Rayya - 13 Months

Every time I write about Rayya I get all teary-eyed, and sappy. I guess it's because we just didn't really know if we would get to have her... and now we do. It's a gift that never gets old. A blessing that we are reminded of every second of every day.

Rayya has 7 teeth - and really knows how to use them! She LOVES table food, and eats ANYTHING. It's amazing! She hates it if anyone is eating in front of her, and will beg until she gets to have a taste. Some of her favourites are noodles, bananas, sweet potatoes, pears, and ham. She is also working on using a sippy cup, and we're slowly seeing the end to the day of bottles.

Rayya is nearly 95% happy. Even her bad moods are quite laughable really! She'll cry when she gets hurt - but only ones that hurt a lot. She's pretty tough. James is fabulous with her - but every now and then she still gets toppled. I think James usually takes it harder than she does!

She loves walks in the stroller, and crawling around in the grass outside. Because she'll eat anything, I have to watch her pretty closely! She isn't a big fan of being in her carseat for very long though. Unlike her big brother, she REFUSES to sleep in the car, unless she is so tired that she can't stay awake any longer.

Rayya smiles and laughs a lot, and gets lots of attention for her very blonde hair and very blue eyes. She's a heartbreaker! She also has her mommy and daddy wound around her little finger. Perhaps it's the way she makes us feel like a million bucks with her squeals of joy when she sees us. Or maybe it's all the love and cuddles, and roly-poly playing that makes us feel that way. What a joy she is!

Rayya still isn't walking. She will only walk holding my fingers, and ONLY mine. If anyone else tries to walk with her, she flops to the floor. She also walks on her knees sometimes, which looks hilarious! She jumps on her knees too - trying to mimic James when he's on the trampoline. She just started standing on her own in the middle of the room recently - but will only do it if James and I are there, and no one else is around. I hope she walks soon -though she is extremely fast crawling! We call her "Turbo".

Rayya seems to be in transition right now with her naps. Up till now she was still having an hour long morning nap, and a 1-2 hour afternoon nap. Lately she is fighting both naps, and waking up quite early. She can skip her morning nap for a day or two, but by day three she needs one. So, we're trying to figure it out, and hopefully soon we'll be down to one nap a day. I like having a morning that is nap-free!

So that's my Rayya. She is a sweet little, dainty thing - and super fun to be around!