How fun...Alyssa is 1!

oI'm 1 year old!

One year has passed since Alyssa was born! It has been a great year filled with happy and special moments. Aunt Rosy surprised me by having me listen to the message I had left her when Alyssa was born. I remember being so happy when I called, and I sounded so tired on the phone when I listened to the message a year later. Even though it is Alyssa's birthday, we feel that we received the best gift of all and are truly blessed to be Alyssa's parents.

Giggles

Alyssa is wearing size 3 diapers and size 12-18 month clothes. She had her 12 month well visit and received 3 shots. She cried so hard that she almost lost her breath, which was scary, but she was such a good girl the rest of the day. She now weighs 21 pounds, 12 ounces, is 29 inches long, and has a head circumference of 45.9 cm (all of which are greater than the 50th percentile). Even though it appears that her growth is starting to slow down, her hair is getting so long that it almost reaches her shoulders when it is wet. She is getting too big for the travel system carseat too. As a result, we installed the convertible carseat in Daddy's car a couple months ago, and Alyssa rode in it a few times this past month. She is more slender now that she is taller so we had to adjust the shoulder straps and footrest on her high chair again too. She is almost the length of the pack-n-play and can reach both sides of it when she stretches out her arms and legs.

Crawling

Alyssa loves to be mobile and to sit on her knees and pull up to stand. She even gets on her tip-toes to reach higher. Alyssa used to be a heavy sleeper and sleep only on her back, but now she wakes up to any loud noise and sleeps on her tummy or side. Alyssa is a speed crawler, and we always know when she is approaching since we hear her knees sliding on the wood floors. She loves to play with our DVDs and take them off the shelves. She knows not to touch the media equipment though. She shakes her head any time she sees something that she is not supposed to touch (such as the baker's rack in the kitchen or the computer).

Ready, set, go!

Mooncrawling

Alyssa is a better eater. She eats more quickly and definitely wants more "big girl" food. She loves spinach and has tried spinach pies and spinach with rice as well as bagels, cheerios, chicken, spaghetti, animal crackers, and a taste of Mommy's banana ice cream (which she loved!). She is eating more dairy (e.g., yogurt, cheese) and loves cold strawberry yogurt. Yogurt is the only food she likes to eat cold as she still prefers her oatmeal and most meals served warm. She enjoys drinking water from a cup like Mommy and Daddy, and she loves to feed us food so we take turns feeding each other.

I have 4 teeth...the better to eat with

Feeding Daddy

Hey good-lookin'

In addition to all of the physical changes Alyssa has undergone, her personality seems to be developing more too. She loves to make us laugh and will do certain things she knows will get a positive reaction from us. For example, she likes to gently hit our heads with her hand or head and make us laugh. She also pretends to cough or laugh when she hears us. She has a sinister laugh that cracks us up too.

Sinister Laugh

New things Alyssa can do:

Point at foot, hand, and head when asked location of each body part. She can also point to Mommy's ears, head, foot, hand, and belly button.
Point and say "dow" for light (in Arabic)
Point and say "go" for shoes and/or feet
Point and say "bawl" for a ball
Say "na-na"for food (in Arabic) especially when she hears the toaster oven beep when her toast is ready
Wave hello and goodbye
Say Mama and Dada when she sees us
Put food/cup in her mouth when asked to eat/drink
Push buttons on toys when asked
Crawl to follow us when asked
Put toys away when asked
Brush own hair and/or Mommy's hair when asked

Here is what we have been up to the past month:

Since our friend works at a comic book store on the weekends, we decided to visit him on Free Comic Book Day. Alyssa received 5 free comics that we know she will love looking at and reading when she is older. While at the store, we met "Superman." Afterward, we went to a Mexican restaurant that Daddy has wanted to take Mommy to since we moved to North Carolina. Alyssa loved being in a new place and ate her lunch in the quickest time to date.

Is it a bird? A plane? No, it's Alyssa

We were only able to go to Baby Fun Time at the library a couple times, and the theme for the month was Mommies.

For my 1st Mother's Day, Alyssa gave me a paper flower from Baby Fun Time and a card that she and Daddy made for me with our picture on it. I was able to sleep in and spend the day relaxing and enjoying free time with the two most special people.

Happy 1st Mother's Day, Mommy!

We had our first family mini-vacation when we traveled to Washington, D.C. for my cousin Ramsey's wedding. We arrived a couple days early so that we could see some of the sites. We visited the Washington Monument, the Vietnam Memorial, the World War II Memorial, the White House, the Capitol Building, and the Library of Congress. We received a tour of the Library of Congress and just missed seeing the Senate in session. Alyssa slept through most of the time we spent at the monuments, but she was awake and talkative during the tour. It was Alyssa's first time riding the Metro while we were in D.C., and she did not seem to mind it at all. It was a challenge maneuvering the stroller on the subway with so many people around, but everyone kept playing with Alyssa. We even met 2 different groups of people who were there on vacation from North Carolina too!



We had a great time at Ramsey and Veronica's rehearsal dinner which was at an Afghan restaurant. Alyssa tried one of the rice dishes and loved it. While there, another cousin kept coming up to Alyssa and tried to get her phone number. Daddy had his eye on him.

Ramsey and Veronica had a beautiful wedding. We loved their slideshow, and Shereif is still talking about how delicious the cake tasted. They gave Alyssa a book about ducks as her wedding favor. We are excited to welcome Veronica into our family and to get to know her better. We wish them the best of luck in Boston!

Dressed to impress

After we returned home from D.C., we enjoyed spending time with the Bregmans at their cookout. The next day, Daddy went to Michigan and Columbus for work. We unpacked and quickly repacked for our trip to Cleveland for Memorial Day weekend and Alyssa's first birthday party (post to follow).

Uncle Ramy and Aunt Dawn welcomed Mia Leighton Danial on May 21st. Mia decided to arrive a few weeks early so she and Alyssa are almost exactly one year apart in age. Alyssa cannot wait to meet her first cousin, and we cannot wait to meet our beautiful niece!

Likes
Yogurt
Water
Sightseeing
Making others laugh
Moving around
Feeding Mommy and Daddy
Skype with Teta, Jiddu, Uncle Joe, and Uncle Patrick

Dislikes
Vacuum: Alyssa does not like when Mommy uses the vacuum.
Wiping hands and mouth: Alyssa hates having her hands wiped, especially before and after her meals.
Taking naps