As usual, it has been forever since I posted last, but instead of catching up right now I just want to do a post all about Aliyah. She turned one a couple weeks ago, and she is growing up and changing so much right now. I feel like it is even hard for me to remember some of her cute little quirks from even just a month ago. I hope I can capture a lot of that kind of stuff in this post, so that my crazy mind can come back to it a few months down the road.
Here are some of the fun facts about our girl:
Aliyah took her first steps on March 17th, but after that she would only take up to 12ish steps at a time (usually only 3 or 4) and she just wasn't too interested in walking. Until a few days after her birthday! On April 16th she decided that walking was awesome! She has felt that way ever since and loves to cruise around the house :)
Aliyah wants to be big like all the other kids around her. She gets offended when I try to hold onto her on the trampoline (even when big kids are jumping) and if you don't hand her an apple when the other kids are having them...you'll hear about it! She also loves to stand up and walk around on beds and during wagon rides...hopefully soon she'll realize how dangerous that is.
She just started to really enjoy sitting and reading books with me and I am so excited! That is one of my favorite activities to do with my kiddos, so I'm thrilled that she wants to be in on the snuggling as well.
She loves all things cozy and cuddly. A soft blanket or a furry stuffed animal can totally make her day, so one of her favorite spots is Kaleb's bed! We have a blanket that I bought for our family that she has taken over. She has to have it for nap time and bed time and she just loves that thing (it is super cozy!)
Aliyah has always had crazy hair, but somehow it keeps getting crazier! I'm hoping that once it gets a few inches longer it will look cute more often. Now I just have to either get it wet and comb it 20 times a day, or just smile and be proud of my little lion (or as we affectionately call her "Sumo-liyah")
Now, that nickname is also in reference to her cute little body. She has such squishy, chubby thighs and I love them! We are hoping that at some point she'll thin down but for now it is super cute.
Aliyah is in such a fun, interactive baby phase. She loves playing peekaboo, and doing the actions along with Pat-A-Cake and Popcorn Popping. She also folds her arms for prayer and is so proud of herself for doing so :)
She has 8 teeth and the top 2 in the middle have quite a gap between them. Her smile is so silly it makes me happy :) Sometimes we say she has summer teeth.
Aliyah does the funniest little bouncing dance thing that we call her "angry dance." She gets this mad face with a major double chin and makes a kind of growling, motor like sound while she bounces up and down. I don't know if that gives a very clear picture, but it is hilarious and she thinks so too. She always giggles really hard after she does it.
One thing that I absolutely love about Aliyah-loo is that she loves to cuddle. When she first wakes up in the morning she is so happy and gives me the sweetest hugs. It is definitely one of the things I look forward to most each day. She is still learning what it means when we ask her to give us a hug or give us "loves." She generally responds to that request by bonking her head against mine repeatedly.
The relationship Aliyah and Kaleb have is really fun to be a spectator of. Kaleb adores Aliyah and (most of the time) talks so lovingly to her. Aliyah has already learned the art of teasing her brother. I'm always a little baffled when she makes him cry really hard. The other day they both had a piece of chocolate licorice and she finished her's first. When she saw that he still had quite a bit, she snuck over and grabbed it out of his hand and hurried off. He came over to me bawling, and I just had to laugh.
