Miss Independent

I'd love to say we made it but there are so many more years to go. These days you love to copy. I clap my hands and you do the same. I wave my hands and you wave back. You're sad to see anyone leave. When someone in your inner circle (mommy, daddy, Grandma or Grandpa Miura) leave, you quickly crawl to the window by the door, pull back the blinds to see them walking away and cry your saddest cry. You're in love with balloons. You'll clutch to them even as you're sleeping.


Last night, we went to the grand opening of the local Safeway and you wanted all of the balloons in the store. When we walked out empty handed (balloon-wise) you were in a bad mood all evening long.

Just like mommy, you hate to have your feet covered when you sleep. Daddy insists on the pajamas with covered feet so mommy sometimes thinks about cutting vent holes like grandma used to do for her. Your cheeks turn rosy as you nap every day. When you wake from naps, you sit up and talk to yourself.

When I let you, you'll sit on the couch and watch the Wiggles the same way Daddy watches ESPN SportsCenter - with your arms up in the air for the highlights and lots of screams and giggles. You hate hats. All hats. And you're really really close to walking. This week you started to take two to three steps on your own. When you get scared you start to crouch even as you're walking.

This week, we went to the doctor's office for your one year checkup. You're only 20 pounds (gained 7 ounces in 3 months) but you're a little over 30 inches long (grown 2 inches in 3 months). That means you're 35th percentile for weight but 90th percentile for length.


The doctor asked what words you're saying at this point. There are two:
1. Ow: an expression of pain or desire for attention. Usage: immediately after your mommy has told you "no". Daddy suggests that perhaps this is in reference to the emotional pain inflicted.

2. A-choo:In reference to either a fake sneeze or immediately following a real one.

Do those count?

Saturday was the start to Abby's first birthday week extravaganza. This is a week in which Thanksgiving is but an afterthought and the whole week is a celebration of all things Abby. Albert's grandfather is flying in from Korea in honor of the occasion.

To kick things off, we had a party at Gymboree where I displayed the fact that should this whole Ph.D. thing not work out, I might have a future in making cakes for mom's who don't really care if the frosting is a little bit runny:

For those of you who can't tell, that's not a bear. It's a monkey. The cake is a banana cake in keeping with the theme. It actually came out quite tasty and for a first effort at decorating a cake, I would even go as far as to say that it's not too bad.

So what do you do at a birthday party for a one year old, some may ask... Well, it's quite simple really. You throw your daughter into a ridiculously cute pink dress which she promptly covers in drool (with the requisite pink bow in her hair lest someone still asks if she is a boy)...


You throw in some bubbles...


... and some games...


... and you convince some people to hit a Chinese restaurant where a couple named Wendy and Benny are getting married on the first floor. Your best friend proceeds to order way too much food for the 9 adults left standing and everyone goes home with enough left orders to feed a full family of four until Thanksgiving!

Thanks to all those who made it out!