I Almost Forgot About This!

Amelia,

What happens when your mom forgets that she started this blog for you? I've recently rediscovered it and I've had so much fun reading about you as a little girl. So here I am, rededicating myself to updating this blog.

Amelia, as I write this, you're 8 almost 9 years old. I seriously can't believe it. How did you get to be so old? What happened to my baby? First of all, I want you to know how much I love you. You're such a sweet and sensitive girl. You still worry a lot and about a lot of things, and your confidence could definitely be stronger...but I wouldn't trade you for the world. You and I are so, so much alike. And we butt head a lot. And I'm sorry. I'm more short with you than I have any right to be. I hope you know how much I love you and I'm trying to be better. I don't want you to be short tempered with the people you love in your life and I can see it happening.

Enough of that, let's catch up! We live in Glasgow, Scotland. We've been here almost 3 years and we're all very happily settled here. You attend Kelvindale Primary School and you've got three really great friends: Molly, Uju and Sofia. I'm so glad you've got good friends who you love to see and play with.

You are such a reader! You read and read! We can't keep up with you books-wise. And you have such an imagination. I love hearing the stories you come up with and getting a peek into your mind. Recently you competed in the Robert Burns' Poetry Competition, you competed against kids from other schools in grades P4-5 and guess what? You got third place over all! I was so proud of you.

You're such a great big sister to Seb and Charlotte, they're so lucky to have you. I'm going to try to update this more, I promise!

Love,

Mom (or Mum as you now firmly call me!).

Such an imagination!

Oh Amelia,

You are so much fun! Part of me wants to freeze you in time, so you can stay this age forever. You have such a great imagination. I absolutely love it. You love to pretend to be a dog, monkey or bird. You also treat your stuffed animals as real people, and you get so into it. My favorite thing is probably Dommit, your invisible reindeer that can fly. You've had him since Christmas and he comes with you to school. You also ride him.

You're also convinced you are a superhero and so cute while doing it. You hate princesses and would much rather be a knight. Thomas is your best friend at Robinsfield and you love your teacher Chloe. We're getting ready to make a big move to Scotland and you're alternately looking forward to having snow on a regular basis and dreading moving away from everything you know and love. You are a very sensitive soul. You love hard, and take things hard. I admit, I am a little worried at how you'll do with this move and I feel a little guilty, as I'm the cause. But it'll be good for all of us in the long run.

You still love cuddles. Yesterday you told me: The best thing for a girl is to cuddle with her nice soft mom.

I love you so much and I'm so proud to be your mom.

Clever girl!

Amelia,

We had such a fun family day today. We went to Borough Market and you loved trying all the samples. And sharp eyed kid that you are, you found four coins on the ground! We then went to the Tower of London to see the poppies, placed there for the WW1 memorial. You were in a good mood and didn't complain too much. That always makes for a great day out.

You are still loving school, you just got moved up two reading levels, you're really figuring out how to sound out words and you've gotten 100% on your spelling tests the last two weeks!

You have such a great imagination and you love to play with Jess the Cat and Pluto the (hard plastic) dog. You play such fun games with them. You're still pretty good with Seb, but sometimes you're still rough with him. He loves watching you and he just laughs and laughs.

You still love to snuggle with me and play with dad and we adore you to bits!

Mom

Sharp eyed kid museum

Oh Amelia,

You are such a clever kid! Today you turned your room into a 'sharp eyed kid' museum. It included a ribbon cutting ceremony (which you declared the museum open). Then there were exhibits, each with a sign. As we walked in, there was a sign on the wall saying 'no food or drink'. Then there was an open book with a sign saying 'do not touch'. Then there was a pair of sunglasses which had a sign saying 'sharp eyed kid glasses'. And lastly, there was a postcard of the Fonz, with a paper in front of it (it was propped up), that said 'Mat'. You explained to us that it was a grave of someone named Matt and the card was the headstone.

Dad and I are glad that dragging you to all the museums we do has sunk in a bit!

Clever, clever girl!

Yikes!

Oh Amelia,

It has been a year since I've updated this! I'm so, so sorry! How I wish I was the type of parent who is super organized and posts something every week. However, I'll try to do better.

We've had such an incredible year. You're almost finished with reception, which is your first full year of school. You have come such a long, long way. This time last year, you'd still cry when I dropped you off for nursery (half day), but now, you just run along. Actually Dad takes you to school in the mornings. He started off doing it temporarily and liked it so much he just kept on doing it. You guys have some great conversations on the walk to school. He tells me you love to show off on your scooter and you talk about all sorts of random things, like things going on at school, how much you love the climbing frame and your friends. And you love school. Your teacher's name is Zara (this school calls the teachers by their first names, I don't quite understand why), Leslie the teacher's aide from nursery is also there, which you love. You're learning so many amazing things. You can write in cursive (almost) and you're learning to read. You also love maths and lunch (in fact you always say lunch is the best thing you did all day). You have some really good friends. You love playing with Elijah and Thomas especially. They think you're the best because you play 'Spiderman' with them...except you're 'Spider girl' who can do the same things, just that you're a girl.

Recently Elijah and another boy Gabriel had an argument over who got to marry you when you grew up. I asked you which one you wanted to marry and you said Gabriel. When I asked why, you said it was because he held your hand and Elijah didn't do that!

You've had a little bit of a harder time friend-wise at church, your best buddy Perry Macfarlane moved to Utah. And your other good friends Simon and Josiah Webster have also moved. Unfortunately you're learning the hard lesson of living in the Hyde Park ward/London, people don't usually stick around more than a few years. Only us, the Dougalls, Phillips and a few other families. However your confidence has grown so much, you're making new friends. I'm so proud of you.

Probably the biggest thing to happen to us is the arrival of Sebastian! You finally have a little brother. And you love him so much. You can make him laugh harder than anyone. Anytime you come into the room, he just watches you and wriggles with excitement. You sometimes love him a little too much and we have to caution you to not pick him up/accidentally kick him/jump on him etc. I think you're just ready for him to get a bit bigger so you can do more things. Don't worry, he'll get there. But you are a fantastic big sister. You're always watching out for him and telling me to do or not do things. I know you're going to continue to look out for him your whole life. He sure is lucky to have you.

Amelia, you're such a joy in our lives. You're five years old and you ask so, so, so many questions. Sometimes I don't even know how to answer them. You're still incapable of doing anything wrong without confessing to it first (usually before I even realize that you've done anything naughty). You're so interested in how the world works and you're getting so friendly with people. It's hard to remember that this is the same kid who wouldn't ever, ever leave my side at the park/church/school. You talk to strangers on the bus/tube and people are enchanted by you. Here's an example of what a conversation with you is like.

Your friend Eva Marriott-Fabre was baptized recently and we attended. Later you asked me if Eva was now a different person. I said no and asked why you thought that. You said that your primary teacher Leigh, said that when a person was baptized, they became a different person. I explained how we make a promise to Heavenly Father and Jesus when you get baptized and your sins are washed away. You asked if the water washed away the sins. I answered 'yes' and then you asked what happened to the next person who was getting baptized, did all of Eva's sins in the water get on them when they got in? I had to hide my laughter when I explained that wasn't exactly how things work. But oh, Mia...how I love your brain and how it works. I hope you always ask questions!

Since Seb joined us, you and I have butted heads a bit more. I'm very tired (he's the world's worst sleeper, you were much better as a baby) and you have had a few moments of acting out (having a new baby has diverted a lot of attention from you to him, only natural). But I'm happy to say we've come out of it. You still want to give me hugs and kisses all the time and you tell me several times a day that you love me. And I hope you know how much I love you as well. You're such a special girl and every night I thank Heavenly Father that I get to me your mom!

I'm going to get better at this so these aren't so long! Love you kiddo!

Mom

Update...

Hi Sweetheart,

It's been far too long since I've updated this blog for you. I'm sorry about that kiddo. But we've had a busy time. We're finally expecting a little brother for you! You're so cute, you'll rub my belly and say 'It's okay baby.' and you're so anxious to feel him kick. You'll often place your hand on my belly and say 'Is little brother kicking?' You're going to be such a good sister. You've got so many great plans for him, when he comes. I can't wait to see how you are when he finally makes his appearance. He's due on Halloween, so we'll see when he actually arrives.

You're still loving school, you can now write your name, it looks awesome. You love your teachers, singing and all the classes. You have some good friends and you love playing chase with them during outside time.

One thing you're super into is Ghostbusters. It's the funniest thing ever. You watch the animated cartoon on Youtube and everyday you're a different one. We often play the 'Ghostbuster' game, of which there are several variations. You and daddy have a great time.

Also, for your birthday we took you to Disneyland Paris. You loved it. You're not very much into princesses or fairies, but you love Mickey and Donald. You were so brave and went on all the rides you could, you pretended you were shooting the ghosts on the Phantom Manor ride but your very favorite ride was the Pirates of the Caribbean. You wanted to go on Big Thunder Mountain, but you were too short. Next time, I'm not sure we'll be able to stop you! We had a special dinner with Mickey and Minnie and some of the other characters, they even brought you a birthday cake and sang 'Happy Birthday' to you. It had candles on it and everything. You thought it was awesome, though your pictures would suggest otherwise.

You still have such a great imagination and you're still so very sensitive. I love talking with you and playing with you. You're a beautiful girl, inside and out and I hope you always know that. Dad and I love you so much. I am a little worried about how you'll react when Little Brother arrives, I hope you're not too jealous at having our attention diverted. But I think you'll be just fine.

Love you so much kiddo!

Mom

At Dinner Tonight...

So Daddy has been gone to South Africa for over a week and you and I have been having lots of 'girl time'.

Tonight at dinner you and I were talking about Jesus and how when he died his friends were sad, but then when he came back they were happy. I then told you how Jesus now lives in Heaven with Heavenly Father...we talk a lot about Heavenly Father because sometimes when you pray or someone else does, you're not very reverent. Also you picked up the phrase 'Oh my G-d', probably from school. So lately, we've been having the conversation that when you say that, it hurts Heavenly Father's feelings.

So while talking about this, you said 'Mom, I want to tell Heavenly Father something." I said okay, and then you looked up at the sky and said "Heavenly Father? Thank you for loving me!" and I said that was very nice and made Him happy. Then you looked up again and said 'Heavenly Father! Thanks for being there forever!" and then you looked at me and said 'Aren't I a good girl?'

You seemed pretty pleased with yourself, but I'm not quite sure you were doing everything for the right reasons.

It doesn't stop you from still being the cutest kid on the planet. I love you so much!

Amelia,

Today is Mother's Day here in the UK and you gave me the best present I could ever ask for! In Sacrament meeting today when they called the primary kids up to sing some songs, you weren't quite sure about going up, and to be honest, I didn't think you'd do it. You're only 3 and haven't been in Sunbeams that long, and you're not the most confident kid in the world. But you looked at me and Dad and then hopped off the bench and marched right up to the front with all the other kids. You looked so adorable standing there singing, even though you didn't know the words very well. I almost started crying, I was so proud of you! Dad was about to burst, he was so proud. You looked so comfortable up there and so pretty! I've waited my entire life to have a child of mine sing to me at the front of the chapel and today you made that dream come true.

You also made me a sweet card and you were so excited to give it to me, it was accompanied by a giant hug and a cheerful 'Happy Mother's Day' from you.

I love you so much. The best part about being a mom is being your mom!

Somebody That I Used to Know

Amelia,

No blog about your life would be complete without talking about your love for the song 'Somebody that I Used to Know' by Goyte. Except you don't call it that, you call it 'dun dun dunDundun' which is the first few bars of the song. And since this is a popular song, there has been many cover versions of it and you can tell each one pretty much just by hearing the first few bars. You stumbled upon the music video while poking around YouTube and that's what got you hooked.

The video is of a seemingly naked guy who as he sings gets painted into the mural behind him. Now everytime you get naked for the bath or your pj's or whatever you always say "I don't want the paint to come on me!" You think that everyone who is naked for a long amount of time gets painted. Poor kid. I hope we haven't damaged you by letting you watch that video (for the record, it only shows his leg and head, nothing else...we're not horrible parents).

Every night you ask Dad and me to tell you a story about when you were a baby. Which we happily do. Also, after dinner you sit on my lap (at the table, while you finish your last few bites) and ask me to tell you a 'Panda Mia' story. Which is basically a recount of that day's events. It always starts the same: "Once upon a time there was a little panda called Mia. One day Mia woke up and said 'is today a school day?" and Mommy Panda said 'yes' (or 'no' depending on the day). And then we talk about the day. It's become the best way to get you to tell us what you do at school...or at least you tell us what Panda Mia did at school. ;)

Dad reminded me that someday I'll really miss you wanting me to tell you stories. You still love to climb up on my lap and you're getting so tall and big, it's not as comfortable for either of us, but you still love it (so do I). It occurred to me last night that all too soon, you won't want to cuddle on my lap with me. I'll be so sad when that day comes. I love our cuddles. You're my special girl and Dad and I are so proud at how big you're getting, but we do still miss our little baby. ;)

You're at school now and I really hope you've had a good day. You're working on writing your name and have been reading the story 'Jack and the Beanstock'. I love how much you love to learn

I pretty much just love you, kiddo!

Mom

Catch up

Oh Amelia,

I have such great intentions on keeping this blog better updated for you. I'm so sorry it isn't what I wanted it to be. You're such a joy in our lives. You're also kind of a pill sometimes, but most of the time you're a joy. ;) You're so funny. You come up with the funniest situations and ideas. Like the other day you came up to me and showed me your hands and said they were called 'ilda' and 'olga' and when 'olga' started tickling you, you came to me laughing, "Mom, olga is tickling me', when it was you doing it to yourself the entire time. Your hands also hit you sometimes and you will come to complain to me about that also.

You're doing so well in school. You still love playing with Oskar and as far as I can tell, he's very nice to you (I can't say that about how he is with all the kids, he's a bit of an alpha male). You still have to sit on your special chair and have one of the teachers read a book with you, but then you're off and playing. You love playing outside (your current favorite games are 'chasing game' and football). We had about a week of snow recently (very rare for London) and you loved bundling up and going outside.

Also, this past Christmas we were able to fly to Utah to see Grandma and Grandpa Kinsel and all your aunts and uncles and cousins! You loved it. You loved playing with your cousins Sarah and Norah and you and Janie even played together a few times. It was so much fun to see you get to know my family and to see them get to know you. You have a very hybrid type of accent and all your American family loved to hear you say certain words. Once we were eating lunch at the bowling alley with Aunt Mak and you saw people bowling and you said 'I want to have a go at that game' which is a very common (yet very British) saying here, your dad and I didn't even notice it, but Aunt Mak thought it was the cutest thing she'd ever heard.

You always tell me things you learned from school (well sort of). I'll hear you sing songs from there and lately you've started singing primary songs. You sound so sweet singing with your little voice.

Speaking of primary, you started Sunbeams and surprisingly (to me anyway) you love it! On the very first day you went in, sat on a chair and said "Just go Mom..." so I went. I couldn't believe you were serious. Usually you're a little more clingy than that. I couldn't believe the girl who was still struggling in Nursery was telling me to go. But you meant it and you haven't looked back. You love the fact that you're in class with Perry, he's one of your very best friends. I'm so proud of you.

You love to draw, the other day you were looking at George the Monkey and noticing things about him and you'd add it to the paper. You'd say 'Mom, George has a curly tail!' and then you'd add a curly tail to the picture. Or hair, or his smile. You're so clever.

I love you so much Mia, you are my light. Dad and I have been trying really, really hard to give you a brother or sister...but unfortunately it hasn't worked. We hate that. But we're so, so grateful to have you in our lives. You bring us so much joy and I hope you know that, even if we're cranky sometimes or we do things you don't agree with. You're so very special to us and we're trying our best to help you grow up to be a good, kind, loving person.

So far, you're right on track!

Love,

Mom

School Time!

Amelia! You're such a big girl now! You started school about a month ago and so far, so good. You struggled a bit at the beginning and even now, when I drop you off you try to decide whether or not you want to cry (you almost always decide not to). You still like to just 'sit on a chair and not play with anyone forever!" and they have a special chair for you to sit on, but the teachers tell me you only last for a few minutes before you're up and playing.

This school (called nursery here, but it's basically pre-school) is great, there is so much for you to do and play with! Every day they have several different tables set up with all sorts of fun things to play with. One might have play doh, another might have paints and paper, another legos, and yet another might have dinosaurs and farm toys. Plus there is a great kitchen area, reading area and entire outside area. You are totally spoiled for choice. Everyday I come to pick you up, you run out to me with a smile and show me the book you picked out for us to read tonight.

School has also given you so much more confidence. You're not scared of other kids and even join in playing with kids you don't know at the park. I'm so happy that you're happy. It was very difficult for me to send you to school. I knew it would be good for you, but you're my baby and I didn't want you to leave me! You and I have spent every day together for your entire life, we had a great rhythm and I so enjoy spending time with you. But you're such a clever girl, I knew you'd love it and it would be the best thing for you...and I was right. I still miss you though!

Let's see...what else is going on? Oh, it's almost Halloween and you're so excited to dress up as Woody from Toy Story. Aunt Cyndi sent you a super cute costume and we got you a cowboy hat. The first time you put everything on you kept saying 'howdy howdy howdy' and 'yeehaw cowboy!'

You still love to sing and I find that you're learning lots of songs, because you come home and sing songs that we've never sung together. You still love to make up your own songs and quite often in the bath or when you're playing on your own you'll sing about what you're doing, it's hilarious. I haven't managed to get it on video yet, but I'll keep trying.

As always, you're our joy and Dad and I love you so, so much. You light up our lives and everyday we thank Heavenly Father for letting us be your parents. We love you!

Love,

Mom

Olympic Fever!

We are smack in the middle of the Olympics! We love living here in London and experiencing the atmosphere that can only come from an event like the Olympics. We've also been lucky enough to be able to attend a few of the events. You've come with us to three different events and you have been such a trooper. Dad and I are so proud of you! Yesterday we went to the Olympic Park and women's field hockey. You made everyone around us laugh by yelling out 'You can do it!' 'Come on, go!' You also serenaded the players with a very enthusiastic rendition of Old MacDonald had a farm. You are such a crack up. Yesterday we also went to watch women's football (soccer), we saw Japan v France in the semi final match. You were awesome there as well. You loved looking at all the people in Wembley and cheering on the teams. We have so many fun pictures of you at all the events. I hope you remember at least a bit of it! Some other miscellaneous things you've been doing lately... George the Monkey is your absolute favorite friend. He's the only stuffed 'friend' that gets the privilege of sleeping with you in your bed. And he's never called just 'George', it's always 'George the Monkey'. You love him so much. The other night at dinner, he was sitting on your chair with you and Dad asked if you'd like to say the prayer. You replied that George the Monkey wanted to pray. Dad and I agreed (thinking you'd just say the prayer) and Dad started helping you pray. It went something like this: Dad: Thank you for this day You: Hoo hah hah hoo hah (monkey talk) Dad: Thank you for the food You: Hoo hoo hah hoo hah It continued like that the entire prayer! You were speaking 'monkey' for George the Monkey. It was all we could do to keep from laughing. I wish I could say that this only happened once, but nope, George regularly helps us pray! It's also so much fun to see/hear you play with your toys. When you do the 'voice' of a character that has a deeper voice, you talk in this funny gravely voice. It's hilarious. You still love to pretend to be various animals. You're often a monkey (which is when you'll only say 'hoo hah'), a baby panda (which is a high pitched voice), a baby bird (squeaks), a little mouse (more squeaks) and a dog (called Grommit from Wallace and Gromit). You still love Mr. Bean, Mickey Mouse and of course Curious George. You still love to sing and your new favorite song to play on the iPod is 'Somebody that I used to know' by Goyte. It's so funny that that is the song you've latched on to. You also love "Do they know it's Christmas" by the Bare Naked Ladies and 'Life's a Happy Song' from the newest Muppet movie. So at the very least you have eclectic tastes! You're continually a joy for us Mia, and Dad and I still comment to each other how much we love you, how much you make us laugh and what a funny kid you are. Every night I thank Heavenly Father for trusting me to be your mom and for blessing me with such a beautiful, kind and funny daughter. Love, Mom

Wet Ball!

Amelia: Mommy, my ball is wet! Me: Wet? Is it from your juice? (she'd spilled some earlier and I thought maybe I'd missed wiping part of it up). Amelia: No, it's from my mouth. Good to know kiddo!

This and That

Amelia...you have just been so hilarious lately. I'm so loving spending time with you and being your mom. You are super cute. You love to sing and make up some great songs. And you're starting to use such big words! The other day when Dad and I were still in bed, you came into the room, and we said 'Do you want to climb up and cuddle with us in bed?" and you listed off a variety of things you needed to do, which included breakfast, playing with 'George the Monkey', playing on 'Big Pod', playing Happyland and you concluded all of this by saying 'I'm just too busy." I know it might not sound as funny on paper, but it was hilarious. We've been working on potty training you. You'll do almost anything for chocolate chips, but you also have the option of collecting stickers and when you get 10, you get a doughnut (one of your current favorite treats). It's slow going. But you're getting better at telling us when you have to go potty. You've also been doing so well at nursery in church, the last few weeks you haven't even cried. And all the workers say you're such a good example for the younger kids. And you especially love snack time. You're still pretty shy around other kids, you still prefer grown ups. You're super polite and always say 'Yes please' and 'No thank you'. It's super cute. You and Daddy make up such fun games. Your current favorites are 'Cuddle Now' which involves Dad chasing you around the house saying that in a funny voice. You also play 'Eagle duck' which is a puppet of an eagle that grandpa sent you, Eagle Duck involves Dad chasing you with the puppet on his hand. Sensing a trend here? You love being chased. You ask me to chase you several times a day. You also love being tickled. You're such a happy girl, always ready for a laugh. You're also growing up so quickly! You've gotten so tall! I was just noticing the other day that you're becoming all legs. And your hair has such a cute curl to it, you truly are a gorgeous girl. But more important than that, you're clever and you're a hard worker. You love to help clean and do laundry. Another fun phrase you're saying now, is when you are kind of upset you'll look at me (or Dad) and say 'DON'T YOU EVER!!!' But you never complete the sentence (Like don't you ever take my toys etc). It's become kind of a joke now, but we still haven't figured out where you picked that up. You also love saying 'Go Abadas!' when you're excited about something. Abadas is a show on Cbeebies, but you hardly watch it. So I'm not sure why you picked it up as your catch phrase. Today it started raining after quiet time. So we put on your wellie boots, grabbed our umbrellas and headed out to splash in 'muddy puddles' you love doing that. We just walked around our neighborhood for about an hour, jumping in puddles and getting wet. You loved it. You always love any chance you can get to splash around. You've been so great about going to bed lately. You don't even like me to cuddle you much anymore. Which does make me a little sad, that was our time to catch up and talk about the day. But I'm glad you don't cry when I leave you. And as much as you love playing with Daddy, you still only want Mom to put you to bed. Sometimes I love that. Sometimes I'd love for you to let Dad do it. You're such a joy Amelia. I can't believe you're going to be 3 soon. When we ask you what you want for your birthday dinner, you've only said 'apples and oranges', hopefully you give us more to go on! You also still love Mr. Bean and wanted a 'Bean' party. Thankfully you've changed your mind and now want a Postman Pat party. That is much more doable! We are going to have a gathering in the park like last year with all your friends, hopefully you'll play with some of them. Love you baby panda!

People!

The other day on the bus, the funniest thing happened. Often we talk about people, like you will comment 'there's a lot of people on the bus' or 'people are going to sit in that seat'. Very often when we get off the bus, you'll shout, 'bye people!' I never thought too much about it. Until the other day.

We were on the bus, coming home from the Science Museum (which you absolutely loved!). And it started to get crowded, which is no big deal. A man sat in the seat next to me (we were in the wide area where strollers can go) and started talking to you. You were having a good time. When he turned his attention to something else, you decided to try to get his attention. You wanted to show him a picture in your Teletubby book. You said 'Hey look at this!" When he didn't notice you, you tried again "Look at this!" He still didn't know you were talking to him. Finally you looked straight at him and yelled "People, look at this!"

It made me chuckle, and dad and I talked later if maybe you thought the names of everyone we saw on the bus and out and about are 'people'. Who knows, it sure was cute though!

I Show You!

Your new favorite thing to say is 'Mommy, I show you. I show you Mommy!" You'll keep saying that until I say "Okay, show me." And then you'll do something silly, like make a high pitched noise or sound. Or spin around. It's super cute.

The other day, I taught you how to play hide-and-seek. You keep calling it peekaboo. You love playing though, it's your new favorite thing. You don't quite understand the concept. I'll count and then come to find you and you'll pop out of your hiding place (usually the same place every time) and say 'You found me!' When it's your turn to count you only count: 1,2,4! And then come and find me. It doesn't give me very much time to hide! But you still love it and love finding me. It's truly your new favorite game. It'll be fun when you're older and we can play hide-and-seek in the dark with the whole family, like I used to when I was younger.

Babysitter!

Amelia,

Last night you had your first night time babysitter (that you were old enough to remember). Dad and I got tickets to a really cool night time talk show called the Graham Norton Show and we were so excited. We asked a girl in our ward, Abby Tingey to babysit you. You were so excited for Abby to come, you talked about all the things you were going to do with her, like playing Play Doh, choo choo trains, animals and all sorts of fun things.

When she came, you were a little unsure, but apparently you didn't cry and had fun playing. Until bedtime that is. Ever since we moved you into your 'big girl bed' you've not let anyone put you to bed except for me. Not even Dad, and you'd choose Dad over me almost always.

So we told Abby to let you stay up. She said you started to really cry when she put you down, so she let you stay up and you eventually fell asleep about 10pm. After watching videos of yourself on the iPad.

Overall it seems like the night was a success. I hope you're not too grumpy today!

You are getting cuter and cuter every day. I just look at you and want to give you hugs all the time. You're talking so well and you play so cute. You've really started to get into playing with all your little animals. You create very elaborate situations and talk for them and I can't help but listen in to you as you play. You've got such an imagination, I love that! I love that you like to play pretend.

You're still also my cuddly girl. There's not much you love more than to climb up on my lap for a cuddle. Your favorite foods currently are cherry tomatoes (you say "Mia wants to eat them like a ball") cucumbers, daddy chips and anything mint flavored. Also at dinner you'll bypass meat for veg (you especially like peas and broccoli), and you're still a very good eater...when you want to be. You're still very stubborn.

Recently we've hit a few museums. Last weekend we went to the Museum of London Transport. You loved climbing on the trains and big buses. You especially love getting in the driver's seat and pushing all the buttons. You're so cute!

That's it from here.

Love,

Mom.

Big Girl Bed!

Amelia! Stop growing up so quickly! A couple of days ago we decided to take the sides off your cot and transform your bed into a 'big girl bed' you are so excited to sleep in it! You love it. You kept getting on and off the bed saying 'Mia has a big girl bed'. You even danced around and sang a little song about it. Dad wasn't so sure about you being ready for a big girl bed, but I knew you were ready. You've slept great in it and have had no problems. Dad just wants you to stay his little baby girl forever. I don't blame him.

You're also talking so much! You've got such an imagination. You loved Christmas, you weren't quite sure about opening all the presents, but you sure loved all the toys! This year was dominated by Toy Story. You got a cool light up Buzz from Santa and Woody and Jessie from Grandma and Grandpa Ngai! Grandpa Kinsel sent you a puppet of a bald eagle and you love it. You keep calling it a duck though. I keep correcting you...now you call it 'eagle duck'. You're sure cute.

Lately you've also been saying 'Mia love (fill in the blank). You're exploring this concept of loving things. When we hear the lift for dad coming home from work, you'll say to me over and over 'Mia love daddy, mommy!' And Daddy just loves to hear that. You also say "Mia love Mommy" and "Mia love Jessie" or whatever. It's so cute.

You love to play with your toys, you have such a great imagination. You love dumping out the container holding the toys and placing them on top, you always have them in a certain order.

Lately you've been really cute in saying good bye to things. When we get off the bus you'll shout 'bye bus! Mwah' (or however you make the kissing noise). And lately you've responded for them so you'll say 'bye bus!' and then you'll say 'bye Mia' as if it were the bus saying that. Does that make sense?

You're pretty much the cutest girl in the world and I love you more and more every day. You're so loving and fun. I love being your mom!

Love you!

Mom

P.S. You're still into Mr. Bean. You got a GI Joe (except of the British variety...an RAF Gunner) for Christmas. It has dark hair and you call him Bean. Your dad and I love it!

World Traveler!

Hey Amelia,

We just got back from a great trip to Australia and you were such a good traveler! We were worried that at some point on the 22 hour trip there you would've had a hard time, cried or a meltdown but you did so well.

You were also so great for Grandma and Grandpa Ngai, they loved you and spoiled you rotten. You loved going to the zoo, Disneyland (in Hong Kong), aquarium and especially the beach. You were scared of the waves at first, but then you loved them, you loved it when they came on the shore and would chase you. You squealed and would race back. It was really cute.

It's a long way to travel to Australia, but you did a fantastic job!

So cute!

Amelia, today you're being so darn cute. Sometimes I just look at you and wonder if it's possible to love you even more than I do. Just when I think my heart is full to the brim with love for you, you do something absolutely adorable that makes me realize exactly what the term 'unconditional love' means.

Today we were coloring. We sat at your little table and I was attempting to color different 'scenes'. One of those was a castle. You wanted me to draw a horse, and I'm not exactly a great artist, so I started trying to draw a horse. You looked at it and said 'baa baa...sheep'! You were so proud that you'd recognized my sheep. So I pretended that's what I was going for all the time. Then I tried another horse. This one looked more horse-like, I know this because you looked over from your drawing and gave me an appreciative 'neigh'. Then I drew a knight (stick figure...of course). You thought that was great. And then you started chattering on and on and I could only catch the words 'sheep' and 'horse'.

Normally I can understand 95% of what you say, but when you get going, sometimes I'm completely lost. But it was obvious you were making up a story about the sheep and horse and castle and you went on and on with such great inflection. You were dead serious explaining it to me and I wish I knew what some of those things you said were.

I love you so much! You're so charming and adorable. It almost makes up for the times when you're not so charming and adorable (okay it totally does).