia has cousin Erik, Uncle Erik (my cousin), and Great Uncle Erik (my uncle). Her cousin and Uncle were at the egg hunt. All in all, she had a great day and played pretty well with Erik. He was very nice to her and didn't retaliate when she took his eggs. Which is good, because he's getting a sibling in a few months and little siblings always take your stuff.

Happy belated Easter to everyone!

Stating the Obvious

"And though she be but little, she is fierce" A Midsummer's Night Dream, Act 3, Scene 2
Thanks Nana for the perfect onesie.

Birthday Girl

So I managed to take exactly zero photos at Amelia's birthday party, but thankfully Grandma and Auntie Gina took some. Here are the highlights.

Daddy and the birthday girl. She picked out the dress herself and would not let go of it in the store. Thankfully she grabbed the right size or we would have had a major scene.

Amelia's friend acting as coat rack. He had just woken up from a nap and was a little dazed. He stood like this for at least five minutes.

Since Amelia tried to stick her fingers in the candle flame, the post singing pictures are better.

I think she got a little on her nose.

Trying to convince Daddy that she should be allowed beer.

Opening her presents after the party was over.

Anything else in there?

Nope.

Yesterday we went to the pediatrician for her check up and she did great. She has the verbal ability of an 18 month old, which is nice to hear. My favorite part of the exam is when the doctor looks at Matt and I and then asks where did Amelia's height come from. She does it almost every time. For the record I am the shortest member of my immediate family on my mother's side. And I was off the charts tall until the sixth grade, when I flat-lined. I was so ticked because I had wanted to be 5' 10" (I'm 5' 7") so I would be taller than my parents. My mom told me I was going to be 5' 7" because she was two inches shorter than her mother, so I would be two inches shorter than her. I hate it when she's right, but not as much as I did when I was 13.

Moving on, here's her official stats.

Length - 31+ inches (91%)
Weight - 22 lb, 8 ounces (75%)
Head Circumference - 46.6 cm (91%)
Not quite Godzilla, but certainly a cousin of his.

Happy Birthday Amelia!!

Today at 2:44am Amelia officially turned 1. Thankfully we all slept through that, but when we got up she did get a special outfit for the occasion. It's a good thing she only has to wear it today because it barely fit her. She was too big for all the 1st birthday clothing. That's our Snarf.

I tried to capture her new dance moves, which are twirling with her left arm sticking straight out and then falling on the floor, but she wasn't too cooperative. It took five video attempts and twenty photos to capture these two. What can I say, she's a girl on the move.

We're celebrating her birthday tomorrow with a small party. We were shopping last week and she pulled a dress off the rack and would not let it go. Thankfully it was the right size, so she has a party dress for the occasion. It's a pink dress with pink and pink spots. I'm sorry, Blush and Bashful spots. We'll post videos and pictures of her birthday party and the smashing of cake into her face over the weekend.

Happy birthday Amelia. We love you very much.

Almost One!

This Friday is Amelia's first birthday. I cannot believe it's been a year, but then you look at photos, or interact with her, and it's clear that she's no longer a baby. She is a toddler with her own opinions and agenda. That agenda frequently involves dropping food from her high chair or going face first into Teddy. She's walking, albeit like a drunken sailor sometimes, and refuses to hold our hands on the sidewalk. Apparently we're already embarrassing or she's very independent. I have no idea where she got that from. :)

She loves books and will often bring a book to you, put it in your lap and say "Wead," which we're taking as Read. She only makes it to the end of the book about half the time before she's off to get another book. She has favorite books, and will act out some of the noises. My personal favorite is when she howls like the dogs in her book because Teddy looks at her in a very confused way. She can be shy, but only for about 3 minutes. Then she wants you to hold her or play with her. As Grandfather, Grandmodge, and Grandma are all making appearances this week, I don't think that's going to be a problem.

She loves having books and her stuffed animals in her crib. Thankfully she hasn't tried to climb out yet, but once she does there will be plenty in there to help her boost herself out. She has reached a height where she can pet Teddy from inside her crib when she stands on her tip toes. I know the AAP just recommended that kids stay rear-facing until they're 2, but considering she's already got her feet touching the seat, I think we're only going to get a few more months before we need to move her. She has her doctor's appointment next Monday, so I'll have the stats then, but I think she's going to be off the charts for height again.

While Mom's Away

I am in Las Vegas for a week for work (not nearly as fun as it sounds) and Matt and Amelia are enjoying some quality father/daughter time. Matt sent me this picture of her from when he went in to get her in the morning. It was just too adorable not to share.

I come home on Thursday and I'm counting the hours. This is the longest I've been away from Amelia and it's been hard. Especially since I missed this event last year because I was 38 weeks pregnant so running around Vegas was not ok with my doctor. So now everyone is asking about the baby and wanting to see pictures. I like to say she's a total joy and total chaos all at the same time.

I don't want to get into any sort of working mom vs stay at home mom debate, they both have their hardships. I love what I do, if not always where I do it, and I couldn't give that up, but times like this I begin to rethink it. Thankfully I don't travel that much, but even without that, it's hard to balance family vs job. I grew up with my mother working most of my childhood (but not till I was school age) and my step-mother works so much I don't even think she ever took more than 2 weeks of maternity leave, so I always assumed I would work. And while I may have my issues with my parents, as everyone does, them working was never something that felt it took time away from my time with them. Instead I saw two women who worked and climbed the ladder in their field and loved what they did. I think because my parents all do something that you have to have a calling to (mom's a nurse, step-mother is a doctor, step-father is a pastor, and dad is also a doctor) that it was always part of them and I never questioned it. While I feel drawn to my career, and feel I have the perfect eccentric personality for it, it's not a calling in the same way as medicine or the clergy. No one grows up saying I want to be a meeting and event planner. In the end, I will probably continue to work most of Amelia's childhood. But I'll always be trying to find the perfect balance between working and parenting, and it's a goal that no one ever reaches, but all you can do is try your best. As much as Amelia loves her nanny, she still knows that I'm her mom and I will do whatever I can to make her life as amazing as possible and I'll always be there when she needs me. And she knows the same of Matt. Because his work requires longer hours and more travel, he struggles with the family vs work problem even more than I do. But he's a great father, husband, and man and we couldn't ask for any more from him.

Ok, this post took a turn I was totally not expecting. Apparently I needed to get that off my chest. Sorry if it rambles a bit. I've been up way too long and worked way too much today that I think my body is going to start rebelling soon.

So to end this, almost all the lights one the Vegas Strip just went out in observance of some power consumption day (I heard about it on the news but that was 15 hours ago and I have completely forgotten the details.) I think that's a sign to go to sleep and get ready for another long day of work. Sorry it's so dark, but that's what happens when 1 billion lights go out.

When Dad's Away

Amelia likes to play. Not that she doesn't play with Matt, but the avocado incident would not have happened on Matt's watch.

This is how we spent our Saturday. Amelia is breaking in approximately 4 teeth and would go from happy to cranky at the drop of a hat, so we stayed home and let her work on her walking abilities.

After all that walking, she was hungry for dinner. She managed to get avocado just about everywhere. Her eyebrows especially were covered. She did manage to get most of it in her mouth, contrary to this picture.
And after that adventure it was time for a bath. Amelia loves the bath, once you stop cleaning her. She has a waterproof book she got from Grandma and that needs to go in with her most of the time. She's our adorable little nerd.

Thankfully Daddy returned (and no worse for wear from the tsunami) late that night, and she had big hugs from him when he went in to get her in the morning.