The week in review

As I think back over this week, it seems that I forgot to record a few things that happened. I'm going to blame it on "new parenthood brain drain." I love Kylie more than I imagined I could love anyone else, but my concentration just isn't what it used to be...

Sunday was Kylie's first day at church. She and I had to leave for the sermon as she was getting a bit vocal during that time, but she was a good girl and LOVED when Uncle Adam was playing his guitar. She dances along to the music so well! After the service lots of folks came up to see our precious one in 3-D ~ a friend at the airport when we came home gasped, "I can't believe she's really here in 3-D!" ~ and she held up quite well. She was all smiles most of the time and only resorted to her thumb when a crowd of folks came up as the 11:00 service was getting ready to start. During Sunday School she sacked out and spent most of the time sleeping in my arms. Man was I in heaven! We went from church to Mama's for Sunday dinner and naps. Kylie loved the big ball Mama bought for her to play with. Later on we went to a CCC Get Hooked service and Kylie met yet even more new people and got to see Uncle Adam's mom and dad again (somewhat a set of honorary grandparents for her).

Monday, Kylie met her cousin Sara ~ or actually second cousin or something like that, but for our purposes I'll call her cousin. This fall I kept Sara several days for my cousin when she went to seminars or in to the office to really get some work done. Sara has been excited about Kylie's arrival and was really excited for our lunch date at Fuddrucker's! After lunch Kylie and I went back to Sara's house where she had gotten out all of her "baby" toys. She patiently showed Kylie what each toy did and was perhaps a bit disappointed that Kylie didn't interact with her a bit more, but I'm sure that will come with time. Sara was very attentive to Kylie's needs and I know that Kylie will love her soon! I had always said that I wouldn't buy my child toys that made noise, but Kylie was clearly enthralled with some of Sara's things, so I guess I'm going to start backing off my "I'll never..." statements by buying some noisy things for her birthday NEXT SATURDAY!!! Wow, how can my baby be turning one next week? Anyway, at least this toy she loved was educational. And I'm sure she can use some extra help with phonics seeings that she began life hearing Cantonese sounds instead of English...

Monday night our friends Stella and Scott brought over a chicken pot pie which was another delicious taste of home! Even Kylie got in on the action and wanted some of the gravy ~ but off of my finger, not a spoon.

Kylie is discovering her toys more and I'm really having fun watching her. I'll just post a few pictures that show both her enjoyment and the little wheels turning as she figures out what they do.
I will say that being a parent isn't all sunshine and rainbows. Sometimes it is a bit strange being a first time parent to a 11 month old. And there is this whole nap thing that we have yet to figure out. Yesterday afternoon both Ian and I were frazzled trying to figure out where to stand between the two sleep advice camps. There's one extreme of letting her cry it out (which seems a bit harsh to a child who just had her world turned upside down ~ literally!) and the other of just hold her if you need to for her to nap (which isn't very practical ~ my house really needs to be cleaned!). We've decided to pray a lot and stand somewhere in the middle... I'll let you know how that turns out in a week or so! And don't get me wrong, I'd much rather have problems with nap time than with bed time!