Leah took her first official steps on Labor Day - September 3rd, 1 week before her 14-month birthday. She'd taken a step here and there for about a week when we tricked her into it, but on this day she began stringing them together.
Yesterday was the first day we could get her to walk between something other than 2 people. (The book "Brown Bear, Brown Bear" seemed to do the trick...she loves sliding the little windows). Tonight, she surprised us by suddenly walking halfway across the room to AA. She's getting better and more confident each day. But we tend to wear her out "practicing" - she certainly lets us know when we've hit the limit.
This is Leah playing with her first balloon back on her 1st birthday. It's the only toy she has that takes weeks to wind up on the floor rather than seconds. I was actually impressed that, after she figured out that she needed to grab the string, she figured out how to hold the string.
The night before AA's graduation, we planned a celebratory dinner at Katsuya. Unfortunately, there have been so many other "current events" recently that this post is now long-overdue. But since AA is still recovering from the bar exam, I thought I'd share this post because we had a great time that night, and I don't want the memories to be passed by.
Katsuya is a special place to us. In a lot of ways to me, it represents LA. There's nothing bad on the menu, and everytime we went, we'd end up trying several new things on the menu (and loving them). You pay for it, but it's a wonderful place for a special occasion. And this was certainly a special occasion.
It was also a rare event - Leah was coming out to dinner with us. In addition to being in a hotel room at this point, her schedule was about to be thrown off for the evening. I think we were the only people in LA to eat dinner at 5 p.m. on a Friday night, but it was necessary.
Leah did great at the restaurant...staring dreamily at our Bradley-Cooper-look-alike waiter and flirting for a little attention (as if she wasn't getting enough already). She got some exercise crawling back and forth on the benches.
The Peanut had reached her limit, and cried almost the whole way home in typical 405 traffic for 7 p.m. on a Friday (sorry Grandma and Aunt Haley who were stuck in the back seat with her). It was frustrating because we knew that if we could just move, she'd fall asleep. But we sat and sat. It was a long ride home.
After we got Leah to bed, it was time for a celebration. We surprised AA with a TCBY cake and champagne for starters. AA's parents also sang a song to her that they had prepared for the occasion.
One of my gifts to AA was a dispenser of personalized M&M's. I was very proud of how neat the images turned out...there's a picture of AA holding Leah while she studies - I thought that was appropriate for a graduation gift. Do you see anything odd about this picture?
Yes, the Pepperdine mascot is the "Wave"
Well, there's something you need to understand here. As a die-hard Florida State Seminole, I make it my personal mission to not allow the colors "orange" and "blue" to be used together. We just can't have that other Florida school represented in any way. Heck, when possible, I just remove orange completely to make sure it doesn't happen.
Problem: Pepperdine's colors are orange and blue. C'mon people....has the LA smog corrupted your brains? Who decided the most beautiful campus on Earth should be frosted with orange and blue? Yuck. I can't even comfortably write those two colors in the same sentence. But as I told AA, this occasion was all about her and her achievements - not my never-ending love of fried gator tail. So for this one day, for this one occasion, it was not about me...it was about AA. So we rolled out the orange and blue. Look now...you'll never see this again from us (unless Leah goes to Pepperdine).
We ended up leaving quite a bit of cake for the housekeeper, but had a great time celebrating while Leah slept peacefully in the other room
During the visit, Leah also decided to surprise AA's family with another "first" - waving.
We enjoyed celebrating Leah's first birthday all last week. We are fortunate to have friends and family who care about Leah so much. Some presents started arriving during the week, and Leah loved opening them up. See how excited she got?
First present to arrive, all the way from California from Auntie Kristen
The Peanut loves styrofoam peanuts! She just pops them in her mouth like they are nothing...doesn't even stop to think about it. The more we try to stop her, the more determined she is to get her baby paws on them and munch away.
And she's really learning how to tear into some gift wrap! Check out the stance she picked for maximum gift-opening leverage as she really puts her back into pulling the wrapping paper off....
Saturday was her official first birthday party, and it was a wonderful event, full of family and "firsts." We grilled hamburgers and hot dogs. Leah had her first cheeseburger, and ate it like it was a plate of black beans (the girl loves black beans for some reason). We paused for a thank you to everyone for coming and their help/support during Leah's first year, especially Leah's grandparents.
We owe thanks to many folks, but we shared examples of what each grandparent has done for us this past year. They are worth repeating:
Grandma: AA's mom was there from the beginning...I believe she arrived on day 3, while we were still trying to figure out which end was up. She cooked for us and held Leah while we tried to get organized and adjusted. She was up first thing every morning to take over so we could get some sleep, and she stocked our freezer before she left. She's kind of like James Bond in the kitchen...give her a paperclip and a battery, and she'll whip up a salmon salad. This past week, she's been watching Leah so we wouldn't have to send Leah back into the germ pool known as daycare, which would derail AA's already-behind-schedule studies.
Granda: AA's dad was a huge help too. I think he's been thrown up on most out of all the family members, and he took it all in stride. He took night shifts and early morning shifts, and I know he did some grocery shopping for us too. Early one morning, I walked out of our room and he said, "You see that burp cloth over there? Bring it to me now. I just changed my first diaper in 30 years." So how does it compare to riding a bike, Wayne?
Nana Wanda: AA's stepmom cooked great southern food for us and took a few night shifts too. She raided our fridge for Dr. Pepper, then stayed up holding Leah all night long in the dark. I'll never know how Wayne and Wanda rocked Leah all night long in pitch darkness, but somehow they did. And one day, Wanda told us to "get lost" so she could deep clean our apartment before they left. When we came home, all the windows were open and she was scrubbing away like her life depended on it.
Papa: In addition to surviving on frozen dinners and Long John Silvers while Nana stayed with us, BA's dad held Leah and entertained her while we ran errands and got things done around the house. Most recently, he assembled all of our porch furniture while AA studied and BA slept to recover from being sick. He also helped us transition to a home in Atlanta by watching Leah as soon as we got to Atlanta so we could house hunt, shop, and get organized.
Nana: So that AA could return to school and BA could return to work, we needed someone to watch Leah until she was 2 months old and could attend daycare. When we asked BA's mom if she was up for the task, the next day she said she had a 1-way plane ticket to LA. She stayed with us for about 5 weeks, and she was amazing. She was up, showered, with a cup of tea every day at 6 a.m. We'd hand Leah over (because we'd been on the couch holding her all night), and head straight to bed for an hour or two. Some days we would come home, and she'd have the dishes done, the laundry folded, the bathrooms cleaned, dinner ready, and Leah strapped onto her. I have no idea how she does it. Keep in mind that we couldn't put Leah down for the first 2 months...somebody had to hold her 24 hours a day. So Nana did all of this while holding Leah. And she just spent another 2 weeks watching Leah so that she could get healthy. Of course, she never got healthy until she got tubes, but we were so glad to have Nana's help around the house.
And Aunt Haley deserves a big "thank you" as well. She has been such a trouper through all of this, learning how to feed, bathe, and put Leah down at night so we could go to dinner alone every now and then. She's traveled all over, she's cooked, she's cleaned, she's babysat....she's done it all and never complained. She's been as wonderful of an Aunt to Leah as she is a sister and sister-in-law.
It wasn't easy for them....it's not like we lived right down the road. Everybody had to spend time and money (and time off of work) to fly across the country to do these chores for us. You all may not remember all of the little things you did, but we won't forget them. We can't thank you enough! But back to the party....
Then it was time for Leah's first taste of cake. AA selected a strawberry cupcake from "A Piece of Cake" and topped it with (a replica of) one of Leah's favorite bath toys - a little pink squirt ducky we call "Matilda." Leah was equally interested in eating the cake and Matilda.
As usual, Leah made such a mess that it required two people to clean her up. The only difference on this day is that while she was being cleaned, she had an audience to entertain.
We opted for Leah to go naked the rest of the day. It seemed appropriate.
We asked for "No gifts please," but no one followed the rules. So we decided to open Leah's presents while everyone was there. Leah got many wonderful gifts...way too many to mention here. She got clothes, money for college, toys, educational things, music, bags, books, and more. We opened a 529 for her (which I'm sure Leah and AA were equally thrilled about), and got her some baby Converse shoes. BA bought her a case of Kleenex tissues....4 boxes worth. Leah loves to pull them out, one by one. We always stop her, but he thought giving her hundreds of tissues to pull out and just letting her go to town would be a fitting first birthday present. So she did, and we got a good laugh out of it.
Then we put on her Converse and topped it with a pair of "babiator" sunglasses our friend Emily got her.
After we opened presents, Leah got another "first" - she had her first taste of ice cream. BA decided to get a homemade ice cream maker and make vanilla ice cream from scratch for the party. AA's Dad had to save the day in the end by hitting the store for more ice. It didn't turn out quite as planned, but everyone ate it up, so it must have been ok. Leah certainly enjoyed it!
Leah's biggest toy was a red wagon from Nana and Papa. Papa assembled it for us a week earlier, and we hid it from Leah until the "big reveal" after the other presents had been opened. She loves this thing. We think she just enjoys seeing all of the scenery go by, compared to when she's in her stroller. It's kind of funny actually...80% of the time she's in her wagon, she clinches onto both sides, stays pretty quiet, and maintains a very serious look on her face. It's like she's driving or something - "no funny business when I'm being pulled in my wagon." The rest of the time, she's smiling like crazy, talking up a storm, pointing at things going by, and rocking back and forth when we stop (to queue us to keep going). It's adorable.
Ready to go.
Serious business
It's been pretty hot recently, so Leah was a little sweaty by the end of her first wagon ride with AA's family. After all, it's tough work sitting back and letting other people pull you along like you're a princess.
Later that weekend, Grandma and Aunt Haley worked with Leah on climbing the stairs. They've been working on this for a while now. This time, she climbed all the way up by herself.
About halfway up, she started saying "Ma Ma." AA was studying upstairs with the door closed, and apparently Leah wanted to see her. She climbed and climbed. With one step to go, she turned and looked at us. We encouraged her to go ahead. She climbed the last step, and didn't stop for a millisecond....she immediately crawled at lightning speed straight to AA's door, butt bouncing in the air the whole time. It was hilarious and very sweet. We just happened to get it on video. She's done it several times since. She knows where her Ma-Ma is!
Thanks to everyone who helped us celebrate Leah's first year!
Our little girl turned 1! It's hard to believe we have a 1-year-old. (It's equally hard to believe we survived the longest year of our life.) We were so excited to celebrate with her a little bit, but we'll celebrate more this weekend. Happy Birthday Leah!!
***
7/18/12 Editorial Note: Leah had her 12-month checkup on 7/12/12, after this post was originally published. Length: 28.9 inches (44th percentile). Weight: 19 lbs 6.4 oz. (23rd percentile). Also, this was our 200th published blog post! It's fitting that it was Leah's 1-year post.
***
We've been waiting to get a chocolate chip cookie cake, and we knew now was the time.
We even let Leah get to the cake this time. I think she knew something was a little different when she turned the corner and started going for it.
As a result of the mini sugar rush, here's what we had on our hands about 1/2 an hour after bed time....
Yeah, it took a while for her to get to sleep. But, hey...it's her birthday! You gotta bend the rules every now and then. And as you can tell from all the monthy birthday cakes we've had, birthdays are a big deal around here. Happy Birthday little girl! What a wonderful year it's been with you.
Now this post is about a year in the making. Thanks a million to my cousin Renee for the very cool monthly birthday stickers! They inspired us to mark the day each month during Leah's first year. Enjoy the recap....
7/11/11 - Happy Birthday!
8/11/11 - 1 Month
9/11/11 - 2 Months
10/11/11 - 3 Months
11/11/11 - 4 Months
12/11/11 - 5 Months
1/11/12 - 6 Months
2/11/12 - 7 Months
3/11/12 - 8 Months
4/11/12 - 9 Months
5/11/12 - 10 Months
6/11/12 - 11 Months
7/11/12 - 12 Months
And in case you're interested in a recap of the birthday cakes.....
