1st New Year's Eve!

It is your first New Year's Eve and we are having the party at our house so that you can go to sleep when you get tired and the family can party all through the night, as is the Russian way of celebrating the New Year! You spend the day saying "Da! Da! Da!" and say "Mama" when you want me to pick you up! This is the first time you use the word specially for me and not just for fun!
In the evening all of your grandparents come over to celebrate and you stay up way too late posing for pictures and enjoying all of the love! Tomorrow morning you will open all of the wonderful gifts that Ded Moroz will have brought for you!

Papa!

You napped all day for the first time without any white noise, and then in the evening you said Paaapaaa during your bath!

Kiss Kiss

We say "kiss kiss", you give kisses!!

Yellow!

We have had this theory since you were very small that you really liked the color yellow...do we know you or do we know you? Now that you are on the move and can get to the things you are really interested in, it is ALL yellow ALL the the time! From your alphabet floor mat, the yellow square on the turtle's back must always been in your mouth and the yellow 4 must always be in your hands! When you play with your blocks you pick out all of the yellow ones and pile them up around you! And in the ABC's book, we read l, m, n, o... and when you see the yellow pineapple (p), you are overcome with joy!!

Stand Up, Sit Down

You stood on your own for a few seconds, then instead of grabbing on to something or just falling, you bent your knees and slowly sat yourself down on the floor! Very impressive!

1st Tooth!

Your first tooth is peeking through (bottom right)! Daddy got his first tooth at 6 months and Mommy didn't get her first one until 14 months, so you are right in the middle at 9 months!

Later, Daddy was eating watermelon, which you have not yet tried but were super interested in. He traded you pieces of watermelon for kisses!

Down Stairs

You have mastered climbing up the stairs, but it dawned on you today that there's got be a way to get down too! You figured out that there are two ways to get down the stairs - scooting down on your tush or sliding head first! Mommy is not a fan of the second option!
You're making sounds that sound like real words - up, ouch, shoes! So fun!

Grandma Toma's Birthday

It was Grandma Toma's birthday and party today, and you had so much you stayed up a whole hour past your bed time!

Happy 9 Months!

You are 9 months old today, and since it's December we are off to your photo shoot, holiday style! And we have finally figured out how to get you to smile for your pictures (since you always get shy in front of photographers)! The photographer thinks he is doing a great job making you smile, but really it's because Daddy is in the back flashing your favorite sign "Offered By Sherman Smith and Associates"! Haha!! And you blew raspberries without spitting for the first time, you twirled your lips and showed off your new skill!

Happy 9 months, sweetheart!

Zane

Zane normally hates being in the car, but he toughed through it to come visit you today!

Stair Climber!

You climb stairs! Wow!!

Grandma Dora's Hannukah Concert

You were such a good audience at Grandma Dora's Hannukah concert! You loved the music and even gave her a rose at the end!