1 year old!!!

Ladies and Gentlemen- I would like to introduce you to my one year old little girl... Malaika "Mimi" Mwango!!!








Isn't she beautiful!








I have been so caught up in "life" that I have neglected this blog. My deepest apologies to my avid readers. (all 3 of you haha) Well, we have been up to a lot these days and so I will try to get you all caught up in one little post.




First there was Halloween! Susanna and I searched long and hard for the perfect costume and finally found one at the Disney store. We wanted something VERY girly and pink and it just so happens Minnie Mouse is all of these!
I think one of my favorite memories of Malaika was putting this costume on. Once it was on I took her over to the mirror and her face lit up! She crawled over so her face was an inch away from the mirror and had the biggest smile on her face. Then she backed up and grabbed the sides of her dress and started swaying from side to side. She was totally checking herself out in the mirror! My mom and I laughed o hard we had tears.... Then came the ears... not her favorite item. haha


After she was all dressed up I took her to Edwins work so we could show her off. Of course everyone ewww'd and ahhhh'd. She loved every minute of that.

Then we went trick-or-treating with my friend Nicole and her two little girls Lauren (5)
and Amelie (1) and their cousin Fatima (5)


They were all so cute and susanna and I *cough* I mean Malaika got TONS of candy. =)




The next big event was Malaika's 1st Birthday party!!!!!!! WHOO HOO!!


I cannot believe she is one. She is so big and grown up and beautiful! One year ago I could never imagined what life would be like with her. But now I cannot imagine what life would be like without her. It was a great day and we loved spending time with all our friends and family.



My mom and her boyfriend did all the cooking and they made the best food EVER.

We had Mac and cheese (Paula Dean style), beef Brisket, sweet potatoe fries and of course Chicken for my husband (He/we no longer eat beef). Susanna and Alisa helped me decorate with balloons and streamers . We had Pink Sippy cups for all the kids and animal cookies.
and I blew up a ball pit for them to play in. Malaika was blessed with clothes and toys galore! When it was time to open presents I asked the kids to help out and they opened all the presents in 3 seconds flat! I could not believe it.
Thank you to everyone who came and also to those who sent gifts and cards!


I think Malaika enjoyed the day...

she didn't really get a good afternoon nap in so when it was time for her cake she had a little meltdown. As soon as we started singing she started screaming. It was pretty funny but I also felt bad for her because she was so worn out.




But I was surprised at how good she was with sharing her toys with the other kids.


One great surprise was my dad. He came from LaGrande with his wife Cindy and her son Cody and we got to spend the next day with them. I love having time with my dad. It doesn't happen a lot so when it does I try to soak up as much time as I can. Cindy and Cody were a lot of fun to hang out with as well and we made sure to take some fall portraits before they left.





Malaika you are one pretty lucky one year old!

I guess since it is her 1 year post I should do an update on the things she is doing.
* WALKING EVERYWHERE!!! She started walking about 1 week before her birthday. It was like a ligh switch turned on and she just started walking around the kitchen. After that there was no going back to crawling. She is now into anything and everything!
*She is saying more words and pointing at thing and jabbering. She says yes and no and shakes her head when she says them too. Mama and daddy and sometimes "damma" for grandma. she says uh-oh and oh! when she falls down. She does this thing when she gets embarrassed.. it sounds like she is saying aww man! and then she hits herself on the head. It is pretty funny. I have been working on sign language with her and she knows how to say "more" and "up".
*Whenever there is music she likes to dance and sing. He favorite song right now is Move it Move it from Madagascar 2. She has a microphone and she will walk around the house singing into it.
* I can tell her to go pick up her binky and bring it to me and she will.. this is amazing!!! She knows she has to have her binky in hand before she can come on the couch for some lazy time. She likes to sit on the couch with me and take her afternoon nap. I think it is one of my favorite times because I can sit there and just watch her. So peaceful when she sleeps.
*She never liked eating babyfood so I have had to try other ways of feeding her veggies. Luckily she is not very picky. I grate apples and cucumbers for her to eat and I buy frozen veggies and steam them. He favorite veggies so far is cucumbers but she also loves cauliflower. She can eat a half of chicken breast no questions asked. (and she still only has 2 bottom teeth) She likes applesauce and LOVES apples. Another one of her favorite things is pumpkin pie. She loved thanksgiving! Another weird thing she likes is ice. our fridge makes ice chips that are small enough for her and she will eat those until I tell her she can't have anymore (This is after hours of feeding them to her) Then she cries and throws a little tantrum and then I distract her and she is over it. LOL She likes to eat gerber veggie crunchies... we have to hide or throw away the empty container immediately or she will freak out!
*We are weaning her off the bottle right now and only giving it to her 3 times a day. If she wants it. I am also weaning her off similac and switching to milk as soon as we run out of formula. She seems to like regular milk so far.

* We have been working on picking up toys and putting them away and she seems to like it. We have cubes in the living room for her toys and so she will take things out and put them back.

* She is a book FREAK! I think I have read every childrens book in the house 100 times a day! Edwin and I laugh because she will bring a book and then ask us to pull her in our lap. Then we will read it.. she will cry when it is over... then grab the book and take it over to another person. Then we tell her to get another book and she will wander off into her room for a few minutes and come back out with a new one. When I tell her book time is over she cries.. then goes to my moms room for more story time.. haha *sometimes when I see her coming with a book I will try to hide so she will give it to edwin to read first.. Is that bad? haha

*She is still sleeping with us... we have given up trying to make her sleep on her own. It was to hard for us to hear her cry for 2 to 3 hours and then sleep for a few hours and do it all over again. We decided we will wait until she is big enough to sleep in a toddler bed and try then. We also love having her with us. We have weird little bedtime family routine and when she is not there it feels weird and empty. So yes we are a weird little family and we love having our little girl sleep with us (accept for the nights she turns sideways and kicks me in the face) We figure we won't beable to have these moments back so why not enjoy them. BUT the next one... off to the crib you go!

*She talks in her sleep - she gets it from me

*She is wearing size 12 months -2T depending on the brand

*size 5 diaper

*Her last check-up (With all the shots) went great! No fever or crankiness..thank you Lord! I am forgetting the exact measurements but I think she was 31 inches long and 24 pounds. still in the 95th percentile.. her head is in the 99th haha

*She is forward facing in her carseat

*She still only has 2 teeth total! On the bottom. Her gums keep swelling up on top but nothing comes through. The doctor said it was fine and possibly better because late tooth bloomers have less cavities.. so I will take that and not worry to much. She loves brushing her teeth though. It is oneof our nightly family routines. We are trying to teach her how to spit in the sink now.
Well I better let you all go.. this is turning into a book!

On a final note - Thanksgiving was very nice and relaxing day. We invited some of our friends that are from Zambia and their two little girls and susanna and my mom were here. It was lots of food movies and chit chat! Just the way the holidays should be.

She is 11 months old- Can you believe it?

I have had this blog on my "To do " list for way to long. I am glad I can take some time this morning and get caught up on what my baby girl is up to these days.

Over the past 2 months Malaika has been developing so many new skills and definately developing a personality. I don't know if I can keep up!


She is....

* Cruising like a maniac- She can run down the couch when we chase her. She LOVES to be chased. Then she chases us back. I love the high pitched squeals and laughter.


* Standing on her own and taking a few wobbly steps. Yester day she took two full steps and then fell. So we are almost there!

* She says- Mama, dada, Her most famous word is "HI" She says this whenever we come in the door or when we give her the phone. When she wants attention or picked up she says "ME ME" , She says Dora (wouldn't you know) and "OH!" every time she falls. She also sings "lala" when we play music. The other day we thought she said aunty when susanna walked in and gama when my mom walked in. So I guess we will see.


* Dora is stil her favorite.. BUT Edwin likes Barney so he has been watching that with her. We also went to the disney store to get her haloween costume (She is going to be Minnie mouse) and she grabbed the minnie mouse stuffed animal and would not let go. She was hugging it so tight and giving it kisses (of course I bought it... I am a sucka!)

*I think we have finally settled on her nickname... Of course we call her laika (Like-ah) and she is now our little doodle bug. My grandma used to call me Sarah bug so I thought doodle bug was a good fit for her. (edwin even calls her this.)

*She is playing on her own a lot more. I finally child proofed her room and set it up so she could play. She will go in there for a good 45 minutes to play with her toys. Which is nice so I can get the dishes done.



*She still only has the two bottom teeth. I have had to many sleepless nights for her to only have 2 teeth! I think I see a little white on the top gum but she won't let me near her gums to look.

* She is a dancing machine.. whenever she hears music she rocks back and forth, rolls her hips and taps her foot. she also claps when she likes something or when she hears other people clap.
*She takes the phone and puts it to her ear and says "Hi"
*When we tell her no she shakes her head no.
* When my friend nicole weighed her a couple weeks ago she was 22 lbs and 30 inches long. She is wearing 12-24 month clothes and I just went up to size 5 diapers.


* She is pretty much eating anything we give her. She will not eat baby food AT ALL so I have to be alittle creative on feeding her vegetables. The other night she had chicken breast (cut into chunks) stuffing and cauliflower (boiled) It is fun to watch her eat what we are eating. She loves yogurt and her new favorite thing is cucumbers, she will eat them until they are gone.. and then cry for more.

* We are having her first birthday at chucky cheese on November 8th! I am excited about it.

She is little miss personality that is for sure... I am enjoying every minute of it! I will try to get better with this blog so stay tuned for more!

Canada

Edwin and I have wanted to leave the country for awhile but in 2004 INS had taken his passport (Long story) and they finally returned it over the summer. We were so excited we could finally get out of here, we decided to start small and go to Canada. Vancouver is about 6 hour drive and there seemed to be a lot of things to do. We wanted to make it our anniversary trip as well as our first family vacation!


Our first impression of Canada (sorry to say) was not the best. Canadians drive CRAZY!!! Crazy Canadian drivers and my Crazy African driver do not mix well. The first day we almost got in an accident. BUT I was very thankful for my Crazy African driver, he was able to adapt to their driving and get us around the city.

I have never been out of the U.S. so it was a great experience to see something new.
Some of the differences that stood out-
*currency - On our first exchange we exchanged 200 american dollars for 205 canadian dollars. So our dollar is not that powerful there.
* Everything is VERY expensive- I don't know if it was because we were in a tourist town or if that is the norm. For example a pop in a machine was 3.00 compared to our 1.50. Also a burger was 12.75 (This was at the aquarium) . Everywhere we went or wanted to go(Aquarium, amusement park, suspension bridge) tickets were 30 to 60 dollars each
* When I went into Safeway a lot of the food packages were in french.
* Their driving
* The Road signs - They are confusing at times
* They call eggs benedict "Benny's" and their scrambles eggs are yolks only
* The signs for their buildings were plain- ours have logo's and bright colors. theirs were white background and black font with plain text.
* The buildings there were beautiful
* The neighborhoods were interesting. On one side of the street their were mansions that were some of the prettiest houses I have ever seen. Then directly across the street there would be broken down homes with trash in the yards and something you would see in a really bad neighborhood.

*The people were not as friendly as they are here. I noticed that people didn't want to make eye contact and the friendly "courtesy" waves you get here were not to be found there.
*Diverse- There were people from every culture and background. I heard languages I have never heard before. Edwin kept laughing at me. He said I acted like I was in a 3rd world country because everything seemed new to me. I guess I need to get out more. LOL

Traveling with an infant is definately a task. I made sure to pack for every type of weather imaginable. What I didn't think about was the moods of a traveling, exhausted baby. We left around 4 AM so the car ride would be easier and she did great! When we got there around 9:30 we checked into our hotel and got ready for the day. The hotel we stayed in was a surprise to us. Edwin had accidentaly booked a room with 2 double beds. (great anniversary =) hehe ) The room didn't have any room for Malaika to get down and crawl which started off the day with a little crabbiness. She needed to stretch! The hotel was in Surrey which was 30 to 45 minutes away from Vancouver. We soon learned this was to far of a drive with traffic included. We decided to look for a different hotel in the city. (but we had to stay the first night in surrey)
When we went to Vancouver there was NO way we could find our way around without a GPS unit. We tried the map thing and it was not working. Our phone has GPS but Verizon charges 2.00 a minute for usage over there. SOOOO we went to staples and bought a GPS. IT WAS AN ANGEL!We were finally able to find our way around. Here is what we did while we were there;

1st day-
*We found the IMAX theater which was something I was really excited about. They had a 3D movie playing about Deep Sea fish. This was our first encounter of traveling with a baby. Malaika did fine at first. They gave her 3D glasses and she was trying to touch the little fish that were swimming around. BUT then a big fish came and ate the little fish and that was the end of our IMAX experience. We decided to let the other people enjoy the movie and we left. The manager was really nice though and refunded our money.

The theater was located on the waterfront and we had amazing veiws of the city line as well as the ships that were coming in. We walked on the promenade for awhile and took some pictures.
Then we decided to go to the mall. The mall was HUGE Their were over 500 stores and they were all high-end stores. We quickly decided we would window shop and enjoy the view. After that we went to safeway to get some food for dinner and breakfast in the morning and went back to the hotel and slept.


2nd day-
(We found a new hotel in Richmond and Malaika has a TON of room to roam. )


We went to Stanley park which is a huge tourist attraction. You could easily spend a week going through the hiking trails and different attractions just in this one park. It is basically an island filled with things to do. We went to the aquarium and spent most of the day there. There was a dolphin show, Beluga whales, and a shark tunnel. Malaika really enjoyed this (except for the dolphin show) It is fun to watch her develop and see things for the first time.








After the Aquarium we wandered around stanley park and walked along the beach for a little while. The views were AMAZING! This was my favorite day, it was so relaxing and enjoyable.




3rd day
We had two choices- 1) The Amusement park or 2) the Suspension bridge in whistler
We decided to go to the amusement park and ride some rides. The suspension bridge had a lot of staris to climb and we did not have a backpack for Malaika. We didn't think it would be that enjoyable with a 23 pounder on our hip. lol
The amusement park was the best decision. They actually had rides that parents could ride on with their kids. Malaika really enjoyed the choo choo train and the helicopter ride. Edwin went on his first roller coaster and felt like he conquered the world LOL . By the end of the day we were all exhausted and ready for bed.








The last day was pretty much dedicated to sleeping in, packing, and customs. Getting back over the border took over an hour. (Thank God for portable DVD players and DORA! )


We would love to visit canada again. Next time we would like to go to Victoria and ride the Ferry and see the gardens. It was a great Family/Anniversary Vacation.