April at Adela's

"And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless until the day of Christ" (Philippians 1:9-10)



April was Naomi's third month at Adela's World of the Children Daycare and she is growing by leaps and bounds! Our princess baby is now a super cruiser. She just picks herself up and grabs a hold of whatever can keep her steady and inches along on her little feet. There have been a few times that I've seen her stand and balance without any support. At those times, Mimi hasn't stepped forward, but maybe she has at school. She sure seems brave enough to stand on top of this chair:



One of the funnest features that I would enjoy if I was a kid going to school at Adela's is the tub of bouncing balls =) I remember Naomi and I went to Adela's to let her know that we had chosen her home to bring Mimi. She was apprehensive about letting me put her down even though I wasn't going anywhere. She would start to cry and hold onto my neck. But then Adela put Max in the tub of balls and Mimi, looked intrigued. I placed her in there and she didn't cry. I wouldn't say she was excited or even happy, but she was silent. That was in January... Now look at her!

From April at Adela's

Richie is the one who always picks her up and he tells me that Friday is "Party Day!" That's usually when most (if not all) of the kids are there at Adela's. When he gets her at the end of the day, there are more toys... and more noise! Up until a few days ago, there were only 5 kids total, but there's a new boy named Troy who joined the club. I think Mimi is still the only full-timer.



I've been told that when Adela or her daughter/helper Leslie speaks to Naomi in Spanish, she responds accordingly. She probably knows a lot at school, but at home, we ask her to aplaude/clap and give a besito/little kiss. Now when Richie or I say goodbye, she waves and gives a flying kiss =) Also, if I'm on the phone and then say bye, she'll say "bye", too when I hang up.

Here's another funny story to show Ganda's smart and playful personality. Adela told me that one day, Naomi went up to Max and gestured to kiss him..this usually means opening her mouth and leaning forward. So Max moves his head closer to Mimi's. As Naomi leans in to kiss Max on the forehead, she also sneakily grabs the toy that Max is holding in his hand. SWOOPED!! Both Adela and Leslie looked at each other, "Did you see that?!" and started laughing! Then Naomi just smiles, too and crawls away... with her steal in hand! Max didn't know what hit him.... poor boy didn't have a chance against Ganda's slick move!



After that story, Richie suggested that I have a little talk with our daughter. With Daddy nearby, I told Naomi, quite seriously I might add, that she was NOT allowed to kiss boys. Even if he was just her friend. And especially NOT to get her way. She might be young, but she is very sharp and appeared to understand. As I held her in my lap, at first she wouldn't look me in the eye and tried to squirm away. I'm not in the mood for a lecture, Ma! As I gently persisted, she finally looked at me bashfully and then buried her head in my neck. She didn't shed a tear, but her actions spoke louder than words. Mommy, I didn't mean any harm, but now I know and I'm sorry. Oh my, what a Precious child!

Well, it won't be for a while, but when Naomi does become a big sister, she's going to be just a wonderful little helper and a second mommy to her sibling. Adela said that everyday, Mimi goes to this one section of the shelves and plays with the dolls. It's like her own little space where she gently touches the parts of their faces and even feeds them a bottle. TOO CUTE and SO SWEET!



I still can't believe that she's going to be one in a matter of days. If I could freeze her at this stage for a little while, I would. Alas, I just have to cherish each moment and tuck away the memories of each passing day. Luckily I have this blog to look back on and I know when Naomi is old enough to appreciate it, she'll be amazed at how much she's grown!

Get Up, Stand Up!

They were also to stand every morning to thank and praise the LORD. They were to do the same in the evening. (1 Chron 23:30)

Naomi has the cutest chubby little legs and they are proving to be quite strong! Every morning, when we do her exercises, she especially likes to stand up and balance on her legs while I hold her hands. She bears her weight on her legs and looks around smiling tall =) Sometimes she'll even try to take a step forward. I've been trying to get her to practice sitting on her own, but she seems to prefer the standing position. This morning, while she was in the sitting position on my tummy, I told her, "Mimi, you've got to learn how to sit before you can stand," and she just smiled even bigger and arched her back, got up on her feet and kept her knees locked. She never seems to get tired of this. When Richie gets home from work in the evening, she likes to stand up for him, too =) One time, he had her leaning to one side and she held her body as rigid as can be. I love when she smiles so big for me "Hey, Mommy, look at me!"

Richie and I finally got Naomi her own ExcerSaucer/jumper/activity center. She's been testing out all of her cousin's and was able to touch her feet on the bottom and enjoy herself. The one we bought had a couple of removable battery-operated toys that we decided to put away for now. We'll bring them out later when she starts getting bored with it or gets more interactive with her hands. We haven't been filming Mimi nearly as much as we should, but I think I will be doing more because time flies and she's that much cuter in action! Isn't technology cool?

Happy Feet :)

"Look at my hands and my feet. It is I myself! Touch me and see; a ghost does not have flesh and bones, as you see I have. (Luke 24:39)

Naomi is discovering more about the way the world works... especially regarding her hands and feet. When she plays on her mat, her arms and legs are flapping super fast, knocking her toys around and laughing while they sway above her. She gets tired and takes a short break then does it all over again. She can entertain herself like this for up to half an hour :)

My sister Jasmine told me that sometimes when a baby reaches a new milestone, their sleep habits change. A few nights ago, Naomi woke up in the middle of the night around 2:30am. I could hear her little baby noises, but she wasn't crying or really even fussing. When I looked into her bassinet, I saw Mimi kicking her pink hippo which hangs above her. She was smiling and entertaining herself, so I went back to sleep expecting to hear her cry out at any minute. She kept playing and eventually fell back asleep, too. The next time I woke up it was 5AM and she was flailing her legs around again, but she looked frustrated. Naomi had managed to wiggle her body in a way that her feet could no longer reach the hippo. I repositioned her and she kicked away until she had worked up an appetite and let out a loud yelp to let me know it was time to for breakfast. By this time, it was already a whole 7 hours since she last ate so I knew she was hungry!


Her favorite toy to kick on her play mat is an octopus that has a rattle and a hoop attached to him. I decided to hang it on her car seat on our way to Dean's house to celebrate his 8th birthday. Shortly after we hit the road, she grabbed the hoop and held on super tight. Mimi just stared up at the octopus, but wasn't moving her arm. I shook her arm to let her hear the rattle, but she didn't shake it on her own. I thought that she might have just got stuck and didn't know how to let go, so I pried her fingers off the ring. BIG MISTAKE! She screamed at me and let me know she wasn't done yet. I put the ring back in her hand and she just kept staring and holding it for at least another 5 minutes. The second she let go of it, she closed her eyes and dozed off.

When we got Hercules, we let her play in Weslee's aquarium bouncer. It wasn't too long ago that she would just sit in it quietly while watching the bubbles. This time she kicked the fish and the seahorse with her feet. This activity seemed to bring her a new found joy in sitting in the bouncer :)

Gotta love those HAPPY FEET!

Shorty wanna bounce with me?

Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 8:39)

Naomi has been one bouncy baby lately! Her legs are getting a lot stronger and she tries to stand when Richie and I hold her up on our legs or chest. Richie is a lot better about bouncing her up and down for lengthy amounts of time, but perhaps his arms needed a rest because he asked me when we could buy a bouncer for Mimi. She's still kinda bobble-head so I wasn't sure, but we ventured off to Babies R Us to test some out.

From 12 weeks

I took these pics with my BlackBerry. There were 10 or so different types to choose from, but this Precious Planets jumperoo was the cutest! Mimi was having a good time... just hanging out! She's a long baby, but at almost 3 months old her little legs are still too short to reach the ground :) Her tiny feet were dangling about 3 inches from the floor! The minimum age recommendation for most of the Excersaucers is 4 months, so we'll just have to come back later. Until then, Richie and I will continue bouncing our li'l shorty while exercising our arms... 'cuz just like Tigger - "bouncing's what babies do best!"