Some nice ones.

Whaw...whawww.

A bit of a Debbie Downer in this one.

I love my babies' eyes, they open and close and open and close...

Rock-a-rock with all my furry friends.

Amelia is afraid of Daddy's glasses.

Wouldn't you be?

Nice candid of Ford, don't worry, he's alive...creepy.
Nice downward dog, yes?

Grilled Cheese, Denim and Little Miss Bossy...

One of my favorite books.

Trying on some big girl jeans...

What do you think of my onesie?

About to get mad at the area rug for hindering my mobility...

I think it's safe to say Amelia is now a toddler. Somehow, I was able to make the transition in my mind, just today, when I fed her a grilled cheese and she attacked it with reckless abandon. :) A far cry from her scrunched up face when trying to swallow pureed kale and lentils. :) She loved it. Of course I took great care in preparing it just right, organic cheese and bread, and not too much butter cutting it up into tiny pieces for her to manage. I have to admit, I've been a little neurotic about what goes into her body...but I pride myself on this as well, it's one thing I can do for her during this important stage of growth. I've made homemade organic baby food since she was 5 months old. (However, I figured out quickly that she did not care for the homemade green veggies. Had to go with the organic jarred stuff...whatever works).

Anyway, she's totally into finger foods these days, so I've been trying all kinds. She loves green peas from a can. It's fun to watch her explore new foods with her hands. She's an inspector. She goes through a filtering process with the peas as she looks them over one by one and tosses the unfavorable ones to the floor. She's got her own grading system. Who know how it works but she's very serious about it.
Back to the grilled cheese...it was one of those bittersweet moments that I experience sometimes. Grilled cheese = Big Girl. I'm sure she could've had a grilled cheese before 11.5 months...why rush things? :) Being a first time mom, it was hard to know when to transition to the big girl foods. But as I introduce them one by one, she is letting me know that she's tired of the mushy baby food. She's ready for more...she likes curry for crying out loud (mild of course).
Next, the denim. I mean just look at her standing there in her jeans and her "Genuine Ford Parts" onesie. (How hilarious is that?) She's ready for a night out at the movies with her pals. Well, maybe not yet. But there's something about seeing her walk around in a pair of jeans...
And thirdly, another marker signifying toddler-hood...bossiness. Yes, she's taken to bossing us around a bit. When she's working out on her walker, back and forth and back and forth, she likes to yell and point to where she likes us to stand, usually somewhere in front of her where she can see us. She grunts and clenches her fists in order to communicate this to us. She even yells and grunts at the area rug where her walker gets held up (every single time) while she's doing her cruising. We have to watch it because admittedly this display is really quite funny at this point. It's that stage in her little life where her comprehension exceeds her ability to communicate. How frustrating that must be...hence the feisty attitude. But it shows that she's got spirit, that's what we like to call it (for now anyway)...she's spirited. :)
Who knows toddler years will bring, how her personality will unfold...she may be nothing like me, or Ford for that matter, or maybe she'll be a combination of us both. All we know is that she's morphing into her own little person...the person that God made her to be: Amelia.

Get Well Soon, Grandma Claudia

Just a note to ask everyone to take a minute today to pray for Amelia's Grandma Claudia (my mom). She's having surgery to remove part of her thyroid this morning. Praying for a smooth and successful surgery and a quick and easy recovery! And praying she wakes up feeling good as new! We love you Grandma!

First steps and she's a hard worker...

It's been just over 2 weeks since I last posted. I hope you faithful blog checkers haven't given up on me. We've had visitors!! Uncle Manny, Aunt Jamie and cousins Genessi, Lily, Sofia and Kate made the long trip south to attend Camp Nashville for a week. Despite the less then desirable conditions: i.e. chigger infested grounds and quiet time twice a day during our youngest camper's naps, everyone seemed to have a great time and Amelia loved playing with her cousins! Every morning when I'd get her out of her crib, she'd squirm and giggle with excitement when I asked her if she wanted to go play with the kids. What could be better than 4 live in playmates?
While the Vazquez family was here, Amelia took her first official steps. It started with one step and ironically, I was the only one here to witness it. Of course she's been testing out her new upright mobility, but only a few steps at a time. We are working on her confidence and she has since built up to 4 consecutive steps. I'm guessing she'll be in walking mode by her birthday. Here are a few photos of Amelia doing her very important "work." The kid is obsessed with straps and buckles; car seat straps, high chair straps, stroller straps...she works her way around the house each day and finds them and diligently does her "strap work" as we call it, like she's getting paid to do it. She also loves herself some mail, so here are also a few photos of her doing her mail work...she sorted these pieces of mail for approximately 20 minutes. She means business.