Holidays on the east coast

New York

Birthdays, Holidays, Family, New York and just don’t get me started

We are back. Back in sunny California after spending 10 days on the east coast.
Our trip was great, we had lots of fun and it was so nice to see everyone and meet all the new people in our life.
We left on the 18th and took a “red eye” to Newark and Naddie did great on the flight. She slept mostly or entertained the passengers around us.
We stayed with my brother and Bea (his fiancé) in Connecticut for 6 days in their new home and celebrated Christmas with them and Bea’s parents and my parents and my younger brother and his wife.
Naddie had jet leg for two days but after getting over it she was in her element the whole time. She had everyone wrapped around her fingers and loved all the attention she was getting.
We also celebrated her first birthday and my brother Zoltan made her very first cake and the very first sweet thing she could have. She liked the taste but she really did not like the mess that came with it.
She got some toys and clothing and some money (that will be sitting in her account for a long time) and she also got a chicken. A real one!!! Well, my brother Gabor and his wife Leah bought a chicken that was donated to a poor family in Naddie’s name. We thought it was such a great gift!! This chicken will be giving lots and lots of eggs to a family in need!!
We also spent some time in New York City and we got a chance to stay in the most amazing apartment thanks to the Pakh family.
Naddie got to ride in a cab and ate Chinese, Indian and Mexican food.
We saw some old friends and Will’s old professor and his wife.
To give you some updates on her:
- she is repeating a lot of things when you tell her to “say……”
- she clearly says and uses “who is that?” and “what is that?”
- she says Lisa (it made Lisa teary eyed)
- she says “hi there”
- she can walk when you hold one of her hands
- she is eating pretty much everything we give her
- she learned to blow kisses from my dad
- she gives high five when you ask her to
- she also knows when I tell her not to do something and stops and repeats the no sound I use (it is pretty funny)
She is now a toddler and believe me she sure knows it!!!

As we are getting ready…..

So I have a few minutes to write and take a break from getting ready for our trip to back east. We will be leaving tomorrow and I am not sure when I will have time to put up a new post? As I was getting Naddie ready for her bath tonight I was thinking to myself “she has no idea what’s coming her way”, and than I thought “well, nor do we”.
We are flying red eye, which at the time we made the reservation seemed to be a good idea and as we got closer to the date I realized we might have made the biggest mistake so far. I guess we are going to find out tomorrow night. I just have to keep repeating “DO NOT PANIC, DO NOT PANIC, DO NOT PANIC”.She is doing great though. She is totally getting ready for a big change! We can totally tell. She has taken a few steps this past week and she was so confident and was not surprised at all. I guess she might be practicing while I am not looking because it was the first time I have ever seen her do it. She also said “whasshat?” today after she heard a big truck go by while I was getting her in her car seat. She is repeating more and more words and can totally surprise us with new sounds and will just talk and talk and talk…

At the playground

We went to our favorite park today and I finally took some pictures of Naddie.
I absolutely love this playground! We can spend hours here and she just keeps going from one thing to the next and than back.
She will laugh soo hard while she is in the swing and loves climbing the fire truck. Today she was planning to exit out of the “moving” vehicle. Yes, it moves if you push on it.She will also sit front of the slide so that I get the picture. I put her on the top of it and she slides down with my help. We continue to do this over and over again until I talk her into something different. To get her in the car (to head home) afterward is another story.

Fun Picks

Thanksgiving and all the fun holiday fixings

Naddie celebrated her very first thanksgiving with her great grandparents, grandparents and uncle and aunt at our house. Daddy and cool uncle G were the chefs for the day and they made a fabulous dinner for all of us. Naddie really enjoyed having everyone around and all the attention she was getting for days. She was so exhausted at the end that she literarily had to take a break from everyone.
We are also getting ready for our trip to New York. We will be there from the 18th- the 28th and if anyone would like to see us while we are there just send us an email and we can schedule some time to get together. We will be busy with family but we will have time for our friends as always!
Naddie is now 11 months and she is getting so big. She is still not walking and for now I am really happy about that. She is very active and loves going and going and going…
She climbs up the stairs (all the way) and thank good she is not trying to climb back down just yet. I think, from what I see, she actually understands that she cannot do that yet. She absolutely loves dancing and will even do it if you just whistle something to her.
She is talking a lot in her own language and knows quite many words now in English and in Hungarian. She is just starting to say THERE and THANK YOU in English and she says APA for daddy and CICA for kitty and ANYA for mom in Hungarian.
She also understands basic questions and will react accordingly. She will give me her hands when I ask for them so that I can wipe them down and she will lift her feet when I ask to put the shoos on. She is also becoming a DRAMA QUEEN!! She loves dramatic moments and acting them out. The other day she really wanted to get out of her high chair, but I was not ready with cleaning her up, when she throw her head back and then leaned forward, put her forehead on the high chair tray and was crying out loud: AYAYAYAYA!!!Hollywood here we come!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Lisa's Birthday

Night,Night

We had a fantastic time on Halloween night with cool uncle G and aunt Lisa. Naddie was dressed as a ladybug and we took her "trick or treating" to downtown. I have never seen anything like this. There were hundreds if not thousands of kids and their parents all dressed up in great costumes. We had dinner on main street and walked around. We also visited uncle G's friends house where they had a great big block party. These people went all out to decorate their lawn and even attracted some of the evening news people. The theme was "Lost Vegas".

Naddie stayed up until 10pm and had so much fun!! Also as her aunt and uncle were leaving to go home she clearly said NIGHT,NIGHT to them while we all just stood there stunned!!!! I wonder what will she surprise us next with? Please don't say "a boyfriend"!!!

Unfortunate Events

As you all probably heard there are several fires burning in Southern California. Fortunately we do not live close to any of them and the only "inconvenience" we had was the high winds, hot weather and some smoke. The people who have lost their homes are in our thoughts and hopefully we can find a way to reach out to our "neighbors".

Last week we had mor-mor visiting and had such a great time with her. We LOVE having her here and hope to spend more time with her in the near future. She is coming to spend Thanksgiving with us and with cool uncle G, Lisa, Gramps Junior, Gramps and Granny.

Last week we got to take her to the Getty museum and it was her first time!!!! She loved the whole experience and we had a great time. She also baby set Naddie one night so Will and I got to go see a movie for the first time in almost a year. Actually 11 months. The last time it was right on Thanksgiving day and I was as preagnant as one can be. This time I did not have to keep going to the restrooms!!!

Doctor, Doctor give me the news…

Naddie had her “late” 9-month check up today. She did not get any shots at this visit to my surprise. She is 28.5 inches long and exactly 20 pounds. She also has four teeth and one more on its way. She is developing ahead of herself according to her new doctor and she has not been sick for the past 4 months at all (Thank God!!!!)
She is now testing her ability to stand on her own (and she is doing really well) and can walk with someone’s help or just holding on to the furniture. She also got sick of hitting her head each time she went under something so now she is taking her time and mastering the skill of lowering her body. She is also set the goal to get into puma’s food or water but there hasn’t been any successful try.
She is also a little chatterbox; I guess there is no question about whom she got that from.
I still don’t know if she is going to be right or left handed as she uses both equally.
She also saying “cica” (kat) and “de” (yes) as her new words in Hungarian and she is saying “phapha” for puma!She also thinks it is hilarious when I tell her not to do something. I just can’t stand to keep a straight face when she does that.

Quiet Times

So, people came and went. We are back to our usual routine. Next weekend Mor-mor is coming to visit and we can’t wait to see her.
Naddie is now standing up a lot and walking around holding on to the furniture. She loves to get into everything and none of her toys keep her busy longer than a few minutes. After she gets bored she just takes off to either pull some sort of electrical thingy or to take over puma’s toys.
Last week we got a great new stroller that allows us to go rollerblading and jogging and she seems to have a thing for speed. She gets so excited!!
She also still loves to dance and she picked up this move we shell call the monkey groove. When she gets into it she looks like an over stimulated chimpanzee. You know the ones that stand on their two feet, relax their hands along their side, move only their upper body and head from left to right and right to left.
Will makes the monkey sound when she does the move and she gets such a kick out of it.
I always said I have a monkey attached to me…… ;)

Start Spreading the news

The happiest place on earth

As I said.......

Aqua

Since Jim is here we have been busy showing him around. We went to the Long Beach Aquarium of the Pacific and walked around Belmont Shore. We also took him to our swimming lesson where Naddie was told that she would be advancing to the next level that is “Intermediate – Immersion, breath control, and rolling to the back are three skills that are emphasized in the Intermediate class. Parents are encouraged to allow their children to become more independent in the water.” She really enjoys her classes and we try to practice at home so that she feels more and more comfortable each time.
We also took Jim to see Newport and Balboa Island and had a great lunch on the beach; Naddie even added a little sand to the menu.
In the last week or so she also picked up some very funny habits and she cracks me up with them. One of them is: she is now giving the signature smile/grin to everyone and anyone who will look at her and it causes some delays in our every day.She also found the doorstopper, you know the ones cats love to play with because they make a funny sound and they are attached to the wall. Well she found them in each of our rooms and she also likes to touch them but the sound makes her cry. Even though it scares her she keeps playing with them. I hope to film it one day!!!

"Picture Perfect"

Naddie loves to pose to the camera. Have a real one or just a toy, if you say "cheese" she will strike a pose. As you can see she already has some of her signature smiles and also three teeth to show. (The fourth one is already sticking out). Enjoy the show....!!!

Naddie on the floor goes around and around, around and around Naddie on the floor goes around and around all through the house!!

Here is a quick update. Naddie is 5 days short of being 9 months old and she is certainly “showing” her age. She is now cruising around either her quasimodo crawling way (that is how Will calls her style) or holding on to some furniture while standing and trying to take steps to reach her destination. She also added “dadda” for daddy and “babba” to her vocabulary, which I think she means the blanky not baby. She is also taking some classes during the week. We go to “My Gym” twice a week where she loves to mingle with the other little ones and I think it is more of a work out for me than it is for her. We also take swimming lessons where we just learned to become little submarines, which was a bigger deal to me than to her. The instructor had to keep telling me that it was ok and that Naddie was doing great. Once again I think this class is more for me than for her.
These next few weeks we have a very full schedule. We have our friend Jim visiting us this week and our friends Kara and Lyric the following week. Lyric is 9 months older than Naddie and we are looking forward to have them down here, as we have not seen them for 3 months.

dancin' and singin' and movin' to the groovin'

Naddie is mommy’s girl!! I can finally say that. She might not look much like me, but she sure loves to move her little “tush” to the music as much as I do. She is so cute when she gets into it. She really likes the drum lines but will move to any kind of music.
This week’s entertainment (as I have decided that once a week we can afford to pay for some sort of entertainment) we went to the Discovery Science Cube and she had a blast. It wasn’t really anything the museum had, more like the kids around her and all the excitement that made her interested. They had the Sesame Street exhibition called “THE BODY” and that was really the only thing she could participate in. She was really focused on the “robber duck ducky” assignment where she had to find the correct answer to the questions and touch them by the sink. She also loved the signing (as she can now sign: more & eat and we are working on thank you).
This week I also got a bike trailer so that we can go on bike rides with her. We are just still waiting for her infant size helmet to arrive.
I also think that she said her first word, which one would think would be either mom or dad but in reality it is “KIT”. I believe that is for the KITTY we call Puma.
I say I believe because she only said it ones and I got so excited I really wanted Will to hear and of course we never heard it ever since.
We also signed up for some mommy and me classes and will be starting them next week.
She is growing like weed and has been very healthy ever since we have been back here. No more coughs or ear infections or any nasty little “buggers” attacking her little immune system.
We also had a fun birthday/celebration party for Will a few weeks ago. He is officially a Dr. and finished school!!!!!

It's a big, big world

We will keep her little map updated as she explores the world.

Banana nana nana

BE AWARE OF BABY!!!!

Naddie got her first tooth!!!!!!! Ask me how I found out!....... Well, she bit me.

I was totally taken by surprise. I think it took a few minutes for my brain to process the information that was sent by Naddie's tooth. I have to say it is pretty sharp too. It is not all the way out just yet but it will be sooner than later.

She is also rolling around and rocks back and forth on her fours. As much as I thought that she would not crawl, I think she is on her way and will take a few weeks for her to master the new knowledge.

She is finally sleeping through the night for this past week and that allowed me to have more than four hours straight sleep. Sometimes in the early morning hours I just lay a wake in the bed just because I can..... and waiting for HER to wake up.

She is changing soo much right now that I can't even think of everything new she is doing!!!

Her diet is changing a lot with the introduction of turkey with broccoli and asparagus which I have been cooking up. Also just lots and lots of fresh fruit cut up or worked into her plain yogurt. NO MORE "ready made". Not even her apple sauce.