Although I'm sad to have missed most of your first year Carys, we are so excited to see what this next year together brings! You are one sassy little girl and fit into our family so perfectly. Your Daddy & I often ask ourselves how in the world could we have gotten a child via adoption that is SO much like our biological children. That's because God KNEW what He was doing and He knew you were ours before we ever did. He created you for our family and it is so evident. We are so happy that you are home now and that we could celebrate this special day with YOU. We love you baby C!
Here are a few things that you're up to right now at ONE:
1. You are walking/running all over the place!
2. You LOVE to tease your big brother Becket
3. You have a squeal/high pitched scream that will break anyone's ear drums
4. You LOVE your bottle- you call it "ba-ba"
5. You are saying words like "Mama, Dada, Eye-ya (Aria! go figure!), B, Papa, Ba-ba(bye bye)
6. We put you in nursery at church for the first time last week and when Mommy left, you waved bye bye and said "ba-ba" with a smile. You love people AND new toys.
7. You live and breath music. Mark my words, I think you're going to be the next Beyonce. If that's the case, I'm sure you'll be changing your name back to Tsehay. You will dance and bop your neck, head and shoulders to any tune. You try mouthing the words to every song. It is the cutest thing.
8. Your favorite movies are Praise Baby. You try to sing along.
9. You sleep like a champ! You take 2 nice naps and sleep 12 hrs at night. Praise God!
10. You're not the best eater. You really like salty, spicy, cheesy, greasey foods. Your favorites by far are Mac N Cheese, Pizza & Spaghetti (pretty much anything with red sauce) Your brother despises the nights I make the dinner to your liking(-:
11. You drink from a sippy cup like you had one your whole life. In reality you were just introduced to one a few weeks ago.
12. You are extremely bright! You have met all of your milestones well before you were expected to and you totally understand us crazy English speaking people.
13. Mom is a total believer in Immersion programs....after being home for only ONE month, you understood all of our commands, turn your head when we'd call your new name and get exactly what we say to you. You're even beginning to speak some English!
14. You like to pretend to talk on the phone. You put it up to your ear and say "Hi-yo". So cute.
15. You are in love with your sister Aria and she is in love with you. Still.
16. Pretty sure you are Kai's favorite sister at the moment. He is smitten.
17. You are 50th% for weight, 60th for height and 90th% for your noggin! You weigh 21lbs at age 1.
18. You love anything soft and cuddly-especially your new pillow pet, lovie and owl.
19. You like to get into the cupboards and if Mommy looks at you and says "Naughty!" you smile at me.
20. You are usually sitting in your high chair when Daddy comes home from work. You hear his voice at the door and before you can even see him you are kicking your feet and reaching your little head as far over the high chair as you can with a HUGE smile waiting for him to appear. For sure you are already a Daddy's girl.
21. You haven't quite figured out the stairs yet....all these new things!
22. You don't like your car seat, but seeing as you're in it for around 2hrs a day (carting Aria back and forth to preschool) you are getting a little better about it. Again, Praise Baby is a lifesaver!
23. You are toddling around now as if you have always lived in our home and you love to explore.
24. You love to have something soft over your head while you sleep.
25. We can't imagine our family without you Carys Tsehay!
Here's how we celebrated.....all weekend long....Nieuwenhuis style(-:
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| You got to see your orphanage BFF, Eden, for the very first time since Ethiopia. |
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| We celebrated with lots of balloons! |
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| You were intrigued by Daddy taking video of you(-: |
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| Our little family party |
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| Help from brothers and sister opening your gifts |
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| Typical screetch- you wanted to open them YOURSELF! |
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| You loved your new Ethiopian dolly |
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| This is the dress that Mommy & Daddy bought you in Ethiopia. You LOVED the sparkly material |
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| Oooooh yes!! More Praise Baby videos! |
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| Every girl needs a stroller to push around |
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| We had your favorite meal......PIZZA! |
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| I'm SO ready to turn ONE! |
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| Little piggy cake for our little chunker! |
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| EEEEWWWW!!!! Cake is the WORST thing I have ever tasted. WHO would do that to me!? |
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| Ahhhh, much better if Mommy is feeding it to me and there is no frosting. (See, I told ya she prefers spicy over sweet) |
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| Couldn't wait to watch my new Praise Baby DVD- even brothers & sister joined me |
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| Princess Carys celebrating in her Ethiopian gown at Grammy & Papas |
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| How CUTE are you!? |
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| Grammy & Papa put on a cute little family party. |
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| Of course everyone needed to get in on the action of blowing out the candle |
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| This is me....being real....she is such a ham. |
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| Loving all of her new pillow pets and stuffed animals....she wants them all in her bed. LOVE YOU CARYS TSEHAY! HAPPY 1st BIRTHDAY! |
Oh Janine! This is precious! How wonderful that you are able to enjoy her first birthday and document all these milestones of hers. I love that she fits right into your sassy little crew! :) She is such a gift.
ReplyDeleteJanine,
ReplyDeleteI was reading your posts about Carys and cannot believe how similar she sounds to my Exley (I brought her home in August 2010 at 4 1/2 months old). As I read through your posts I find myself nodding and smiling as I remember Exley doing many of the same things just a few months earlier. She is 21 months so just about 6 months older than Carys. I read through the list of all the things she is doing at 1 and think wow I could almost have written the same list. It is great to see how wonderfully Carys is doing and all of the accomplishments she has made in just a short time. I for one cannot wait to see what life brings for Exley in the coming months and years!
Erin Roon