Early Xmas present from Hawaii!!

It was a few weeks early for Christmas, but Gramma and Grampa came for a short but sweet visit in early December. It was such a nice surprise (they told us about a week beforehand) and it was so wonderful having them here. Although it took Miss Amarachi a few days to warm up to them, by the end of the trip she was back to playing with Grampa and cuddling with Gramma. Oh, how we would love to be closer (fingers crossed, fingers crossed that will happen sooner rather than later). Gramma of course was busy cooking, cleaning and daily trips to Fresta (our local supermarket) and filling our freezer with bags and bags of ice-cubed homemade baby food. What would we do without Gramma?! It was way too short a visit but we had a lovely time just hanging at home and spending time altogether. Even though we skype almost everyday and Amarachi runs to the computer when she hears the skype "ring", nothing beats REAL Gramma and Grampa hugs and kisses. Missing you guys everyday! ALOHA!!

Taste tester......

Amarachi has just begun to like food and meal time. She loves eating all-things-not-food, but only recently has come to enjoy human food. She loves apples, bananas, rice cereal, plain tofu and yogurt, and avocado but as you can tell from the last picture does NOT like tofu when mixed with carrots, peas or anything else that Mummy tries to mix with it. Sneaky cheeky Mummy!

It must be Saturday night!!

Stayin alive, Stayin alive....ah, ah, ah, ah, Stayin aliiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiive!!

Yippee....it`s Hat/Touque season!!

Following the tradition of accessory-lover, Amarachi put on a show of all her favorite hats for me. Well, it was more like Amara trying to play and out-crawl mummy, while I was trying to put the hats on her head and take pictures. It was one of the first cold evenings this Fall, so we had lots of fun staying warm and playing "fashionshow." I often ask myself, would I still be doing these kinds of things if Amarachi was a boy?? Truthfully?? Most definitely....fashion does not discriminate! hahaha.....

sitting pretty!

Remember those portraits we all had to take when we were younger?? Those ones you had to get all dressed up for and make the annual trip down to Sears?? Doesn`t this picture fit the bill?? All we need is a cheezy background and we are set. Luckily for Amara, both the "forest" and the "hawaiian paradise" backgrounds haven`t made their way over to Japan yet. xo

She just makes our hearts smile!

Amarachi continues to make us laugh and smile everyday with every new noise, move, facial expression and glimpse into her character. Everyone knows that I am not exactly a morning person, but with the smiles and grins that greet me every morning, I can almost say I am a converted morning mommy.....almost. WE`ve had a busy month with Halloween, baby massage/yoga, Sports Day, birthday parties......but our favorite times have been spent quietly (or not so quietly due to the progessively LOUDER and LOUDER noises of Amara) at home just the 3 of us. Everyday I grow more and more in love with this little being who makes me laugh and cry all at the same time with just one of her many smiles.

October was a busy month!

A lot can happen in a month!!! Amarachi is now sitting up strong, crawling very quickly everywhere, pulling herself up and cruising around the sofa or anything that is at the right level, and "talking" a lot. She does not keep still for more than 5 seconds these days and if she is STILL it is because she is chewing away on something not supposed to be chewed on. We`ve all battled colds this month, but little Amara has had the worst of it. Slowly but surely she is getting better........but despite her coughing fits she still manages to smile and giggle her way through the house. It was a very FUN exciting month with lots of new "firsts"!