Look what I can do with Pasta

Aria usually sits in her high chair at the table when we eat dinner so that we can enjoy dinner time together. It also gives her a chance to try some of mommy and daddy's food. Aria enjoys experiencing new shapes, textures and, of course, new tastes, so we figured she might enjoy to try some of our pasta. See what great things she can do with it? Aria's birth mother, Amber, told us that one of her favorite memories as a child was when her mother cooked up a pile of spaghetti and let Amber play in it. Looks like Aria likes to play with pasta too. Photo taken December 21, 2008.

Aria's first Christmas

Aria's first Christmas was a big day. In the morning, our little family of three opened presents together as more beautiful fresh snow fell outside the window. It's rare to have a white Christmas here in Northwest Washington, but Aria was blessed with loads of the white stuff on her very first Christmas.

After breakfast and a nap, we went cross-country skiing in the park by our house. Afternoon brought a visit from Aria's birth parents, Amber and Charlie, and lots more presents for Aria from Amber and Charlie's family members. Many thanks to all who sent gifts. We've never seen such a tiny girl pull in so much Christmas loot! In fact, there were so many presents that we ended up waiting until the day after Christmas to open up one more box from Ted's sister Kathy.

We, of course, took many many photos, but I decided to narrow it down to three to give the flavor of the day: skiing with Mommy and Daddy in the park, with Amber and her new beany babies (we understand these beany babies belonged to Amber when she was little), and last, with a big smile as she sits in the empty box from Amber's mom, Vicki. Photos taken December 25, 2008.

Birthparent visit

Aria's birth parents Amber and Charlie stayed with us for a couple days last week. Amber says three of the books we read to Aria regularly are the same ones her mom read to her as a baby: Good Night Moon, Brown Bear Brown Bear What Do You See, and (I think) Dr. Suess's ABC. Amber loves to read to and play with Aria when she visits.

Charlie received a brand new laptop computer for his 21st birthday, and Aria was very excited about it too. She loves to reach out and explore anything new to her, especially if it's silver and shiny.

Photos taken December 15, 2008.

More Snow Fun

Aria got to go for another walk in the park today. As hoped, the temperatures have finally warmed up to the high 20s and we had more fresh snow. There is well over a foot of snow on the ground and more forecast for tonight. Aria got a few more firsts on this walk. She got to taste snow and to feel snow with her hands. She seemed enthusiastic about both at first but didn't seem very excited after a little while. Perhaps the coldness and wetness of snow was different than she expected. I've included a couple of pictures to show how pretty the snow is in the trees and to show all 3 of us together by a waterfall. Photos taken December 21, 2008.

Snow day!

The first snow of winter fell last week, and the next day we went to the park to enjoy it. Here' Aria wrapped inside Ted's jacket to stay warm. The weather was in the mid-20's that day. Since then it's snowed some more, and the temperature has dropped into the teens and, at night, single digits. We decided that's too cold to take Aria out in! More snow is on the way, and hopefully we'll get some "warmer" weather again and go for another snow walk. Photo taken December 14, 2008.

Aria meets Santa

Aria is starting to get her first Christmas experiences. We went to a Christmas art fair yesterday and, lo and behold, there was Santa. Aria knew just what to do. She crawled right into Santa's lap and stuck her fingers into his long beard. She whispered something into Santa's ear when he asked what she wanted for Christmas. I bet she'll get what she wants with presents arriving in the mail from Amber and Charlie's relatives as well as Karen and Ted's. What a lucky little girl. Photo taken Saturday, December 13, 2008.

Aria has fun with her new blocks

Aria got a new set of blocks from Grandma and Grandpa Williams. There are 100 blocks of different sizes, shapes and colors. Sure, the package says they are for 1 and 1/2 year olds but she's getting an early start. One of the things she likes to do is have daddy make a stack of them and then she gingery picks off the top one without knocking the stack over. Or, if she's in a different mood, she'll send the whole stack flying.

On another note, Aria is starting to pull herself up to standing while holding on to a table or chair, then releasing her hands and standing for a moment before holding on again. Sometimes she shifts her hands to another nearby object if it's within reach. Can walking be far behind? Photo taken December 6, 2008.