My mom said once that she thought my baby looked just like her Aunt Jenny. She does...don't you think?
Here's Aunt Jenny when she was little.
Here's Amelia
If she is only half as stunning and sweet as her aunt in 20 years, she will still be one super-lucky girl.
One of Amelia's first words was Hello. Not "Hello!" or "Hello.", but "Hello?" She will say it into any phone - cell, landline, toy, even her hand works. However, she will not say it into the phone if a person is on the other end. So, she doesn't really understand why she says the word, it is purely a mimic of her parents.
Out of all the things I do repeatedly each day, I'm glad she picked that activity to copy.
If you'd like to talk with Amelia you can reach her at my phone #. She's usually out of the office from noon until 3 for her nap break, but is available most other times of the day.
Thanks for calling!
This week I took Amelia to Kinko's to get some photos scanned (like this one). This is a professional studio portrait and so is copyrighted by the photographer. Most image reproduction centers will refuse to copy professional pictures for this reason.
But from the moment we walked in, the guy behind the counter became enamored with Amelia - she would smile at him and then look away or hide her face on my chest. He played peek a boo with her and told her how pretty her name is (as if she didn't already know). Anyway, I watched him fill out all the fields on the computer and he clicked through the copyright warnings several times, the whole while smiling at my little girl. It's really almost like a super-power. I'm considering speeding more often to see whether she can get me out of a ticket.
She's also beginning to develop some language skills. She knows several words in English and a couple in Canine, but her favorite word is "outside." And really it's appropriate for every occasion. When she's inside, it means "Please, mother, may we go play outside?" When she's outdoors, it means "Oh, father, aren't you glad we're outside?" Only what it sounds like is the following.
7:30am, Amelia's room: "Outside, outside, outside, dada, outside..."
8:30am, taking walk in wagon: "Outside, outside, outside, mommy, outside..."
One of the hardest things for me about being a mom is giving up my "to-do" list in favor of Amelia's.
My list looks like this on the average day:
Workout
Eat breakfast while checking email/blogs
Feed amelia breakfast
Get amelia ready for the day
Get myself ready for the day
Clean house while amelia plays
go play at playground for half-hour
Eat lunch
Put amelia down for nap and I work
amelia wakes up and we go run errands
Make dinner
Play at Park with amelia
Put amelia to bed
Here is Amelia's list:
Workout with mommy
Eat breakfast with mommy
Play in my room with mommy
Play in the bathroom while mommy gets ready (eat the trash, stick my hand in the toilet, try to get in the shower, etc.)
go for a walk (eat flowers, eat bark, eat dirt)
Play on the playground
Eat lunch with mommy
Lay on mommy's lap on her bed until I fall asleep
Wake up and throw all my blankets out of my bed and yell for mommy to come get me
Eat fishy crackers and string cheese with mommy
play blocks with mommy
go on a walk with mommy
play on the playground with mommy
eat dinner on mommy's lap
play games with daddy
go to sleep in mommy's arms
You get the idea...Amelia would really like to spend every waking minute constantly entertained by me. And, isn't that wonderful! It has really been refreshing for me to let go of my to-do list and go with the flow. It doesn't matter if my house is messy, we eat dinner a little later, or I send a few less emails.
I posted this quote in my kitchen as a helpful reminder..."I had the most satisfactory of childhood's because my mom turned out to be exactly my age." --Kay Boyle
Everything else can wait - my baby is growing up, and I'm busy helping her.
We just bought a new camera, and I've been a bit concerned about the amount of money we paid for it. But then, Chris took some pictures of Amelia last night...and this was one of them. Priceless.