Happy New Year! As a family, we are all very excited for 2011 and all that it brings. We are most looking forward to the arrival of Peter's little sister in March, though I have to admit we are a little nervous, too. Sleepless nights with a newborn and toddler? It's hard to get excited for that.
2010 was quite a year for us. As I look back on photos and videos from the past year, I realize just how much our lives have changed. A year ago, Peter was still basically immobile. He was just learning how to roll over, and now he is walking, talking, running, throwing, dancing, climbing... and sometimes hitting.
A few of my favorite moments of 2010...
Remember Peter's helmet? Holy moly, it almost seems like it never happened. Until you look at the pictures.
Peter ate real food for the first time on Valentine's Day weekend. It was a sweet potato, and he loved it! His favorites were sweet potatoes and peas and butternut squash. I made weekly trips to the farmer's market to buy organic produce and made my own baby food for him.
Cut to 10 months later, and now he no longer likes sweet potatoes, peas or squash. In fact, he pretty much survives on hummus, hot dogs ("og og" according to Peter) and strawberries (rarely the organic kind).
At least he got a good start.
I love this video of Peter's first steps in September. It took him a long time to make the leap from walking while holding our hands to doing it on his own, but now there is no turning back. In fact, he will hardly hold our hands at all anymore, which isn't the easiest thing considering that we live in the middle of Los Angeles and have LOTS of reason to hold Peter's hand while walking around town.
One of Peter's first words was "bubbles", which was so cute, especially noting the enthusiasm with which he said it every time. Now, he has a pretty big vocabulary which includes the following:
In his highchair: more, all done, hot dog, banana, water
Out and about: car, moon, dog (usually followed by a bark)
At home: light, book, color, and all sorts of body parts (He is particularly into "eye" and does not
hesitate pointing out our eyes by suddenly touching them. He also does this with the cat, which is going to get him in trouble some day soon.)
Two of my favorite communications developments within the past week: 1. If I ask Peter a question that he doesn't know the answer to, he will hold up his hands and shrug his shoulders, as if to say "I don't know", 2. He says "no" a lot, so to counter balance, we taught him a cool way to say "yes". If you really emphasize the word and also do an arm pump -- sort of like you are saying "Score!" -- it is really fun. So, now Peter enthusiastically agrees with a lot of what we say. I wonder how long that will last.
Cheers and best wishes for a happy, healthy 2011 to all!
