Izzie, You are 1 Year Old and Merry Christmas!

From 12 MOnths

From 12 MOnths

From 12 MOnths

From 12 MOnths

Dearest Izzie,

Last Friday you turned 1 year old!This letter is coming to you slightly late because we have been traveling for the last few days (something you are a total pro at doing now).

We don't even know where to start. It really does seem like yesterday that we took you home from the hospital. You were this itty bitty thing. The first few weeks were rough on all of us. You see, you're our first kid, so we really had to learn everything about taking care of you. However, you're alive, happy and healthy now so I guess we didn't do too bad of a job, right?

Lets talk about some of the major milestones you've met in the last month. You're now officially a pro at pulling yourself up and cruising. We always say that you're always a bit hesitant to try new things, but once you start doing things you do it very very well. We feel like you'll be walking before we know it.

You've also finally started to self-feed. Until now, you were only interested in feeding the person feeding you (some good reciprocal action going on here), but one day you figured out that you could feed yourself your favorite cheerios and waffles. Since then, you refuse to give us any of your food. You've also become somewhat of a gourmand, so you won't eat any old pureed baby food. Mommy started cooking her famous chicken soup - and you've become quite a fan of it. You also started drinking whole cow milk - something that you liked right away.

You still only have 4 teeth, but we can tell that you have a LOT (at least 4) more that you're working on. We had to bust out your bibs once again, and you are always chewing on your fingers or anything that is within your reach. We hope that those pearly whites will be making an appearance really soon.

This past month, you've decided that your favorite people in the world are Mommy, Daddy and your nanny. Your development of stranger anxiety is very apparent and you get very shy around new people. Dropping you off at the church nursery has become a challenge, and you were somewhat traumatized by all of your birthday parties. We spent the last couple of days with your Fremont grandparents - at first you were a bit wary, but now you've warmed up to them, and you'll show them your signature Izzie smile.

This upcoming year will be very interesting. You'll be getting your first stamp on your passport as we are visiting Mommy's side of the family in Korea. Everyone is so excited to meet you. You'll also be staying with your grandparents for a few weeks without Mommy and Daddy. Don't forget about us!! (We don't think you will.) You'll have to don your big snowsuit, since Korea is even colder than New York. And after that, it'll start once more. We'll go through the winter and wait for the weather to warm up; except this year, we'll be able to take you out a lot more, and you'll really be able to actively enjoy the warm weather more. We are SO excited about seeing you grow next year. We want to talk with you, dance with you and take you to all of the cool places around the neighborhood.

So I guess this birthday is both happy and sad. We're going to miss our little Izzie; we're going to miss you poking our faces in the morning to wake us up; we're going to miss the fun you have from peekaboo; we're going to miss how you depended on us to do everything for you; we're going to miss trying to get you to sleep in the bathroom with the faucets all turned on. We're going to miss so many things - but we also look forward to all of the new things we'll experience together in the upcoming year.

We love you!

And Happy Birthday!

From 12 MOnths

Love,
M+D

Booboo, you're standing!

Sophie's version: As I am working in the living room, I hear Albert yell "SOPH! GET IN HERE RIGHT NOW!" I have to admit, I was slightly alarmed - I honestly was worried that she injured herself or something. I rush into the room, and I see that she pulled herself into standing position. I have to admit - I was kind of enjoying the fact that she was on the slow side in terms of gross motor skills, but there is no turning back now. I really really have to start to baby proof.

Albert's version: So it's just a normal afternoon, except we're both home today because Sophie's working from home and my classes have been cancelled, and I'm giving Izzie an afternoon sippy cup. Out of nowhere, she slaps the bottle away, flips over, and starts crawling toward the headboard. And then, without any hesitation at all, she just grabs on to the ledge and stands up. It all happened so quickly that I hardly had time to react. So I yell for Sophie to come in, and Izzie repeats the feat a couple times to applause and cheers. Great...more chances to fall and hit her head now. As if it wasn't hard enough already to keep track of everything she was doing.

Izzie, You're 11 Months Old Today!

(Go Bears!)

Dearest Izzie,

Wow! You are 11 months old today! The next time we do this, you'll be 1 year old. This week, the weather started getting really cold. Like really, really cold. And it reminded us of last winter, when we were preparing our home for your timely arrival. Winter is really your season now; you own it. When we get chills, we think of the time you were born. And it's an exciting time too, because so many thing happen this time of year. This past month you had your first halloween, but next month, we'll have thanksgiving and your birthday, and soon after that, Christmas too!

OK, on to your developments. You learned how to clap, raise your hands, wave bye-bye, and turn your hands (twinkle, twinkle little star!) on cue. Before you were imitating us, but now you can respond to us. You love peek-a-boo, and not just watching us do it. You like taking blankets and pulling them over your head, then revealing your beautiful smile. You have the most adorable laugh in the world. Your voice is coming out too. We think you'll be a very cute talker. Grandma thinks you have a beautiful voice, and she should know, since she's a professional classical vocalist. You're a dancer too! Well, a shaker, at the very least. You like to wiggle side-to-side when you see us doing it, or even when you just hear some music.

You're officially a carnivore! You're first foray into the animal kingdom was ground chicken breast. Mommy chopped it up into tiny little pieces with the food processor, and mixed it into your butternut squash. You also LOVE yogurt. Morning yogurt breakfast times are your special times with Daddy. You're one of the few things in the world that can drag him out of bed in the mornings. We also started putting cheese in your food, and you love it, because it adds so much more flavor.

You're definitely getting stronger and much more mobile. You can almost pull yourself up on the crib. You like reaching for things way above your head, and are starting to grab ledges. We can see that you have a lot of determination, and that has resulted in a few minor bumps to the ol' noggin. But we can tell that you're cautious too, compared to other kids your age. You eye a challenge and contemplate it first, before proceeding with action. Your new favorite toy is the Fisher Price Cruise 'n Crawl, but your real favorite toy is the iPhone. We want you to have some comfort items, because you're definitely getting stranger anxiety. We get paged by the church nursery quite often these days!

Well, I hope you enjoyed reading about your developments this month. We definitely enjoyed being there. October was a slow month for the blog. But this month, we're implementing our November challenge: we're going to try to make a post every day, because there's so much to record. Mommy's getting sad that you only have one month left in your first year. After that, you won't be an infant anymore. So make it count, booboo! We can't wait to see what's next. Just for you, to end this month's rendition, we thought we'd write you a few 11-month haikus.

Isabella Chang
You Want to Touch Everything
But We Deny You

Why Do We Do So?
Ready to Discover? Ouch!
Bumped Your Head Again.

Crawling and Standing
Are Your New Developments
You Will Walk Too Soon

Babble and Babble
Greetings You Uttered Last Week
Hello! Hello! Bye!

Playing with Remote,
Almost Recorded Spongebob.
Sigh, You Silly Girl!

Eleven Quick Months.
The Moments Went By Too Fast.
We Love You, Izzie.

Love,
M+D