Baby Talk

It's so funny to see Sara's first words emerge. The first word we noticed her use was "hi", and she has been saying it along with waving for a few months now. Here is a complete list of words she knows:

She can say:

• Hi
• Bye-bye
• Da-da, but she doesn't seem to know ma-ma yet :(
• Bottle (ba-ba)
  
• Baby -- we discovered this one on her birthday when she got a doll as a gift and said "baby!" over and over when she saw it.

She can sign:

• Hi
• Bye-Bye
• food
• water
• bottle
  
• cheese
  
• all done

In addition to speaking and signing words, she has started to babble incoherently, but I'm sure she thinks she's speaking full sentences! It's fun to just make up a conversation to talk with to her when she babbles.

She can do the actions for:

• Pat-a-cake
• Itsy-bitsy Spider

She also claps any time she hears applause, or if she sees somebody else clapping.

It's so fun to watch her learn and grow!

{Click Here to view videos of Sara saying "Baby", opening her first Christmas present, walking, playing with her birthday balloons, and eating birthday cake.}

Happy Birthday Sara!

{click to enlarge}

We enjoyed celebrating Sara's birthday today with my family in California. Can't believe our baby girl is a year old already!

Christmas

Two hats, two nerf boomerangs, a cape, flip flops with socks, what looks like a scarf-belt, and nose-mustache glasses‏

= AWESOME

That's me on the right there. I'm not exactly sure what my sister and I have on our heads or what we think we're dressed up as, but whatever is it, it's nothing compared to my brother's get-up! We obviously did not even come close to committing to it as much as he did. I am baffled by this photo for two reasons. 1) Yesterday was the first time I ever remember seeing this photo! and 2) In all my growing-up years, I don't remember my older brother being much of a dress-up man. But this picture proves that he was! And he did it in style.

She's a GIRL!!

If Sara isn't wearing a headband or an obviously girly outfit when we go out and about, she is often mistaken for a boy. The truth of the matter is: she does look like her dad! So I guess it's not hard for people to think she's a boy if she's dressed too neutrally. Today we were at the grocery store and Sara was sitting in her carseat in the front of the shopping cart. She was wearing brown socks, jeans with no noticeable girly embellishments (there are hearts on the back pockets, but those aren't visible while she's sitting) and a tan hoodie sweatshirt, again with the flower embellishments being hidden by the shoulder strap on her carseat. BUT the lining of her hood (which was clearly visible) is a purplish pink, and she had a PURPLE blanket on her!! Last I checked, purple is traditionally a color worn exclusivley by girls. But dispite this, a lady at the checkout came up to Sara and kept saying, "Oh he's so cute!" "He's smiling at me!" "How old is he?" -- I was very polite and didn't correct her error, but I am now recommitted to making sure she is obviously dressed like a girl when we go out!

blanket, bunny, and sippy cup

Every time we visit Primary Children's Medical Center, we always walk out with more than we came in with, and I'm not just talking about massive medical bills! People donate items to the hospital all the time, and today Sara received her 4th blanket from PCMC, as well as a big blue bunny that a technician gave her and a sippy cup of apple juice to drink after her visit. Sara had a followup appointment this morning to check the aortic arch repair she had done back in January. They did an EKG, took her blood pressures in all 4 limbs, and did a sedated echocardiogram. The cardiologist said everything looks great! She said any relapse or re-narrowing of the aorta normally occurs within 6 months after surgery, so the fact that Sara's is doing well is a good indicator that she will not have any future problems with it. Yay! There were a few other concerns back in January with one of the valves in her heart that looked slightly abnormal, but the doctor said it appears to be growing with her and is still functioning adequately, so it is not a major concern. The only other issue was a small hole between the right and left ventricles of her heart, but she said that has closed up on its own since our last visit. So everything looks great! As the cardiologist said, "Kudos to Dr. Burch!" (the surgeon who performed the repair) -- Yes, kudos to you Dr. Burch! Thanks again for saving our baby girl. We are continually thankful for today's surgical advancements and the miracles of modern medicine. Our little girl wouldn't be here without them.