Vi's buddy...

Two peas in a pod, sharing their toys (yeah, right)
Violet's lucky that my friend Beck had a baby 6 weeks after she was born. She now has a built-in buddy! Lauren and Violet like hanging out together (just like their moms). Violet is usually stealing Lauren's toys and making her cry because she is so loud, but I think secretly Lauren loves having her around. I'm so grateful that Vi has such great pals to grow up with.

In case you were wondering...

Happy to report that Violet and I survived Rich's first week in DC. We had fun playing, eating new foods, staring out the window at cars passing by, watching Violet's favorite video 'Toddler Tango', poking friends in the eye, waving at strangers at Wegmans and the mall and saying 'hi', hitting Hannah over the head with Violet's drumstick, reading some new Valentine books, and visiting with pals Owen, Sydney and Mallory while I went to work.

I'm exhausted. ;)

Here are some highlights:

Our 11 month photo session

(so glad the remote was captured)
Spaced out - not tangoing at all.
I've limited the amount of time spent watching this video because this glazed look scares me.
Tangoing with her cup (but still not really dancing)
Uh-oh...ol' moon eyes is back

And yes, that is the weapon of choice in her hand

Open your eyes cheeseball

Viley showin' off her summer teeth - some 'er here...some 'er there'

Girl's Best Friend

Violet's favorite creature on earth got a hair cut. ;) Doesn't she look surprisingly skinny? They call this the 'lion cut'. Hannah seems to like it; Violet prefers long, stragley fur she can yank.

Gouda Times

Cheesy McCheesersan takin' a bath

Viley Kisses

Ouch!

10 Months

Walking? Crawling? um...no. Violet IS scooting backward in the opposite direction of her toys though! She's making progress.
Also, the 'stranger danger' phase has lifted! She'll cry a little when I drop her at the sitter's or if someone holds her before she's ready, but she is doing so well with adjusting to this new phase of her first year.
She's even taken to drawing. ;) See Exhibit A above. The darker lines and circles are Rich's examples and the lighter lines are Violet's best attempt at copying her daddy. She holds the pen like a pro!

I can't believe we'll be celebrating her first birthday in less than two months. She's only requested two things for her party...1) She'd like all of her best buds there 2) She'd like to have dinosaur BBQ for lunch. Funny...I saw Rich whispering in her ear before request #2 came in. We'll see if she gets both of her birthday wishes. ;)

Uh-oh, We have a smile emergency

Violet has always been smiley and just recently she has become really coorperative when it comes to taking pictures. She sees the red light flash and she's all about hammin' it up for the shot. I was really happy about this, especially since the holidays were approaching.

Well, the morning of Christmas Eve I noticed that Violet was squinting her eyes into little crescent moons everytime she smiled. Little did I know the impact this new style of smiling would have on our Christmas pictures. I swear, the second she sees the camera now, she scrunches up her nose and squeezes her eyes shut until she hears us put the camera away. These aren't out-takes, these are the best of the bunch. At least she's still smiling... ;)

Although it's cute, I hope her 'old' smile comes back soon! At this point, I fear her loyal readers will never see her eyeballs again.

Happy New Year...Almost

Hi guys, what do ya say? Can I play ya some 'Auld Lang Syne'?

Nothin' says New Year's Eve celebration like a big pile of squash

The only Christmas shot we got with all of our eyes open. ;) Ol' Blue Eyes next to her first Christmas tree
You said we do WHAT on Christmas morning?!?!
Coming in 2008...

Downie Daycare

Register soon - Availability limited

A Christmas Miracle

Due to its true meaning, and its proximity to the New Year, the Christmas season is certainly a time for reflection. And oh, my...what a year it's been.

I read an article when Violet was much smaller :) that stressed the importance of writing down happenings and feelings from the first year of your child's life. Not only because they change and develop so quickly, but also for your child so they could one day read your remarks and feel a connectedness to their infancy. They recommended writing your baby a letter each month, detailing their milestones and what you love about them.

I whole heartedly agreed with this concept, however (as most of you know), I'm not one for setting aside time for crafty/keepsake tasks, regardless of their level of importance.

So, on this Christmas night, I thought I would reflect on a FEW things that I remember about Violet's first 9 months...and what I love about her:
1. Her first smile - the crooked one.
2. How she's always shown affection to her stuffed animals.
3. Her chubby legs.
4. The looong nights when we'd think she had finally fallen asleep, and we'd take 5 minutes to gently place her in her crib and the moment we'd removed our last pinky from underneath her she'd open those little baby blues and glare at us, as if to say, "Where the heck do you think you're going?".
5. Her big, drooly kisses.
6. How her shoulders bounce up and down when she giggles.
7. She makes the funniest faces (wonder where she got that from?).
8. When I insisted on swaddling her until she was 4 1/2 months old even though she consistently wiggled her left arm free and would be waving to greet me in the morning (not really).
9. How she happily wiggles her feet when she sits in the shopping cart at Wegmans and gives strangers a smile.
10. How cute she looks when she sucks her thumb.

OK, I'm just getting warmed up, but I'll save it for another day. ;)

Violet, we love you. You truly are our Christmas miracle.

Movie Night

A Very Viley Update

My husband has a knack for coming up with funny nicknames.

Some of his recent for Violet are:
- Viley Bag of Doughnuts
- V-bag
- Smiley Viley
- Bucket of baby cries (this is actually an oldie but a goodie)
- Chunky Chunkerson
- Damien (because he says she looks like the little boy in the movie 'The Omen')

Now that I've updated you on her nickname status, here are a few new things she's been entertaining us with:

- Meowing (or at least a very distorted rendition) at every cat, dog, teddy bear or stuffed bunny she sees.
- Pulling Hannah's fur out by the handfuls and yanking at her tail if she can catch it.
- Crying at every strange and familiar face she sees (it's the 'stranger danger' phase), and crying when I leave the room, drop her at the sitter's or when someone laughs too loudly. Does this phase pass quickly?
- Slowly waving her hands in the air when I sing to her before she goes to bed (haven't figured this one out yet, but it's pretty darn cute).
- Clapping her hands - upside down.
- High-fives! Kinda.
- Tugging toys out of her friend's hands and poking them in the eyes (since Rich taught her that it was a funny thing to do).
- Letting out one quick belly laugh for no particular reason while we're driving in the car.
- Consuming ENORMOUS amounts of tofu, apples, pears, bananas, peas, squash, cherrios and carrots.
- Giving hugs
- Enjoying 'playtime in the daytime' with daddy which involves playing with a titlest golf ball and an inflatable beach ball (I can usually hear her laughing from downstairs).

and...

- Saying Da Da (not necessarily in reference to her father - but she's almost there!)


Consider yourself officially up-to-date. ;)

Gobble Gobble

I'm thankful for...
Family
Precious moments
Aunt Shawnie
Abel
Sweet potatoes, friends, board books, my cat hannah and this cute dress Zaida sent me. ;)

Smiley Vi-lee

Dedication Day

Violet was dedicated on Sunday, November 11th. It was a special day for a special little lady. ;)

Proud parents realizing the breadth of their responsibility. Our girl - happy to be surrounded by her Grandparents, Nana and Monique, Aunts & Uncles {sadly, sans Uncle Scott} and first cousins.

Nana, save me! My mom will NOT leave me alone.

The Prodigy (check your volume)

Violet Thursdays

Since my friend Danyelle and I both work from home, we worked out a plan to swap childcare one afternoon a week so that we have a set time to schedule conference calls, meetings, etc. Violet spends most Thursday afternoons in her sunny house, napping in the guest room and playing with her pal, Mallory. It's been so fun to watch them grow and play together. Here are a few recent shots -- Danyelle took them during their time together.

BTW - Violet is 8 months old today. Unbelievable!

Wait - get a shot of my foot. It's really cute.
The mini-mowhawk
Mal and Vi - playing nicely!

Happy Halloween

Happy Holly Not so happy Violet

Violet was dressed as Holly Hobbie for her first Halloween. Sadly, I didn't get a good full length shot of her in her costume. She's so funny - she didn't mind her bonnet and happily stayed in her costume all day! We went for lunch at Auragen, stopped by to check out Abel's costume and then joined friends for a party. As the last picture depicts, Violet was tuckered out by the time the party rolled around and we had to replace her cute costume for pjs early on in the evening. She was obviously not digging the party...but she was smiling once I put her to bed soon after this shot was taken. ;)

Hopefully her Christmas picture doesn't look anything like this one...