Naomi's Milestones

A lot has happened with Naomi in the last few months!

Naomi Turned One!


Our little baby turned one in December. I can't believe it. A lot happened in that first year. For her birthday we had a few friends over for cake and ice cream. I made cinnamon chocolate cake and it was a hit. Naomi loved it:

Walking


Naomi learned to walk right after we got back from Christmas Break. We were able to catch her first real steps on video! (Technically, she walked a couple steps, then fell down, then I grabbed my phone to record it and she stood up and took a couple of steps again). It was funny because it was like she just decided right then and there that she was going to walk now. The video is really poor quality when I upload it to the blog, but it is still adorable.

Don't you love her outfit? I remember laughing because she was wearing a really cute outfit that day but we had just taken her clothes off, and that's when she decided to walk.

We are so proud of her! She is now trying to run everywhere, and she is fast. She does fall quite a bit because she gets ahead of herself, but she usually doesn't really mind.

Playing


After Naomi learned how to walk it was as if she suddenly could do everything else. She has a toy gum ball machine that works by inserting the gum balls into the top then pushing a button to release them at the bottom. I had tried to show her how the button worked but she would inevitably reach her hand into the top or sometimes tip the toy over in order to get the balls. Ever since she started walking, however, she has played with that toy the right way. It is fun to see how satisfying it is for her to figure out all of her toys.

For the last couple of months Naomi and I have been going to something called Brain Train. It is a free community program that gives Naomi and I the opportunity to play together uninterrupted for an hour each week. Someone observes us, notes Naomi's development, and lets me know if there are any concerns with her development. Brain Train also provides resources for any questions I may have about child development, parenting, and other similar topics. We love it! Naomi loves to get out of the house, and there are far more toys there than we have in the house. She loves all the dolls and the play kitchen and plastic food.

Recently Naomi discovered the art table at Brain Train as well. I snapped an adorable picture of her playing with play dough:

We did have to monitor her closely, though, because she kept trying to eat the play dough!

Naomi also completed her first art project at Brain Train. We brought it home and put it on the fridge:

She loves coloring. Whenever she finds a piece of paper at home she brings it to either me or David and wants a pen or crayon so she can color. I like to see those creative juices flowing!

Chores


Naomi likes to help me with chores. Whenever I do the dishes she tries to get the stool so she can help me. She stands on the stool, I scrub a dish, then she "scrubs" it, and I rinse it off and put it in the dish rack to dry. Doing the dishes is my least favorite chore so knowing she is going to be doing it with me actually makes me more excited to do them. It takes a little longer to do the dishes this way, but it is a great opportunity for us to have fun together, and hey, she is learning how to do the dishes in the process!  I even got her her own dish scrubber. Sometimes she just ends up playing in the water, but I'm fine with that.

Other chores Naomi likes to help out with are laundry, putting things away, and wiping messes up. For the laundry she stands on the stool again and throws the clothes into the washer. Like me, she is also a fan of containers so she is more than happy to put things away into their basket. And sometimes I think she makes messes just so she can wipe them up!

This doesn't really count as a chore, but Naomi also loves brushing her teeth! Right before bed sometimes she gets fussy, then I say "Naomi, do you want to brush your teeth?" and she lights right up and runs to the bathroom. The problem is getting her down from the sink once she's done! She doesn't want it to end.




Talking


Naomi's vocabulary is expanding very rapidly! Some words she can say are:

mama
dada
baby
yes
uh-oh
more
"iss" for please
"mae-me" for Naomi
"ut" for again. I don't know where she got this one, but it works!
"rawr" for any animal. She even thinks a chocolate bunny that she saw on a commercial says rawr!
"dae-n" for Dallin (one of her friends)

She does a lot of mimicking, too. She often tries to say words we say. We are so proud of her!

Forward Facing


Recently we were able to get a new car:

 We are so grateful! It is an '09 Jetta and much safer than the older model we were driving around. It was basically falling apart. Now we are in our new car and it is wonderful!

A few weeks ago we switched Naomi forward facing in her carseat. She was outgrowing her infant car seat and she was starting to complain whenever we'd drive anywhere, so we switched her (don't worry, she has met the weight requirement). She loves being able to see everything that's going on. She sits in her seat like it's a throne. It is so cute.

We can't believe she is growing up so fast!