My baby is 1!

Oh what an amazing year we've had and we have celebrated it accordingly - twice! Once with my mom's family, once with dad's family. Cakes were baked, food made, guests invited, the guest of honor properly fussed over. We painted faces, did photo booths, danced, ate yummy foods and celebrated the gift that God has given us in Daniel. 

All the little people invited had a lot of fun and the adults didn't hesitate to participate in face painting, dancing, and all the other fun things. It was better than we could have hoped for!

It was amazing to be able to celebrate this with my family. How much I've loved the time we spent in Latvia! It was a very different trip than I've ever had as it was cold and going out with a little one is much more difficult than back in the days when I was a free bird. Most of the time was spent with family and indoors. And it was good. 

Watching Daniel loved by his grandparents is one of the most rewarding things I've ever experienced. Watching their joy and happiness made me so happy. 

Daniel has reached a few milestones. He has started walking while in Latvia. At first like a zombie - with his hands stretched in front of him. Then his hands still up but near his chest and finally walking like a little boy (and falling on his bottom often :) Last few days he's been trying to run, it's very cute as his upper body is leaning forward but the little leggies not able to move as fast as he wants. We have so much fun playing chase.

Daniel has also started saying his first words. The first ever word was ---- "vauva", which is the sound that a dog makes in Latvian. My sister's dog must have made such a big impression on him that he started talking!

The origin of his second word is still a mystery - "hot". At first it sounded like "ot", now it is a proper "hot". He knows that the stove, radiators, candles are hot. Recently he's started saying "oh oh" and "m-hm" and other things. I think he also says "dada" but as much as I've tried, he isn't saying "mama".

The weather has been amazing! COLD! FROSTY! The kind that won't let you stay outside very long. Brrrrrrrrr. But the photos that we got have been amazing! I was telling Neil that people usually come to visit us in the subtropical climate, we come to look at the snow and feel like we are in a very exotic place.

It's been an amazing month. It will be very hard to go back but I am missing the family we have back in Australia :)