Where are we now? We are officially in ATX (Austin, Texas)!!! Woohoo! We have sacrificed a lot to get here but it is well worth it. And we are still sacrificing. Today we live in a one bedroom apartment with 2 adults, 1 toddler and 2 dogs. It's a tight fit, but we manage ok. Luckily it is a decent size one bedroom but it still requires that Amelia sleep in our bedroom. I won't even go into the sacrifices that entails... I think you get my drift. Anyway, we make due and we're happy. It won't be for much longer either. We're actively seeking out permanent residence in our beautiful new city. And we will make sure to have a guest bedroom always open for our friends. I expect to see all of you in the near future!
Amelia has a new daycare at the Jewish Community Center and she seems to be enjoying it just fine. The transition to a new city, new home and new caretakers has been tough but we have a tough girl so she'll be just fine. At her new daycare they teach her some Hebrew words, they make challah (pronounced "halla") on Thursdays to celebrate the Sabbath on Fridays. And on Fridays they have Tot Shabbat. I'm still not clear what Shabbat means but I gather it is a form of celebration before a major holiday. And in her case, it's every Friday. Another new thing is that she doesn't have one small classroom with one teacher and a few friends. This place practices community care which means there are several teachers with several groups of children all working together in one community space. They could each be working on different projects but they will all play and eat together. It's actually really nice and it's said to promote learning and social behavior. We're still working on the social behavior. Our little Amelia is quite the tyrant right now. She hits kids when they invade her space or take her toys, a thing I am not proud of, but the daycare seems to think it's ok for her to defend herself since she's so much smaller than the others. We'll see how long they take that stance. They are teaching her to use the words "my space" to let others know when they are too close. Hmm, maybe I should try the same. Amelia loves using the words "No" and "Mine" now. She won't say "Yes" but instead nods when she approves. It's amazing how quickly her vocabulary is growing these days. Martin and I can generally understand what she is asking for and she communicates so well with us. Mostly it's her demanding something but it's still communication. Other words she uses regularly: cheese, more, eat, Buggy, baby, kak-kak (means cracker), side (means outside), shoes, juice, night-night, and hello (only when the phone rings or she's pretending to talk on our blackberry). There are others but I can't think of them right now. We made a cute video recently of some funny things she says and I've plugged it in below with the photos. Other videos can be seen on her YouTube station - the link is to the right of the blog or search ameliareeseturner.
Thank you to all of our friends and family who have supported us over the last year, helping with the move, helping take care of me and Amelia and for understanding that moving to a new city does not mean we are far apart. We love all of you so much and are so very grateful for your love and support. We cannot wait to see all of you in ATX soon.
Buggy getting his bath
At the playground
How cute is she in her parka? Thanks, Auntie Jayne!
She squirms so much that it's hard to get a picture
She was actually yelling at a kid who was no where near her but she wanted her to get away.
Satisfaction afterward
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