Baby Barneschalow: January 2010

Wednesday, January 13, 2010

Minya turns one year old!

At 2:08pm on Monday, January 12, 2009, Minya Danzan Dolma Budschalow Barnes was born. And now, Minya is officially one year old! When Jonathan and I think about the past year, we just shake our heads in amazement. It is so hard to believe that our baby is moving on into toddlerhood, although she is not the strongest at toddling just yet, but she's getting there. Each day is something new for Minya and her parents. Her steps become firmer, with more intention. Her words and sounds are also becoming more well-defined. She doesn't miss a beat, which we are finding makes things more difficult. Our own words require more thought before we say them out loud - what a concept! All of this just means being more intentional than before, which is something that we're looking forward to and each new stage brings loads of fun. We are celebrating her birthday on the weekend so that people can come to celebrate with us, but we did sing her Happy Birthday on the official day. Photos of the party will be posted soon after (gulp), we hope. For now, please enjoy the page below, and don't forget to keep clicking on the text that says "Older posts." Thank you to everyone in Minya's life who has helped to make this past year just fabulous.

Sledding is FUN!

Sorry that is video is sideways!!! But, it's definitely worth the watch. Make sure your volume is turned up so you can hear Minya yelling down the hill. And this is not the instance where her dad dumped her out of the sled. That came later, but like the superstar that she is, she just got right back into the sled, the next day, without any problems. We can't wait to go sledding again - soon!

Eskimo kisses with cousin Amira

Minya is still learning about hugs and kisses - a pretty spectacular thing for us to experience. She mostly enjoys making all of the sounds and motions, like an overexaggerated "MWAH" that she smacks onto the head of her stuffed bunny. She is getting better at applying the right amount of force when leaning in for a kiss, which is great for us since knocking heads with her was not too much fun. In the video below, she is practicing her eskimo kiss with her cousin Amira.

Christmas in the Berkshires

For Christmas, we traveled to Jonathan's family's house in Great Barrington, Massachusetts, where he grew up. Minya's first Christmas was good, with some other exciting "firsts": the frenzy of ripping open presents - she enjoyed the wrapping paper most; riding in a sled; getting dumped out of a sled (ahem) by her daddy; petting a real bunny; and a 103+ degree fever. Thankfully, the fever came at the tail end of our visit, which was not great, but was better than being sick the whole time that we were there.

delivering presents down to Nonny and Fa's house

listening to Baba Ricky play the guitar on christmas morning

ballerina bugs from grandpa matthew

Tuesday, January 12, 2010

The BIG snow and Santa's elf

Here are some photos from a "photo shoot" that we had at home before christmas. The photos were supposed to turn into holiday cards, but never made it there. Plus, there's a good one of Minya's first BIG snow when Philly got a record 23 inches around December 20.

she wasn't super excited about the snow suit

one of the cutest elve's from the north pole

Mama turns 30!

In early December, Allison turned 30 years-old, so we had a little party at our house and invited dear friends and family over for good food and laughs. Of course, as in the past eight years (according to the local news) we had our first snowstorm of the year, which made getting around a bit difficult. But folks still braved the roads and made it out to wish Allison a happy birthday. Some ladies, in particular, traveled a long way - thanks Molly, Leila, and Stephanie! And thanks to Susan for the great mini-concert, which Minya loved.

happy daddies: will, liam, minya, jonathan

some lovely ladies: brie, molly, leila, allison, steph,

and of course, minya

auntie letty and cousin sungi, who made the trek

by train - two trains, actually

Playing with Daddy

Minya might be following in her Grandfather Matthew's footsteps

as a beautiful pianist. We hope.

Vermont visit

In November we took the long-ish drive up to Vermont to visit our friends and the town where Minya was born. Brattleboro, will always hold a special place in our hearts. We had a great time, and owe it all to our hosts, the Davis's, and our good friends, Natalie and Noah, and the Berkfield's. We're trying to figure out when we'll get up there again - springtime, most likely, as it's too cold now. And of course, one of these days Jonathan and Allison will graduate from their grad programs and might as well make it up there to recieve the pieces of paper that they paid for. Paid a lot for. Until then, please enjoy these photos.

chillin with richard in the sandbox

aah, reunited with bethany

"he is my broom, and i am his dustpan"
gettin into it with birch

meet auggie

Fall 2009

Our BIG news for October (and our entire lives) is that we bought a house! It's located in the Mt. Airy section of Philly, is a row-home, on a street filled with kids (one neighbor called it a 'very fertile street'), a block from the train into downtown philly, near lots of wooded areas - and we could go on and on about why we really like where our house is located. Now, we are enjoying making it into our home. You should come and visit us, if you haven't already.

Also in October, we celebrated with Minya's Nya-nya's (auntie's) as they tied the knot. Zayan and Beth were married on October 18. It was a beautiful ceremony, with good food and drinks, and at one point Jonathan and I both turned around to see Minya tearing it up in her high chair! Aside from the brides (in our humble opinion), she was the cutest one there.

And of course, this was Minya's first Halloween too. As the story goes, Minya and I were at the store shopping for items other than a halloween costume, when we happened to pass the rack with all of the costumes. Jonathan and I had been thinking that she would make the cutest lady bug or bumble bee, but Minya had her own idea - a lion! She saw it hanging there, and immediately reached for it and growled. So, needless to say, she had to be a lion. Hope you enjoy the rest of the photos of her just swinging. These are truly some of my favorite photos that I will cherish. Hope you enjoy them too.