July 2013 - So long ago...

I have no idea how nearly 5 months have passed without my updating our blog.  So much has manifested in Sanaa...a truly talking creature who is pretty fascinating to me.

July appears to have been relatively uneventful except for the end of one chapter of my life professionally...and excitement at starting anew.  Also we celebrated our 3rd anniversary and had the opportunity to take Auntie Ebonie out for a nice brunch for her birthday.  Those two love each other so much.  

We also just got to spend a lot of time outside...swimming, water play, and as butterflies.  See what I mean here...

June 2013

Walking!  June is the month Sanaa began to walk...which is ridiculously fun.  I have to take a moment to say that I didn't love the newborn or early infant phase, but the later infant phase and this age is sooo fun.  This month she also started showing more of her physical personality (hands upside down to ask questions, goofy head movements to show she's being silly, and so on).  I adore it.

We enjoyed a wonderful Father's Day brunch with Hasan's dad, and a little girl ready to show off her walking and general charm to the restaurant's patrons. I couldn't have been more excited.

We also understand we have a strong-willed child, and we're thankful to be a strong family with great resources around to help us guide her growth.  We can tell it's going to be quite the ride, and she's everything we ever wanted, and more.

See another typical Sanaa moment in the video below.  She LOVES to watch this video of herself.  

And here are some photos of us in June.  The last couple are our transnational celebration of our niece Tanuja's 6th birthday.  She had a pizza and cake party on a Sunday, so we made our Sunday dinner be pizza and mini-cakes too.  Happy 6th Tanu!

May 2013

Wonderful May.  Team Andrews continues to navigate a very busy life like even more of a well-oiled machine.  I must says I appreciate that a lot.   

Sanaa stood up on her own, on command, for the first time.  (see video above)  Thank you Aunt Ebonie for capturing it - I must have played it a thousand times!

Sanaa continued to take swim classes.  When she's in the class, she is so focused on watching everyone else in the pool she forgets to do anything with her own body.  When it's just the 3 of us in the pool, she's very active.  Go figure.  Our teacher, Miss Lisa, says she might be a journalist someday.  I am pretty sure that means that me and Hasan aren't worth watching to her.

We also went to Sesame Place for the first time (theme park for Sesame Street).  That was SO cool to see her take in the fact that Elmo and Grover and Cookie Monster can be real.  And, I have to say, I was very happy that she takes after me (rather than Hasan) in her love of roller coaster-like experiences. I'm hopeful I will finally have someone who says "yea!  let's go on that super fast ride" with me...someday.  

Mother's Day involved a tasty brunch of the two of us along with Sanaa's 3 aunts, 1 grandmother, 4 cousins.  My normally wonderful restaurant child was a little monster...likely because she had the audience of all those kids and aunts.  Argh...

And it was the first visit from my cousin Varun.  The two hit it off right away.  He even put her down for her nap twice.  The first time he couldn't leave her crying.  The second time he took my advice and just walked out (he did have to walk back in to give her Froggie, but he did great!).  Really really sweet to see how excited she was to see him when she woke up.

I also got a first degree burn on my hand after putting away hot oil from frying samosas.  Man, did I learn what nerve endings are for.  The burnt skin is finally peeling away now...eew.   At least the samosas were ones my mom had made...so it was totally worth it.

We had a wonderful Memorial Day of visiting family.  It is fun to have a really personable kid to take around :)

Lastly, she has a lot more words to say.  She knows Please and Thank You now.  Which now means we're working on her understanding that "Please" doesn't mean she gets what she wants.  Oh, yea...THAT is fun ;)  Just watch out that you don't get punched in eye, I tell ya.

The video below is Sanaa and Varun...I love it.  Here are the other pics from May.

April 2013

April was a major development in the household.  The kid is now in her own room.  The first night was AWFUL, the second night was hilarious.  See the above video.  This I captured with her baby monitor.  Yes, she is actually SLEEPING in this video.  As soon as I put her down, she stood up defiantly, and then stood like that for about 1 hour 20 minutes, asleep.  After that much time passed, I finally relented and went in to lay her down horizontally.

Spring is upon us...she is so interesting these days.  Lots of chatter - April's words are:  Mom-MMMee (yes, with extra emphasis on the middle M), No, Ha-shee (which is Roxie), Eye, and probably a whole lot of others...but what Hasan and I have discovered is that we don't speak Baby as well as her aunts do.  So it normally takes us about an extra 1 or 2 weeks to learn what she is saying.

Here are a few pictures from the month...take the time to watch the banana video.  Totally adorable.

March 2013

March was awesome.  Sanaa's 1st birthday, a wonderful brunch to thank me for birthing her (!), our first trip to the Art Museum (she was sooo interested), our first family trip away, Sanaa trying to learn to walk (not quite there yet), and the ending of winter coming upon us.  It even had a very successful ear tube surgery that she was just an amazement to watch her go through.  She's quite a trooper (and a charmer).

And now I'm all caught up - here's March 2013 pictures!

February 2013

February brought a fully crawling Sanaa, and I swear, it's like she's a little puppy peeking that head around corners to see where me, Hasan or Roxie is.  It is the CUTEST thing to see those eyes lighting up.  It also brought a first meeting with her greatgrandmother on Hasan's dad's side which means a lot to me since I barely knew my grandparents.

And just as nice, Hasan and I did our first weekend away from the baby (thanks Auntie Ebonie!).  It was 36 hours of heaven, I have to say.  To know that I didn't have to wake up and run around was very sweet.  And then I missed her.

It did not bring very many pictures - a few are here.

January 2013 - Happy New Year!

January had a great start with a wonderful New Year's Day.  Then it slid into a week or more of torture as first Hasan, then Sanaa, then I came down with a terrible stomach bug, and she then got a cold and set of ear infections.  UGH.  I've never seen so much throw up in my life from one little girl - and never been so scared or exhausted actually.

All that time at home however gave me lots of time to help her practice crawling, which I did by throwing Cheerios all over the ground to motivate her to crawl to them and eat them.  See video above for dramatic footage.

And the rest of January is here...

December 2012

Merry Christmas!  I really enjoyed this holiday season.  Between getting our first Christmas tree (a real one!), taking the time to buy presents for each other and the little ones in our lives, watching doting cousins relish Sanaa opening her presents, and of course my endless baking for Christmas Eve party at our house, I couldn't have asked for a better holiday season.  I honestly can't wait for the next one.

I look back on these December pictures now and she was so round-faced back then, and a little less emphatic!

Enjoy!

November 2012

Happy Thanksgiving!  We had a wonderful November.  It was started by a delayed Halloween parade in our neighborhood where Sanaa went as a tiger (SO cute).  It progressed into our settling into the new routine of life, and ended with a really lovely first Thanksgiving.  Sanaa got to wear a traditional Indian little girl's outfit to the party, and was really the belle of her cousins' eyes and attention...lucky girl.

Here are pictures from November, with lots of cute kids :)

52 Weeks

The end of this series - Happy Birthday!  For her birthday, I took a half day and she and I spent the day together.  Here she is on our walk to have lunch together.  The start of this sort of posing for the camera.  I love it.

51 Weeks

Caught on camera.  What those of us who spend time with her every day get to deal with.  Sanaa is nothing if she's not emphatic, clear about what's ok and what's not, and expressive.  I am thankful she has such a clear sense of what she feels.  Most days I enjoy it too.

50 Weeks

On March 5th, Sanaa had surgery to put tubes in her ears.  She was an absolute trooper.  Afterwards, we spent the day together.  Here's my attempt to keep her confined while I made some food for us.  What?...she has a bottle in there with her!

49 Weeks

Family day on one of the first days signaling the end of winter.  It was warm enough to get some food and sit outside for a few minutes.

48 Weeks

Little stylized treatment here.  Absolutely one of my favoritest pictures in the world.  Again with the eyes and the hair!!

47 Weeks

I don't know why I love this picture so much.  Maybe it's the "uh-oh" look on her face.  Maybe it's her being surrounding by all her "friends" in her books.  Maybe it's the fact that she's wearing a shirt that Hasan said "Babe, what is this?  An off the shoulder top for a baby?"

46 Weeks

Many a cold wintery Saturday were spent in the kitchen, me cooking and Sanaa playing on this very floor.  This was the first time I caught her climbing the stairs.

45 Weeks

Sanaa is very very fortunate to have both of her great-grandmothers still with us in this life.  Here's her first visit with Great-grandma Winnie...this visit was short, but very neat - 4 generations of Andrews between Grandma, Hasan's Dad, Hasan, and the baby.

44 Weeks

I think they look very alike.  My two sweeties.

43 Weeks

I ADORE this photo.  It so captures her - bright-eyed, on the move, and ready to smile.  Plus, I LOVE that hair!

42 Weeks

This picture is actually one of a series...it's one of the first times I saw Sanaa and Roxie really start to interact more deeply.  Sanaa crawls across the bed to pet Roxie, Roxie lets her, Sanaa gets excited, then Roxie starts showing off (see above), so Sanaa thinks to pet her even more, to which Roxie does her customary "don't touch me" light "bite" and then Sanaa cries.  Oh well.  More to come I'm sure.  It was very very sweet to watch.

41 Weeks - Happy New Year!

New Year's Day was a wonderful day at home of relaxation capped off with a yummy meal made by me.  

40 Weeks - Merry Christmas!

Here she is on very pink bouncy horsey courtesy of the McKennon-Peterson gang.  The kid did very well with Christmas.  Seemed to know exactly what to do with all the presents she got from friends and family.  She even tried to go for a pair of really fantastic shoes that Hasan bought me :)  Just a little before her time...but it's coming!