It's My Party

We had Amita's birthday party this weekend and it was a blast for everyone... especially her!  She got to enjoy the fun of having her slightly older cousin Piper show her the ropes of a first birthday party as well as the thrill of opening gifts and eating cake!  We have had such a wonderful / amazing / chaotic / terrifying first year with her and it's truly amazing how fast it went by.  We are looking forward to many more wonderful moments together as a family and we know how blessed we are to have a healthy, happy one-year-old.

And now, here are pictures from the big party.

The three of us celebrating.

Balloons were fun for the girls and for the cats!

Amita started by trying to bite through to her gifts.  Even with 8 teeth, she didn't get too far so we had to show her another way to open them.

The birthday girl and her daddy.

Cousin Piper helping Amita with some wrapping paper.  Piper helped keep the party moving along!

Showing off one of her gifts.  The cats also decided they couldn't wait any longer and had to help with the wrapping paper.

Opening gifts is so exciting!  All she really needed was some crinkly paper to play with!

Testing out a gift from her Aunt, Uncle, and Cousin.  Amita loves closing all the lids when the animals pop out at her.

Hooray - her own set of chicks!  I guess Cousin Piper remembered just how much Amita loved hers at Christmas!!!

Grandma Bubb brought the cake, complete with a picture of Amita playing her favorite game (It's "Where's Amita?" if you're scoring your quiz at home!).

It's not a party without party hats!!!

Trying some cake.  Amita didn't like how the frosting felt on her fingers... but she didn't mind it as much once we helped her get some into her mouth!

Testing out the wagon after Daddy and Uncle Dave got it assembled.

And of course the girls had to give the wagon a test drive down in the basement.  It was very popular!!

After the party was over, Piper helped us take out the trash.

The fun didn't stop when the party was finished and we all managed to get outside and go sledding.  It was chilly, but was a blast for the girls and us.

Baxter finally found a safe place that Piper and Amita couldn't get to him... but there is the tiny matter of being able to get back out...

Guess Who's 1?

It's official.  We have a one-year-old.  There have been moments where this first year has seemed to fly by... and also moments where it has seemed to drag on endlessly (especially at 2am during the first few months!).  But either way, we helped Amita celebrate her first birthday today.  As part of that milestone, we took a trip to the doctor for both her 12 month checkup and to confirm that she didn't need any medicine for her cold symptoms.  She was given a clean bill of health and we were told not to come back for 3 more months!  That means her weight is no longer a concern - she has packed on 2.5 pounds in the past 2 months.  And with those worries behind us, I guess we now move on with her into toddler-hood.  Yikes!

Here's Amita enjoying a cranberry chocolate chip zucchini muffin for her birthday treat.  She seemed to enjoy it, but didn't put much of a dent in it.

Amita taking her tentative first steps with her new walker.  She's not all the way mobile yet and we're more than ok with that!  It's hard enough to keep up as it is!!

Why use two hands when you really only need one?

Even with showing her Wisconsin pride, Bucky wasn't able to pull out a win at the Rose Bowl.

One of Amita's new things is to stick out her bottom teeth and jaw.  She does it all the time... except when I try to capture it on film!!  Editor's note: yes, I'm aware that we don't use film anymore... but I'm not sure what the 21st century saying is for that...

Amita playing in her new tunnel.  It attaches to an adorable lady bug tent, but for now, she is loving crawling through the tunnel.  She especially enjoys it when mama tries to fit through...

What a winning smile!

Amita peeking out from under her crib.  She is getting into all sorts of places that she isn't supposed to now!

The other of Amita's new things: tilting her head to the side.  She and daddy can spend an entire afternoon entertaining each other with their tilted heads!

Happy New Year

It has been a busy month at the Bubb household and December flew by in the blink of an eye!  So here's an update on what's been going on in the Hubertus metro area and beyond!!  Amita has been eating more and has been getting more adventurous in trying things.  She is really starting to love feeding herself solids, which makes meal time much slower and messier!  But we're enjoying seeing her try new things and expand her list of foods she enjoys.  Today oatmeal was not a winner, but turkey was.

Here's Amita playing her favorite game... Where's Amita??  She will start this almost anywhere - in her high chair, on the changing table, playing on the floor, in the car... you get the idea!  She just loves it!!

And the answer to, "Where's Amita?"  THERE SHE IS!!!!!

Amita has started standing up when holding on to things.  She hasn't started pulling herself up on her own yet, but she enjoys getting a good leg workout whenever we help her onto her feet.  Azzy was also interested in this game.  I had to remind him about the time he stepped a little too far out from the loft...  that step was a real doozy!

 We took Amita to a live nativity at a church near our house in December.  She loved watching the animals and all the children dressed as angels.  We were worried she wouldn't have a good time because it was so close to her bed time, but she was a champ and didn't make a peep for the whole production.

My future engineer showing off her Tech pride... and quite a bit of tummy!  That is a welcome sight to see for us.  She has really started eating well and growing along with it.  My arms haven't adjusted to her new higher weight yet!

Cousin Piper showing off her little chompers.

Mama and Amita showing off a Christmas outfit.  Who can resist a holiday tu-tu?

At the Bubb family Christmas in Plymouth, WI.

Hanging out with Grandpa and Grandma Bubb.

Opening her first Christmas gifts.

Relaxing with Daddy and a bottle before taking a long winter's nap.

Inspecting Grandpa Morehouse in the UP.  She stayed almost completely still for several minutes as she watched him on the ground.  Then she was happy to play with him until bedtime.

Grandma Morehouse and Piper swinging.  It's VERY hard to capture this baby when she's still!!

And speaking of still... somehow, my brother managed to get her to lie still for just one picture.  But before the preview had even disappeared from my camera, she had broken free of his "snuggles" and she was climbing over the top of him to chase something else!

Amita loves Auntie Sandra and she showed her love by showering (literally!) her with kisses.

Showing off a new hat made by none other than Grandma Morehouse!

Cousin Piper with her new monkey jammies.  

While up north at my parents house for Christmas we took the girls sledding.  As you can see, it was a thrill for Piper.

Piper even helped by hanging on to Amita so she wouldn't fall out of the sled.

Amita wasn't quite as sure about the whole thing.  She never cried really, but she also never really smiled about it.  Good thing Piper smiled enough for both girls.

All six of us taking a break from sledding.

Piper opening one of her Christmas gifts - they were some really cool chicks inside eggs.

Apparently, they were so cool that Amita tried to take them all!!  (Note their very cute coordinated Christmas outfits provided by Aunt Sandra!  The girls were a hit at church on Christmas morning, to say the least!).

Modeling the hats that Grandma Morehouse made for everyone.  What a hoot!

Santa Claus is coming to town...

It seems like there is always something new and exciting happening in our lives these days and this weekend was no exception.  Santa was at our local elementary school on Saturday, so we took Amita to meet him.  She did surprisingly well - no crying, no beard pulling - she was very calm as she sat on his lap and took in the scene.  I hope she remembered to tell him what she wants for Christmas this year!

Here she is checking out the big guy up close.

I also finally finished Amita's Christmas stocking this weekend (after 10pm on Sunday night!).  It was a challenging knitting project and I'm pretty proud that I was not only able to finish it myself, but that it actually turned out too!  And the pattern I had was similar to the stocking that my grandmother knit me 30+ years ago, so it was really fun to make one like that for Amita too.

Here's the front view of her stocking... I embellished it with a little silver bling!

Amita posing in her special Santa outfit.  I'm thinking she'll get to wear this most of the winter... who wouldn't want to be in a snuggly fleece jumper this time of year?!?!?!

Here's Amita showing that she's SOOOO BIG and modeling her new cat sweater.

We also managed to install a baby gate on Sunday.  We had Amita and our two furry boys "helping" us install it.  The way Amita was getting around, it was pretty obvious this was a necessary enhancement to our dining room.  Now the stairs are off limits to her!

Amita modeling an animal print hat.  She's keeping it toasty and oh-so-cute in the cold!!

Cats and Babies Like the Same Toys

It is becoming ever more apparent to us that cats and babies pretty much like the same toys.  I feel like we didn't need to go out and get anything special for Amita... her favorite things are the cat toys we already had laying around.  And if there's one thing that babies and cats love... it's boxes!  Amita and the furry boys "helped" us install her new car seat by playing in the box that it came in.  I think the biggest challenge for the cats was that Amita got the best spot in the box and they were stuck waiting their turn (don't worry, she eventually took a nap and they had tons of fun in box too!).

Amita guarding her new territory.  Azrael didn't want to share the space that badly!

Both cats waiting anxiously for their turn inside the box!

And in landscaping news... we spent two of our days off over Thanksgiving finishing our big yard project out front.  Our friend Paul was kind enough to let us pick rocks off of his family farm to help us finish the giant washes that were dug into our front yard this fall.  It took two trunk-fulls in the Rogue to get the base laid down on Saturday.

Then we spent Sunday (while Amita was napping) making several trips with our wheelbarrow to a new home site in our subdivision that had a substantial rock pile.  Below is the finished product.  It looks even more amazing close up, so keep your eyes peeled next time you visit... assuming it isn't covered in snow by then!