ONE-derful

We have had a 1-year-old for over a week now and all we can say is that it is

ONE-DERFUL!

(Yes, she's wearing Christmas pjs... never too early to love Santa I guess.)

It's like Ali woke up on her birthday and realized she had been alive a whole year and that she ought to know a whole lot. I am amazed at how much she understands! I can tell her something once and she remembers it. I know that seems like something normal, but I didn't realize that little people caught on to stuff so quickly. I make sounds and motions for animals and from that one time she will either make the sound, do the action, or both whenever she sees it. She is even able to identify that animal in several different kinds of books and pictures. And don't be fooled by the tile. This poster is not taped on our bathroom wall... it's our kitchen wall. What? Your kitchen isn't completely tiled?

Another absolutely lovely and amazing thing that has happened is that she is riding in her stroller now! This is a huge change. We tried everything to get her to ride in her stroller when we got here. I was getting really worried because in a few months when her brother gets here I won't be able to carry her everywhere we go. Miraculously, she is not only riding in the stroller but seems to actually enjoy it! Hallelujah! We actually brought a jogging stroller with us but it's just not Shanghai friendly. This one was left by a past member of our branch and so it floats around to whoever needs it. We're grateful we are able to use it. And Ali's outfit? I am exercising my right to dress my kid in whatever I want because we live in Asia. You know how those Asians are!(The above photo is a two for one special. I wanted to get a shot of how chill Ali is in her stroller and when I saw this cart full of junk I knew this was the perfect moment. So you can see Ali kicking back in the stroller and a cart full of junk. These are EVERYWHERE! This one appears to be a sort of wood cart. There are styrofoam carts, metal carts, you name it.)

She's eating PBJs. Fun!

She likes to stab her french toast with her finger...

and then stick it in her mouth. Yes, there is too much jam on her french toast. We have toned it down since this meal, but it made for a cute photo!

She's enjoying dressing up and looking at her cute self in the mirror. She gets really close to the mirror and gibber gabbers- it's to die for!

She loves saying prayers and gets really excited at the end when we say "amen". Then she gives kisses.

Sometimes Jimmy calls during his lunch break and she loves to hear his voice when he calls. She will pick up my phone throughout the day and say "Bye-bye Dada." It's super cute. And if I say his name she will hold her hands up and shrug, then start to look around for him.

LOVE these two! Jimmy has some baby apps on his iPad and they play them together!

She loves to brush her teeth when she sees us brushing ours. She also likes to dance to the "Brush You Teeth" song.

She got a new bed this week! We're planning on having Baby Boy sleep in the pack-n-play because we brought the bassinet part so we got this crib for Ali at IKEA. She seems to really enjoy being out of the pack-n-play.

Here are a couple more pictures from her birthday. We had cake with her on the evening of her birthday but since the next day was Saturday we had time to go out together. Here she is eating ice cream. She doesn't look very excited but she ate the whole thing so she must have been enjoying herself!

We took her on the carousel. She didn't love sitting on the animals...

but she liked to watch them from the bench. I don't blame her, this one was really fast compared to others that I've been on.