Aliyah's Second Birthday!

Grandma Vicki cut out these beautiful custom letters by hand just for me!












"Thanks you grandma & papa for hosting my 2nd birthday, I had a great time with my friends & families and the barn animals." - Aliyah

Our Iphone Whiz Aliyah!

Aliyah with her cousin Caroline

At first I was one of those mommies who said that I would never let my daughter touch an iPhone. Now, I see the benefit for both the child and parents. As parents, we sometimes use it as a babysitter (for one of those moments)and for a child, I think Apple’s apps are one of the most greatest teaching tools out there.

Aliyah learns her letters, numbers, shapes and colors. She puts together puzzles, learns how to match objects and play games that teaches her the difference between right and left. She always has fun drawing funny faces with daddy on family pictures. All good as far as we're concerned. I think, like many things, that the IPhone and it’s apps can be used in an appropriate manner, or they can be overused and abused. We make sure she has interaction with parents and other people and also expose her to real toys and books and she is good!!!

This week's reading...

How to protect your toddler from petting-zoo germs
http://www.babycenter.com/404_how-can-i-protect-my-toddler-from-e-coli-and-other-bacteria_1245007.bc
Should our disruptive toddler sit with us in church?
http://www.babycenter.com/400_should-our-toddler-sit-with-us-in-church-even-though-shes-di_500670_0.bc?scid=mbtw_post22m:896&pe=2UvIawE

Pictures!!!!

My Cousin's Wedding!

Over Labor day weekend, we went to Charlotte, NC to take part in my cousin's wedding. My family and I had the opportunity to spend some wonderful time together for 5 days. The wedding was wonderful...we all had so much fun with countless after parties and countless drinks:) It is just so nice to see two people fall in love.

"Habesha Kemis"- Ethiopian Traditional Dress!!!

Aliyah wearing "Habesha Kemis"- Ethiopian Traditional Dress

I scheduled for us to go take professional family pictures for FALL but we failed. Aliyah did NOT want to cooperate at all. She woke up from her nap so early, the whole day was VERY challenging!!!

Aliyah's new obsession!!!

Aliyah is obsessed with the iPAD! Daddy downloaded apps just for her like ABC's/colors/spelling/coloring, but also loves piano and animal noises! J and I have concerns about how much she wants it...first thing every morning, before bed....before she leaves the house...she always comes into our room where we charge it and asks for "cow". We started limiting her to 5-10 min per day or maybe 15 min:)! Yeah she calls it "cow" since the first time she used it was when she heard animal noises:)But I can honestly say she uses it better than I can...flips through the many pages of apps, adjusts the screen size, restarts the programs, etc...Hopefully the benefits are outweighing the negatives!

Mom and Aunt Azi visiting Dallas!

My mom from Ethiopia and my Aunt from Sweden came to visit us in May. We had a BLAST!!! They stayed with us for 10 days but it felt more like 10 hours. I forget how good it feels and how much fun we have together until they come and leave. They had so much fun with Aliyah they almost wanted to move to Dallas:) Miss you guys!!!

 

 

Dallas Zoo opens 'Giants of the Savannah exhibit

We went to go visit Savannah exhibit at the zoo. It was beautiful. It now has HUGE habitats compared to the little cages they had for the elephants, giraffes, impalas, and ostriches, it also has beautiful cheetahs and lions that you can watch through the gigantic glass wall of the air conditioned food court. The cheetah thought there was NO glass and tried to get Aliyah...it was kind of scary!!!

Since it is so hot out we will be going in the evening since the zoo is open for members only after 5pm and we can't wait to go again soon. The Giants of Savannah really makes the trip worth it.

 

Dallas Arboretum again:)

We signed up yearly membership for all the places we like to go to. It saves us TONS of money. With a 16 months old, there is not a lot of places you can go besides arboretum, zoo, aquarium, museums and malls (I almost forgot).

We visit about one/two places everytime we go Arboretum.

At Dallas Arboretum Botanical Garden

 

 

 

 

Shopping with mommy at Northpark Mall

 

 

Too many options...

The less you understand what it is you truly want the better since choice really frustrated you!

Ever since I was pregnant with Aliyah, I have read read and read too many reviews and looked at too many choice for car seats (which we have one we are very satisfied with), strollers, and any other baby essentials and there are just TOO MANY options. There is always that better something for everything but when it comes to your child, you want to get the safest and the best of everything so when does it really stop???

I bought the lightest stroller and which I thought was the best stroller (Maclaren Quest) about 4 months ago but I just can't stand it...yes it is a light weight and yes it looks nice but stroller tips over everything Aliyah leaves the seat when I have my purse or her diaper bag on on the handle. Also, I seem to always have trouble unbuckling the straps without a serious struggle which I almost broke my nails one time. So, that has to go soon and I just now ordered a new one online today called Peg Perego Si Java. I read reviews and it just seems to have everything I want a stoller to have:) I just can't wait to get it!!!!

Aliyah's 15 months Stats!

She had an excellent visit...always HEALTHY!!!


Weight: 20 IBS 1 oz 13% (She finally now weighs 20IBS)
Height: 31& 1/2" 88% (Tall but not too tall which is good)
Head: 17&1/2" 25% (Size has nothing to do with how smart you are:)

Ok what next if she started shopping at Nordstrom at 15 months???:)

Aliyah's First Pony Ride!

You can get the Texan out of Texas but can't get the Texan out of her!!!

Aliyah took off on her own!

Aliyah has been walking now for about a month. She started about a month after her first birthday in January, cruising furniture, walking with a walker and holding on to hands. We were also able to encourage her to walk between two people without holding on to anything. And there were times when Aliyah really wanted something and stepped across the room to get it. It seemed like (and everyone who saw her said it too) that she would be walking on her own in no time. The first day she started walking, she walked and walked and walked all day long. With a bit of running thrown in!:)

Aliyah at Mardi Gras Craft Party!

Dallas has gotten some snow today!!!

We had snow for Christmas but it wasn't anything like today so we decided to take Aliyah out to take some pictures:) She scooped up a generous amount of snow and ate it:)

Tuesday, February 2, 2010

Raising Our Little One in the Big World!

I am a little late posting Aliyah's 1st Birthday pictures! Let's just say life has been a little hectic.

We had a wonderful birthday for Aliyah on Dec 13/2009. My brother Sammy and my uncle Asfaw were able to come from DC & MI to see Aliyah turning one.

We were all amazed how big she has gotten...

words Aliyah knows so far...

Aliyah repeats pretty much any word you say to her for the most part. She is learning how to say more words everyday... but she is still crawling

Words she knows so far...
1. Baby
2. Balloon
3. Bow
4. Bubble
5. Bye
6. Cat
7. Cow
8. Cracker
9. Cup
10. Dada
11. Dog
12. Duck
13. Hey
14. Hi
15. Moo
16. Quack
17. Row Row
18. Ruff

19. Thank you