2015: A Years Review

My Dear little Luna,

This will be my fourth attempt to update your website. Hopefully it's late enough at night and you are out for the night, the power doesn't fail, the page automatically saves what I've typed you so far... you know...the everyday occurrences that cause delays. Jeeze!

So, it has been a while since I've had a chance to write to you (minus the previous attempts) and so much has happened! You've celebrated your first Christmas, your first birthday came and went, and you had your first real sickness, which is not as fun as the first two, but a milestone non-the-less. So lets get into the goods, shall we?

Luna's First Christmas:     December 25th 2015 - Christmas morning. Merry Christmas!!! Oh how fun, you get to try your hand at opening your first presents! Luckily most of them are just in bags with pretty paper, but there was one that you actually had to slip your little hand in and tear apart. You didn't really know what to do, and I think you might have been a little afraid, so Momi helped you a bit. I can't remember exactly what it was but it was a nice gift. You received so many new things, some clothes, toys and stuffed animals. On Christmas morning we had a delicious breakfast made by your sister, Jade, then Auntie Allison came over for Christmas dinner, and then you went to sleep, unaware of how exciting the next week and a half of your life was going to become. Christmas night Grami, Memere, Auntie Jilly and your cousins Riley and Damien arrived at the airport from Massachusetts! You were asleep, and thank God, because they got to our house around 1am the following day. But you woke up in the morning, all smiles, a little shy and ready to play with your cousins. Then, we had more presents to open :-) All in all, it was a great first Christmas!

Luna's 1st Birthday (part 1):     December 29th 2015 - Happy Birthday, Beautiful!!! Oh my gosh, I can hardly believe you are one year old! Gah! You've grown so much over this last year, it's incredible. I am so blessed to have been able to watch you grow from my little 6 lb 9oz peanut to my 22 lb "little engine that can". Here are some milestones you reached on your journey to your first birthday:

• recognizing your family members, momi, daddi, grama, grami, memere and your aunties
• holding your head up by yourself
• rolling over for the first time
• sitting up on your own
• discovering your voice
• pulling yourself up to standing, and "walking" along the couch
• standing alone, then walking, then running!
• saying your own words and repeating words used
• laughing, dancing and climbing

I have indeed had a blast playing with you now that you are up and running around. You love it when I chase you down the hallway, wither I'm standing on my feet, or fast-crawling and making loads of noise trying to catch you. We've been experimenting with music to see who you like to dance to the most. So far the winners are Taylor Swift, The Corrs and Katy Perry. You love to laugh and if you hear a baby laughing on the TV you shift your attention away from whatever you were doing to investigate, usually ending up with a big smile on yourself, and laughing along with the baby. Sometimes I will YouTube "laughing babies" just to hear you laugh. It's adorable. You also like books, though aren't quite ready to sit still and listen to momi or daddi read them to you just yet. Mostly, you like flipping the pages back and forth the way you see us doing. I love your little voice and listening to the stories you tell. Sometimes we will have our own conversations either while you're playing or when you're in your car seat. One of these days, you will have actual words you speak and our conversations will make more sense. 

Well, on your BIG DAY we celebrated by making chocolate cupcakes and Grami's homemade frosting. Riley and I colored the frostings together so we could do pretty designs on your cupcakes. I may have used way to much on your particular cupcake, not thinking that you would eat it (I was assuming you'd smash it and smear the frosting all over your high chair). Well my sweet little girl, you ate almost every bite of frosting off the top of your cake before momi had to intervene and scrape the last little bit off. I swear, I could see the moment the sugar hit your little system. You'd never been exposed to that much sugar at once and you took off! It was worth it, though. You had fun. Riley and Damien had fun running around with you trying to get their sugar high under control, and for an hour or two there were just three over-sugared children running around the house. Then it was bath and bed time. So much fun!

Photography by: Chery @ Cheryphoto.com

Luna's 1st Birthday (part 2):     January 2nd 2016 - Happy birthday, again, my sweet! Although your official birthday has come and gone, now we celebrate with Grampa John and Grama Karen from Utah. They just got in last night, so today we get to have another birthday celebration with them. This time instead of being in the house, we went to one of Auntie Allison's friends condominium complexes. More accurately, we went to her cabana so everyone could fit and sit comfortable, if they wanted. There really wasn't much sitting involved since mingling usually requires people to stand, either by refreshments or food. :-)    This time momi's photographer friend was there to help document this momentous occasion and you smashing your second 1st birthday cake. This time Momi made you your own personal sponge-moon-cake with not as much frosting. Still, you got a sugar high, ran around like a crazy baby, and crashed. After your birthday party, Grampa John and Karen took everyone out for dinner to continue celebrating and spend time with the family. We had Mexican food, and I found out that you like avocado. Bleck! Not momi's favorite, but if you like it, then I will incorporate it into either your lunch time or dinner time meals.

Photography by: Chery @ Cheryphoto.com

Thursday, January 28th, 2016:     My sweet little Luna Bell. You are one year and one month old (tomorrow - less than 24 hours) and you amaze me every day with how much you've grown. I will always love, cherish, miss and remember you as a tiny little peanut, snuggled so tightly in my arms, but I look forward to every day watching you grow. You are so smart, and so sweet and at times so stubborn that you make my heart swell with pride. As you grow and learn, I am growing and learning right along side of you. I learn patience and understanding from you, while you learn all that the world has to offer from me and your experiences everyday. I love the time we get to spend together, and I want you to know, that even though sometimes I might get mad at or frustrated with you, it's not for lack of love. I know you just want to explore, but it is my job to make sure that what you explore is safe. Falling off of things you climb like boxes and the couch is one thing, but trying to chew on wires and poke things that could hurt you is another. So when you get older, I hope we can teach each other understanding, compassion and empathy (you know, all those things you learn from Daniel Tiger!). I'm doing the best I can with what I know and just want you to grow up with a sense of adventure and a side of caution. I love you, my little moon-beam, with my whole heart.

Love,
Momi <3

Photography by: Chery @ Cheryphoto.com