Discovering a Personality

During the last couple of months Drea's sense of humor has grown. She loves to "get" people (try to tickle them) and will say "getchoo". She loves to dance (bounce up and down) when she hears music, laughs when I use silly voices and faces, and likes to tease. If you ask her for a kiss she will turn her head away from you then make a point to kiss her baby doll. Her first sentence was "Where Day-uh?" - It was in late November/early December, and she covered herself up with a blanket to play peek-a-boo (I always played that with her by hiding my face and saying "Where's Mama?").

New words are coming out of her mouth all the time. In December she started saying Ba Ba for baby.

On January 5th I asked her if she is a baby and she patted her chest and said "Ba ba Deta". Just a few days later Ba ba became bahby.

She made up her own sign too. Instead of signing "milk" or "eat" she points the index finger of one hand to the palm of the other and says "eee?"

She's very independent and already wants to do everything herself. She also loves the word no and uses it frequently. She's very stubborn (like both of her parents), and I'm pretty sure that while this won't make parenting her very easy it is a trait that has it's good points. At least that's what I keep telling myself anyway.

She also suddenly started wanting to play with some of her baby things again. She wanted to get back in her baby swing and her jumparoo - both are toys she has outgrown. She giggles and squeals when she's in them - she knows she's being silly.

During an unseasonably warm day in December I put Drea on my back and we went for a walk outside. When I got back in with her we turned on the stereo and I danced with her still on my back (she loves this). She also bounced up and down and sang. We tried to catch it on video, and of course she stopped, but we finally got her to do it again. My hair is all nasty looking and sweat from the walk, but I thought this was so funny I had to share it anyway.

More Christmas Photos

Here are a few more Christmas photos of Drea. They aren't in any particular order; I just grabbed five out of my December folder.

Drea's First Birthday!

On Drea's birthday we went out to eat with her Nana and Papa for lunch. She didn't want to sit in her high chair and eat for long, and it was easy for her to con her Nana into getting her out and holding her. That Nana is just too easy.
After lunch, Daddy spent hours putting together a little swing set we got for her birthday present. It looks easy and simple, but took forever. It was made of a lot of little plastic tubes. I was hoping Drea would love it, but at first she was mostly scared of it. She liked the balls in the ball pit though.
On November 6 we threw Drea a birthday party at the YMCA. Her birthday theme was dragonflies and butterflies. We had about 25 family members and friends show up, and Drea enjoyed herself immensely. She got her first ever taste of pizza before it was time for her cake.
Drea didn't realize at first that she could eat her little cake. She kept reaching toward it and pulling her hand away like she was afraid she wasn't supposed to touch it. But once I finally convinced her that she could dig in, she ate quite a bit of it.
After the cake I sat with Drea at the gift table and helped her open presents. She got wonderful presents from everyone, and was excited by all of her new toys.

After everyone else went home Mama and the kids joined us in the YMCA's heated pool. After an hour or two of swimming we finally went home with all of the loot. Drea was tired and ready for sleep by the time we made it home. It was a great day for all of us.

Holiday Fun

I was looking forward to the holidays this year more than ever, because this would be the first Christmas Drea was old enough to enjoy it. We took her to the Picture People in December to get Christmas photos made with all of her cousins. It was an exhausting trip, but we managed to get some adorable photos.
On Christmas Eve we went to Westminster to visit the Mabry side of the family. We had a great time as always, and Drea enjoyed being a ham and getting lots of attention. We enjoyed seeing everyone, eating good food, and meeting Hunter (the newest Mabry..for now).
Drea's Nana and Papa came over on Christmas morning to eat breakfast and watch her open her presents. Then we went to meet up with the Bridges family for lunch. It started to snow just as we were leaving, and continued snowing for several hours. I never thought I'd see a white Christmas in SC! My parents and brother Daniel's family came over to the house to open gifts and eat supper. The living room became a tornado of gift wrap and toys. Drea really enjoyed herself. I remember glancing over at her at one point during the evening and seeing her wading through knee high gift wrap holding her new baby doll in one hand and her new pretend cell phone in the other. She was following her cousin Lydia and having the time of her life. After we finished with presents, Mama and I took the kids out to play in the snow before we ate supper. Then everyone else had to rush home before the roads got scary.
We were supposed to join the Stepps in Clemson on December 26th, but we put it off for a day due to the snow. When we finally did get together, Drea enjoyed yet another day of getting lots of attention from a large group of people. She had a lot of fun playing with Brian's younger cousins and seeing her great aunts and uncles. She enjoyed her presents too. She fell asleep on the way home, and we were able to take her out of the car seat and lay her in her crib without any crying. She was wiped out from too much fun and ready to sleep!
On New Year's Eve Mama, Daniel, and the kids came over for a spaghetti supper and some minor fireworks in the driveway. Drea watched them with her daddy from the front porch. She needed reassurance when some of the fireworks got really loud, but she never cried and enjoyed the sparks and pretty colors. After Daniel and the kids went home we watched the ball drop before Drea and I went to bed.

On New Year's Day we got together again (Daddy joined us briefly) to eat lunch. We had ham, macaroni and cheese, collards, black- eyed peas, and homemade chocolate chip cookies. Drea (as always) had a great time playing with her cousins. It was a wonderful way to start a new year.