inhale, 1-2-3, exhale 1-2-3.

Amelia; the precious, the darling, has executed her first big "oops" with some real finesse this week. One might ask, "Oh [giggle- giggle, chuckle-chuckle] what did the little cutie break? A plate? A cell phone perhaps?" All those things would have been perferred, but she really outdid herself and chose the most priceless of items to destroy. She yanked on the cord to our external hard drive and let it bounce on the floor. In a nutshell, this sensitive piece of hardware, about the size of a thick book, holds all the data to our computer. All the reports for my work, and all the photos from the last 6 years or so. All of them. So, the hundreds of photos from these first nine months, years of family, showers, christmas, everything is in there.

I tried turning on the hard drive after the fall, and it made an awful grinding noise and would not connect. I put my face in my hands, and felt like my chest had dropped down to my belly. Of all things to damage, this might be the worst. Since then I've taken the hard drive to a "data recovery" place, to see if the photos are recoverable.

I explained what had happened to the quiet, sympathetic tech at the data recovery place. I kept wanting to give up trying to talk with him, because my technical jargon is limited to words like "thingy" and "this part". I handed over the broken hard drive as if I was handing him my broken heart, saying "can you fix it?". Time is money, so I paid for the most inexpensive option for evaluation, which will be sometime in the next 2-3 weeks. Till then all I can do is pray, and start printing my photos!

one for the books

Now that the Little Miss is in the transition to bipedalism, we've matured from the pre-bath ritual of naked playing on the bed, to standing by the tub watching the water fill it up (as shown below). It's, of course, adorable. And it's the only time we get to see her little body looking more like a toddler instead of an infant. This special time comes with the risk of her peeing on the floor while her diaper is off. Not a big deal since it's easy to clean up, you just have to be on the watch for it. Until...

The other night I hadn't noticed she'd peed while the tub was filling. Cash came in, clicking his paws on the floor behind her. She whipped around to see where her pal was. As you might guess, she slipped and her feet flew up and the back of her head landed first. Poor, poor girl. What could possibly be worse than slipping on your own pee and then lying in it? She was screaming, big lower lip out, her little naked body and hair damp and stinky. I wrapped her in a towel and tried to calm her down, but eventually she would have to get in the tub. Still extremely upset, she refused to get in the tub. So, I decided to get in with her. She was so surprised to see me hop in with her, she forgot about what had happened. I filled the tub up, and Grant poured water on our shoulders while her little chubby body sat on my lap. It was probably one of the sweetest things that we've done yet. Funny how such a sad, kind of gross thing turned into an unexpected, very sweet memory.
And yes...she knows exactly what she's doin'.

what?!

As a Christmas present, Meg and Andy generously offered to watch Amelia while Grant and I reclaimed a few hours of freedom, by catching a movie. Grant and I went to see "Avatar"; great flick. We had a great time. I successfully snuck a 12-inch jar of peanuts, 24 oz water bottle, and big packet of life savers into the theatre with only minor stares and glances at my jar-shaped boobs and bottle-shaped butt. We laughed at each other sporting some killer 3-D glasses, and I embarrassed Grant a little with my vocal "coooool!!!"'s, "aaawweee-sooome!!"'s, and "wwhooaaa!!!"'s. Apparently, I'm the only one in the theatre that thought the 3-D was cool enough to express my enthusiasm. I'm gonna make a great embarassing mom when Amelia goes to the movies with me :)

When we got back, I was a little surprised by Amelia's reaction to me. I am positive that while we were gone she thought Megan was me. When we returned 4 hours later, she watched me walk up the stairs with little response, clutching on to Megan as I got closer. I tried talking to her to see if my voice would ring a bell that I'm her mother, but still no recollection. Then Grant came walking up the stairs behind me, and she did her usual huge smile, and, get this, reached for him. So, there you have it. Megan and Grant. Not me, oh no, not the one who birthed her, sacrificed her time, energy and nipples for her. I'm just another big human trying to get my hands on her, squeezing some type of affection from her. It took about 45 minutes for her to WARM UP TO ME. Her mother. Warm up to her mother. Thanks for babysitting, Meg and Andy :) We had a great time.

Another plus: I'm officially back to my pre-preg weight. It took me 8 months and 18 days to do it. But, I did.

and I proudly stand up

...well, pull up to stand. Amelia's little stumps with hooves can hold her up! It is very exciting. She also waved "hello" to my mom for the first time last week; very, very cute as her little extended arm only comes up to about an inch above her head.

And she says "ma-ma" in the most adorable little way. More like, "meh-meh". Of course, she only says it when she's ticked, but I'll take whatever I can get. She's thrown a "da-da" in there a few times as well.

And, she's getting better at playing with her toys. I found that as much as I want her to "learn to play by herself"...I still have to teach her how to play. I've also found she is much better behaved during the day when I spend more time with her playing instead of trying to "occupy" her with tons of toys. I know what you're saying: DUH!! Well, this is all a learning curve for ol' mom. Like I've said, I don't know what the heck I'm doing.

See this monkey head? There are 3 monkey heads in our home. They are Cash's toys. He carries them in his mouth and sucks on them until they're heavy with slobber. We thought it'd be good for him to have his toys, so he wouldn't be confused and try to "play" (suck) on Amelia's toys. What's really gross is that Amelia loves to find them and....just like all babies...put them in her mouth. YUCK. Guess it's the price I have to pay for having a live-in maid to clean the food off the floor.

Christmas, New Years, and another tooth

2010 has quickly arrived following five holiday parties, an abundance of loving family, a happy new wedding engagement of an auntie and awesome new uncle, several new tastings for Amelia and countless blessings that we thank our merciful Lord for each night. Amelia's first Christmas was completed with flying colors. Our gorgeous hardwood floor is now hidden by bright, colorful plastic toys with blinking lights.

As cliche as it is, this Christmas I was reminded more of Mary as I grow as a mother, loving Amelia with so much of my heart. I already have so many hopes and dreams for her, and believe that her smile is certain to have an impact on anyone who lays eyes on her. Mary must have worn her heart outside of her body as she carried her sweet baby boy around, loving his little coos, smiles and pure body as I love Amelia's. But in addition to that, she also knew that he would impact the world with his life. Forever. Not just impact the world, but save it. Mary must have really wanted to show off her cute baby, and smiled as people played with him, knowing that they had no idea that that happy little baby would save their lives. Wow!

Our Christmas morning couldn't have been better. I was determined that although it would be just the three of us, that we would have it together alone in our own home for the first time as a family. I kind of planned on it being a little lonely, and maybe a touch boring just because Amelia's too young to really get into Christmas, and we didn't do tons of gifts this year. Plus, our tree was dead, dead, dead because we got it way too early; which makes for a dreary-looking decoration.

Man, was I wrong about it being lonely and boring. I don't care how old you are, you are excited when you wake up Christmas morning. It was so special. Grant and Amelia woke up first together, and he built a fire. I woke up, started our coffee and gave Amelia her first present to begin unwrapping: a bottle of soap. Grant and I exchanged a few thoughtful gifts and layed around playing with Amelia by the fire. It was wonderful. After a quick nap we headed to Meg and Andy's for some rather intimate playtime with Uncle Andy and Aunt Meg, and also exchanged a few small gifts over scones and, yes, more coffee. Our first Christmas morning as a family turned out to be a pretty memorable one.

I recorded a couple little videos of just some typical night time fun. Dad coversing with Amelia during dinner, and of course the always-cute bathtime. They're kind of long and don't really have a point to them, but if you feel like staring at Amelia just "doin' her thang", then go nuts...