Mykelle turned one on Sunday! Opening her presents: she got her own piano/xylophone, twin baby dolls, a cool feeling book called "Tails", and clothes!
Then it was onto the cake! Stan made a little chocolate "Hershey Kiss" cupcake for Mykelle with whipped topping on top. Here's her first couple minutes going at the cake! She ended up making a big mess with it all.
The best part was her sugar high afterwards. For about two hours after she finished the cake and ice cream we gave her, she walked around jabbering and playing with her toys. She got to go to bed an hour later because she was just too excited!
We can't believe she's been with us for a whole year, but we've loved everyday!
I had to change the background of our blog because this January weather in Portland has been really nice! Hello Sun!
Here are the contents of one of Mykelle's favorite drawers to pull things out of in the kitchen. She's just showing her like for cooking early! Stan did awesome (again!) on his test last Friday, so we were able to really enjoy our weekend together! Mykelle learned a new trick over the weekend: climbing the stairs! Here is her after climbing her first stair on her own Friday night. Saturday night she climbed up the whole staircase! Today I was in the kitchen working and I could hear Mykelle talking in the living room. I thought, "I wonder what Mykelle's doing?" Well, I found her on the second step standing up looking down the stairs! Luckily I found her then! She still needs to figure out the height/depth thing because she just walks off them. And now the gate is up 24/7! We also got to go swimming on Monday. Mykelle liked it a lot when Stan turned her in circles on her tummy a lot. She was laughing! She also loves seeing everyone else there. The other really exciting thing from the weekend was that we got a piano! Anne and Stewart went and visited Jane and Don up in Maple Valley over the weekend. Jane and Don decided to let us use their piano and then when we sell it, we'll send them the money! That is so generous of them! We are so grateful. Stewart and Anne brought it back, and we are so excited to have a piano in our house! Mykelle also likes playing it=) Mykelle is getting really good at "blowing kisses" and she is also giving slobbery ones too! I'll ask her to give Mommy some kisses and she'll put her open mouth up to my cheek! It's so fun. She says "up"--but not in regards to the direction; it's just fun to say. And she is blabbering so much, we just know she'll start saying actual words any day. Here is one last picture of Mykelle playing "peek-a-boo" after her bath. It's one of her favorite games.
December went way too fast for all of us! For two weeks we were able to enjoy a break from med school, which we all really needed. We also got to visit both Nicole's and Stan's families for a few days, which was fun as well. Plus, Mykelle had her first Christmas! She definitely got spoiled by all her grandparents, and we think she has enough new toys to last her until her birthday in 2.5 weeks =)
Mykelle is quickly becoming a walking pro! Even though she got tons of new toys over Christmas, her attention isn't held by them for very long. She pretty much just wants to walk and walk and walk some more. On her way, she easily finds anything she can to make a mess. Drawers, stuff on the lamp table, pulling books off the bookshelf, you name it and we are endlessly picking it up after her trail! She has also finally started figuring out the crawling thing and is now able to maneuver to pull herself up on what is in reach. We've started baby-proofing, but she's already figured out how to pull the outlet covers off... This little video was taken 3 weeks ago, so she's already cruising around faster than this shows!
Mykelle also learned how to click her tongue over break. Luckily Grandma Taylor was able to get a video of it (it's really hard for Stan or Nicole to get a video because Mykelle knows it's the camera and smiles for it as soon as she sees it rather than keep doing what she's doing).
Here are a few other picture highlights from our break!
Mykelle with Santa at our ward Christmas party
Going after the presents!
Mykelle must have been good this year!
Mykelle in her Christmas dress on Christmas
Now we're back in the swing of things. Stan is starting work tomorrow for Kaplan. He'll be teaching the MCAT prep course for them. Nicole is also going to start teaching piano lessons to three students on Friday. Unfortunately, working means getting to see even less of each other, but we think we'll be able to manage it all! Plus, we always have next Christmas break to look forward to =)
Wow--it's only 15 days until Mykelle's first Christmas! Thankfully we have all of our Christmas shopping done! Stan is getting so excited for Mykelle's first Christmas. He talks about it several times a day. I'm sure he's also pretty excited for a two-week long break from school as well, but Christmastime is just so much fun!
Grandma Gibb came and visited this last week. We did a lot of shopping and were crafty while she was here. Mykelle was a good shopper too! She loved walking around and touching all the fun fabrics, etc. Here's a picture of her shopping through Old Navy.
Before my mom came down, my dad was in the John Deere store, and he just had to get a present for Mykelle. He then said, "She needs to open this present before Christmas to get some practice in opening presents!" So here's the first Christmas present Mykelle got to open. As you can see, she really like the paper and the bow!
One of the last things we did was to go the Portland Children's Museum on its free night of the month. Mykelle really likes going to new places and seeing new things and people, especially little kids! We're thinking about getting an annual membership, and Mykelle will really be able to interact even more with everything in just a few months.
Mykelle is busy walking around all she can. Toys don't hold her interest very long right now. She thinks she needs to be cruising around the house constantly. She's getting really good at it too, but she still has the occasional fall, with the knee bruise to prove it. She also loves making new friends wherever we might be. She'll tilt her head to the side and smile at the new person, wave hi, and even clap for them. She's much better at making friends than we are! Her second bottom tooth also came through this week.
All of us were excited for Thanksgiving. Stan had taken a test a week for three weeks, so we all needed a break from med school. When Wednesday at noon rolled around, we were all very excited!
Here are some highlights from our break down at the Taylors. It was Mykelle's first Thanksgiving. She enjoyed trying everything out. She especially loved the pie!
On Friday we went and cut down a tree at a Christmas tree farm. It didn't take too long to find the right tree for the Taylor's living room! Stan and Darren made quick work of cutting down the tree.
We also got to attend Aly's baptism on Saturday night! It was a really great baptism, and we were happy we got to be a part of it.
Mykelle started getting very brave at Grandma and Grandpa's house, and she now lets go of what she's holding onto to move to the next interesting spot. We really have to babyproof the house now!
Nicole also finished the Christmas stockings she's been working on all year. She bought the fabric when it went on sale after last Christmas, and now they are finally hanging on our stair-rail! She made up the design, pieced together and quilted the stockings, and embroidered the names. Mykelle did a good job helping Mom sew most of the time. =)
This last week was fairly eventful. Stan finished his first med school course (we're 1/16th through?) with flying colors. Unfortunately he also has a test tomorrow and next Wednesday. We're really looking forward to Thanksgiving break.
Thursday night we realized Mykelle was finally getting her first tooth! Her second bottom tooth also seems to be about ready to break through any day. Hopefully going to bed will be easier once the teething process is over! She has been even more attached to her little stuffed dog the past week with the whole process.
We also took a quick trip up to Ellensburg this past weekend. Grandma and Grandpa Gibb really loved seeing Mykelle walk. She was really getting really good with all the practice. She could walk all the way across the living room sometimes at their house. Here's a sample of how well she's doing!
And here are a couple of other picture highlights from the weekend:
Since we last posted, Halloween has come and gone. Here's a picture of Mykelle and Nicole with the pumpkin Stan carved.
Mykelle has also been getting better everyday at balancing and walking by herself. It's amazing how fast she's learning! She also started clapping and making sound while clapping this last week. We were at storytime at the library yesterday, and Mykelle, being the flirt she is, grabbed another mom's attention and waved at her. The other lady waved back, and then Mykelle started clapping. How adorable!
We have a membership at a community center just a half a block away. They have an "indoor park" for kids 9 months to 5 years. Nicole started taking Mykelle down a few times a week since it's too cold to go to the actual park. They have mats and little slides, balls, bikes, and little cars. Mykelle seems to have a fascination with the "fire truck" they have there.
On another note, Stan had his last day of cadaver dissection yesterday! Monday is his last test, and then we have the first course of medical school behind us! Yay! Stan is really excited he won't have to smell the lab anymore.
I read an article on msnbc the other day. The Journal of Happiness Studies did a study and found that having children bring married couples happiness, and the more children, the happier they are. But having children as an unmarried couple or single was a negative experience. Mykelle has definitely brought us a lot more happiness, and I am so grateful for the Proclamation on the Family that tells us what will bring us the most happiness in our family. It's also so interesting how things the Church has taught since it's beginning are proven in studies!
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